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
Written byGeorge Clarke
Produced by
  • George Clarke
  • Andrew Mawhinney
Starring
  • Shane Todd
  • Alan Murray Crawford
  • Laura Jenkins
  • Lindsey Mitchell
CinematographyGeorge Clarke
Edited byJonny Kirk
Music byChris Logan
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 stated that he saw the movie as a means to address the issue of division with a twist that shows the two sides of the Belfast community joining to deal with a common threat.[2][3][4] Filming took place in Belfast, Ireland at locations such as the Downshire psychiatric hospital.[5] Per the Irish Times, the movie was "one of the biggest low-budget features to have been made in the city" and employed over 500 extras. Clarke and crew utilized various means to keep the film under budget, such as using a wheelchair as a makeshift dolly-rig and a cherry picker for aerial shots.[6]

Release

The film first screened in Belfast, on 17 July 2008,[1][7][8] and was followed by a DVD release on 23 October 2008.

Reception

Peter Dendle covered the film in the second volume of The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, noting that it was "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."[9]

The director later noted that the film did not go over well with mainstream critics but that it appealed to the genre fans that viewed it.[10]

Awards
  • Audience Choice Award at the Freak Show Horror Film Festival (2008, won)[11]

References
  1. staff (16 June 2008). "Zombies now set to rampage City Walls!". Derry Journal. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. 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. Archived from the original on 13 January 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  4. "UTV – Battle of the Bone premiere". UTV. 18 July 2008. Archived from the original on 28 October 2008.
  5. Ireland, Culture Northern (10 March 2008). "Battle of the Bone". Culture Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  6. "Munching season". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  7. "Belfast Zombies Unleashed in Cinema". Belfast Telegraph. 18 July 2008. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
  8. staff (22 May 2008). "Zombies in 12 July rampage". News Letter. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  9. Dendle, Peter (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000–2010. McFarland & Company. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0-7864-6163-9.
  10. staff (29 January 2010). "Hope and gory". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  11. "Freaky Award Winners 2008". Archived from the original on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2009.
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