A group of intrepid explorers descend into an ancient cave system seeking answers in this horror film by writer and director Howard J. Ford. Searching for her mother – who, in turn, was lost during a quest to find her own father – Olivia (Sarah Alexander Marks) packs up for an expedition to the deep underground, strong-arming her best pals into the journey. Along for the ride is an influencer known as the ‘Bitch-hiker,’ looking to boost her followers by streaming her latest adventure.

And what lurks in the depths? Professor Harisson (John Rhys-Davies) warns that the group would be best served staying away, but Olivia won’t be deterred. Down there, she and her friends will encounter an ancient subterranean evil – one which might just claim their lives and bodies as its own.

Bone Keeper veers wildly from exceptionally well-shot indie horror to amateurish creature feature. Its setting – all shot on location with no green screen – looks great, dripping with a sense of authenticity and menace that even Neil Marshall‘s The Descent lacked at times (that early sequence with the bats, for instance). Where it does come up lacking is where The Descent excelled – the writing and performances. Thankfully, there’s Lord of the Rings star Rhys-Davies, giving the film a sense of thespian respectability, to distract from some of the weaker line deliveries. His is a glorified cameo, but Ford utilises him well enough, and in a way which keeps him around longer than you might have expected.

What also sets Bone Keeper apart from the other no-budget films out there is its striking visuals. Once inside the cave, there’s a genuinely nightmarish look to what Olivia and her friends encounter. The creature design by visual effects artists Giordano Aita and Rafael Emido truly is the stuff of Lovecraftian nightmare, and pack a satisfying heft despite – or perhaps due to – feeling as though they’ve been ported over from an entirely different film. Meanwhile, fans of a certain subgenre of anime should get a kick from all the tentacles being shoved down (or up) various orifices as the creatures take out their prey, one by one.

Part adventure film, part grisly horror story, Bone Keeper is a palpably clammy B-movie, brimming with the terrors of the unknown.

BONE KEEPER premiered at FrightFest Glasgow on March 6, 2026.