Battle of the Bone

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

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 as a means to address the issue of division with a twist that shows the two sides of the Belfast community joining together to deal with a common threat. The film was first screened in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 17 July 2008.

Release

The film first screened in Belfast, on 17 July 2008, and was followed by a DVD release on 23 October 2008. The film also secured an exclusive partnership with DVD rental kiosk operator The Movie Booth to offer rental copies of the movie in Belfast based DVD rental machines.

Writer/director George Clarke joined the film's stars Alan Crawford and Shane Todd in a promotion tour to sign DVDs and pose for photographs.

Reception

The movie showed in October 2008 at The Freakshow Horror Film Festival in Florida. The contest was adjudicated by George A. Romero, where the film won the Audience Choice Award 2008. BOTB has also attracted interest from Hong Kong and Canada.

Canadian critical review site – www.critical-film.com described it as a "relentlessly kinetic and joyous picture; always running and usually running away, each character perpetually fighting for his/her life" Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2, academic Peter Dendle said, "It's 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."

The director stated in January 2010, "Battle of the Bone may have wowed genre geeks, but some mainstream critics didn’t appreciate the film’s queasy concoction of zombies and Orangemen."