Bone (1972)

Genre: Black Comedy (Exploitation/Grindhouse Flick)
Director and Writer: Larry Cohen
Page on IMDb

Bone (subtitled A Bad Day in Beverly Hills), to me, is a rare gem of a movie, one of those super-obscure titles that was almost completely forgotten and yet...and yet, virtually every review I've ever read of it can't stop talking about how wonderful it is. I bought this movie online, sight-unseen, based solely on the fact that it's Larry Cohen's directorial debut and its receipt of glowing online reviews, what few there were.

For those unfamiliar with Larry Cohen, he got his start as a film maker back in the early 70's with this movie, moving quickly along to directing "blaxploitation" movies with Black Caesar (1973) and Hell Up In Harlem (1973). After this, Cohen started creating horror movies, beginning with the very low-budget and bizarre killer baby flick It's Alive (1974) and its sequel, It Lives Again (1978). I knew him best for The Stuff (1985), one of those slime-covered, blood splattered, violence-heavy 80's horror flicks with less-than-subtle social commentary. While Cohen isn't the most skilled of film makers--his use of special effects are weak, even compared to those available at the time--his work is, nevertheless, interesting to watch.

I am a little reluctant to talk this movie up too much, as I'm afraid that if expectations are too high, potential viewers may not look past the flaws. There are plenty of flaws, too: particularly with some of the editing choices (for example, there's at least one blooper shot that made it into the final print). Fortunately, Bone doesn't really incorporate any special effects outside of the one scene that used a little Vaseline on the lens; the entire plot is very character-driven.

It should also be noted that this movie does have nudity, swearing, interracial sex, and a near-rape scene. I call it "near-rape" because none of the characters actually rape or get raped, but it gets close. Maybe I should just try to explain the plot:

Bill and Bernadette (Andrew Duggan and Joyce Van Patten, respectively) are a wealthy middle-aged couple living in Beverly Hills. Bill complains about how the world is falling apart because of foreigners and under-represented ethnic groups, and Bernadette spends her days just being a rich housewife. While lounging about their swimming pool one day, Bill dives in and finds himself eye-to-eye with a rat that has been sucked into one of the pool's filters. When told about the rat, Bernadette freaks out and demands Bill call an exterminator and a pool cleaning service. Just as he gets someone on the phone, Bill looks up and there stands Bone (Yaphet Kotto), a young, muscular black man whom they assume works for the pool service. Bone plays along for a brief period, even going so far as to pull the rat out of the pool filter and throw it into a neighbor's yard. It quickly becomes clear that Bone intends to rob the couple.

With Bill and Bernadette in hand, Bone trashes their house in search of money while Bernadette talks about the history of the house and its furnishings. Bone becomes frustrated when he discovers that no money is to be found, and it becomes apparent that Bill's financial situation is much worse than the audience was led to believe. Bone then discovers a secret bank account that Bernadette was unaware of, and sends Bill into town to close the account and bring back the money to him. Bill is given a short amount of time to complete this task, and Bone threatens to rape Bernadette and cut her throat if he fails to return with the cash.

When Bill gets into town, however, his banker talks him out of closing the account, and he decides to kill some time while considering his options. Unfortunately for Burnadette, he takes too much time and Bone decides to make good on his threat. After attempting to rape Bernadette, Bone has a change of heart. Soon Burnadette forces Bone to open up, the two begin talking, and a new friendship--and sexual relationship--develops from this unlikely scenario.

From there, the movie gets even more surreal and absolutely nothing goes as planned. While the movie is titled Bone, the story seems to be more about Bernadette than anyone (one of the early titles of this movie was The Housewife). Themes include racism and rape, and this movie handles those two volatile subjects with honesty, avoiding the modern tendencies of political correctness while not being blatantly offensive, either. There's also plenty about the Vietnam War, something mentioned in the movie's initial title plate, and at least one somewhat ironic mention about the legalization of marijuana is made. Events are so bizarre in some cases that one almost wonders just how much of the social commentary in this movie was deliberate.

Honestly, this is one of those movies that is interesting enough to safely recommend to others. Despite its age, there are a lot of timeless elements to Bone, and thus far, the handful of people I've shown this to have enjoyed it enough to sit through the whole thing, something I can't say for all of the movies in my collection. As far as I know, it is available on netflix and definitely worth checking out for lovers of obscure movies.