Movie Info
Movie Name: Skeleton Man
Studio: Martini Films
Genre(s): Horror/Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): March 1, 2004
MPAA Rating: R
Wait…What’s my name?
Archeologists unearth a Native American skull releasing a spirit called Cottonmouth Joe…aka the Skeleton Man! When the Skeleton Man takes out soldiers, a Delta Force team enters the woods in a search for their missing comrades. Led by Captain Leary (Michael Rooker), the group finds they are being picked off one-by-one by the mysterious supernatural creature…and Cottonmouth Joe must be stopped!
Directed by John Martin, Skeleton Man was a SyFy original film which originally aired on March 1, 2004. The movie was critically panned and even is listed as a comedy in its Germany release. The original title was Cottonmouth Joe hence the name changes for the creature in the film.
I wish I was hunting zombies…
SyFy has found its niche. It can produce cheap, easy horror-ish films that get viewers (Sharknado proved that). The problem with all these films are that they are not good, but unlike a film that is so-bad-it-is-good, most of SyFy films lack the fun.
The story is a rip-off Predator with a supernatural tie. The “Delta Team” goes into the woods on a mission and the creature slowly picks them off while disappearing. Some of the dialogue is even close with Predator with one of the soldiers essentially say if it bleeds she could kill it…it is lazy and lacks any shocks or scares.
The movie is anchored by Casper Van Dien and Michael Rooker. Casper Van Dien surprisingly takes a back seat in the movie, and Rooker stars throughout. The acting is horrible, but both actors are dealing with horrible writing…so it isn’t entirely their fault. The rest of the cast is the least likely to be any type of special forces.
It’s tough to ride in a hood when you’re a skelton
It would be one thing if the visuals did anything to bail out the story, but they don’t. The Skelton Man or Cottonmouth Joe (both names are horrible…I think Cottonmouth Joe is slightly better) is a bargain basement costume and a skeleton mask. The makers spent no money to make this movie look scary…as a result it isn’t.
Skeleton Man is a cheap looking movie that the term “horror” can be applied to loosely. The movie isn’t really worth the time even though it runs under an hour and a half and generally found cheap. There are so many great horror movies out there that do provide scares and so many bad horror movies that provide tons of laughs…Skeleton Man is neither and should have remained dead.
