Huesera: The Bone Woman is a slow burn body horror/pregnancy horror show based on Mexican folklore. Basically it’s a analogy for pregnancy panic and post-partem depression/anxiety dressed up as a bit of a spook show. As a depiction of anxiety of a pregnant woman, it’s quite good. As a horror flicks, less so.

The film is set in Mexico and follows a happy couple who get pregnant. But the mom-to-be starts seeing a disturbing bone-cracked woman who seems to be out to get her. Or her baby. Is it all in her head or can the evil be banished?

While this movie is fairly suspenseful and could sometimes get under my skin, I had a real problem with the evil spooky woman. I just didn’t find her scary… in fact, the few times we see her, I found the depiction a little comical. Which is surely a “me” thing since I doubt that’s the reaction from most people. But something about her skittering around with broke-ass bones was less than compelling.

But as pure pregnancy panic and post-partem worry, the film works. And it would have been better if it left out the supernatural angle. Especially since, from the little I could find out about La Huesera, she gathers bones to form a skeletal wolf… she doesn’t steal babies… but that could very well be my ignorance of Mexican folklore and the limits of Google.

Still, I think this is otherwise a solid suspense thriller that probably works even better on mothers and mothers-to-be. I was reasonably engrossed by it and found the actors convincing… the blatant scare attempts (and the dragged-out ending) less so.

Score: 76