Battle of the Bone

Battle of the Bone is a 2008 Northern Irish independent zombie film written and directed by George Clarke, and is claimed as Northern Ireland's "first ever" kung-fu zombie movie.[1]

Battle of the Bone
DVD cover
Directed byGeorge Clarke
Produced by
  • George Clarke
  • Andrew Mawhinney
Written byGeorge Clarke
Starring
  • Shane Todd
  • Alan Murray Crawford
  • Laura Jenkins
  • Lindsey Mitchell
Music byChris Logan
CinematographyGeorge Clarke
Edited byJonny Kirk
Production
company
Yellow Fever Productions
Distributed byYellow Fever Productions
Release date
  • 17 July 2008 (2008-07-17) (United Kingdom)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryNorthern Ireland
LanguageEnglish
Budget£10,000

Plot

As rival mobs battle it out on the streets of Belfast, three friends are caught in the middle and have to contend not only with the rioters but a horde of marauding zombies.

Partial cast
  • Shane Todd as David
  • Alan Murray Crawford as Scott
  • Laura Jenkins as Jill
  • Lindsey Mitchell as Dr. Death
  • Roddy Conlon as SWAT 1
  • Phil Barnhill as SWAT 2
  • Andrew Brown as SWAT 3
  • Tommy Martin as SWAT 4
  • Jamie McGrath as SWAT 5
  • Logan Bruce as Zombie Logan
  • John Gallagher as Zombie John
  • Dena Montgum-Brown as Zom

Production

Both the film's title and its plot timeline being set on 12 July, stem from King William III's 12 July 1690 Battle of the Boyne. Created on a budget of £10,000, the filmmaker chose The Troubles as the film's inspiration and as a means to address the issue of division with a twist that shows the two sides of the Belfast community joining together to deal with a common threat.[2][3][4] The film was first screened in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 17 July 2008.[5]

Release

The film first screened in Belfast, on 17 July 2008,[1][5][6] and was followed by a DVD release on 23 October 2008. The film also secured an exclusive partnership with DVD rental kiosk operator The Movie Booth to offer rental copies of the movie in Belfast based DVD rental machines.

Writer/director George Clarke joined the film's stars Alan Crawford and Shane Todd in a promotion tour to sign DVDs and pose for photographs.[7]

Reception

The movie showed in October 2008 at The Freakshow Horror Film Festival in Florida. The contest was adjudicated by George A. Romero, where the film won the Audience Choice Award 2008. BOTB has also attracted interest from Hong Kong and Canada.[8]

Canadian critical review site – www.critical-film.com described it as a "relentlessly kinetic and joyous picture; always running and usually running away, each character perpetually fighting for his/her life"[9] Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2, academic Peter Dendle said, "It's too low budget to come across to most general audiences as much more than friends having fun around some local buildings and streets, but George Clarke's impassioned zombie pic gained immediate attention both for some vivaciously choreographed action sequences and for its political overtones."[10]

The director stated in January 2010, "Battle of the Bone may have wowed genre geeks, but some mainstream critics didn’t appreciate the film’s queasy concoction of zombies and Orangemen."[11]

References
  1. staff (16 June 2008). "Zombies now set to rampage City Walls!". Derry Journal. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  2. Lesley-Anne Henry (29 October 2007). "The zombie movie set at an Ulster flashpoint". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  3. "My Cultural Life: George Clark". Culture Northern Ireland. 12 September 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  4. "UTV – Battle of the Bone premiere". UTV. 18 July 2008. Archived from the original on 28 October 2008.
  5. "Belfast Zombies Unleashed in Cinema". Belfast Telegraph. 18 July 2008. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
  6. staff (22 May 2008). "Zombies in 12 July rampage". News Letter. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  7. "DVD release of Battle of the Bone" (Press release). The Basement. Archived from the original on 27 October 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2008.
  8. "Freaky Award Winners 2008". Archived from the original on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
  9. "Battle of the Bone review". Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
  10. Dendle, Peter (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000–2010. McFarland & Company. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0-7864-6163-9.
  11. staff (29 January 2010). "Hope and gory". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
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