After watching the excellent documentary Horror Noire on Shudder, I came away with a hefty number of films to check out. That’s always the sign of a good documentary about movies. Of particular interest was the 2001 film Bones, directed by Ernest Dickerson — who hit a horror home run with Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight in the ‘90s — and starring Snoop Dogg as the titular ghost. What I expected was a solid haunted house flick with the potential for a few memorable death scenes.

What I got was much, much more.

Bones is centered around Jimmy Bones, a powerful but benevolent gangster who ends up being murdered and returning from the grave to seek his revenge. No, the story isn’t the most inventive one ever told — in fact, it’s deliberately paying homage to the classic blaxploitation horror film J.D.’s Revenge — but this is one of those instances where the story needs to be easily understood and accessible in order for the audience to buy into the nutty shenanigans that are going to take place. And oh, my fellow horror fiends, you can’t get much nuttier than what you get in Bones.

It almost seems like Dickerson tricked New Line Cinema into making a movie that has far more in common with expressionistic Italian horror than blaxploitation. Considering that Dickerson is an avowed fan of filmmakers like Michele Soavi and Mario Bava, it’s not hard to make this theory believable. An easy marker of this belief is the color of blood in the film. It’s the same painterly red that you’d find in Suspiria. Bones disregards any kind of grounded reality in favor of showcasing madcap comic book terrors a la Creepshow. Settings will be bathed in light that’s the color of Herbert West’s re-animation elixir and it’s simply because it looks cool. We rarely get this kind of formalistic approach to horror in mainstream cinema anymore, and seeing it in Bones was so refreshing.

Not to mention the outright deranged setups for various scares and deaths in the film. This is the kind of movie where two characters are killed off-screen, and their blood splatters onto a wall in the shape of two perfect human silhouettes. If that is going to be too ridiculous for you, then Bones is not going to be your jam. But for me? I couldn’t get enough of the absurdist nature that Dickerson was playing with. This is a movie where a demonic dog rocket-barfs an unimaginable amount of maggots onto a person’s face. And then maggots start raining down on a bunch of club-goers. Oh, did I forget to mention that the dog’s face had morphed into the face of Jimmy Bones right before he worm-cannon puked on a guy?

There is a gleeful abandon to Bones that’s nearly alien in the horror landscape of today. For example, Jimmy shows up to a bar in order to kill one of his murderers. But, before doing so, he slices into a pool table with his trademarked butterfly knife. And the pool table bleeds. No reason is given other than it sets a ghoulish mood and it’s just a neat idea. While there are more understandable effects moments — Jimmy’s body slowly regenerates each time that maggot-puking dog eats and it’s a great bit of time-lapse work — this isn’t a film that’s interested in simulating reality. All it cares about is delivering zany concepts in the most indelible ways possible.

And while the script might not be the tightest or most innovative screenplay ever, it’s bolstered by a solid cast that totally jives with the heightened tone of the picture. Snoop Dogg brings his recognizable swagger to the role of Jimmy Bones, exuding an aura of nonchalance that makes the character instantly appealing. We also get the unflappable Pam Grier as Jimmy’s old flame, Pearl. Grier is the kind of actress that always brings her A-game and Bones is no exception. There’s also a sturdy turn from Clifton Powell (Deep Rising) as one of Jimmy’s old friends. Also, a very early turn from Katharine Isabelle, and seeing her in a movie is always a plus.

If Bones had been made in the ‘80s, I think it would garner the same kind of cult love that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, From Beyond, or Night of the Comet gets. It’s such a gonzo celebration of the audacity of horror — this article was almost a laundry list of the film’s wacko moments but I don’t want to spoil all the fun — and it deserves to be appreciated like other flawed but ultimately fun flicks in the genre. If there was ever a horror movie that warrants a warm embrace from horror fans, it’s Bones.

On a related note, check out the brand new documentary Horror Noire on Shudder to see more about Bones and many other excellent films!