"These are proud, likable, and candid men who don’t hide their emotions as they give viewers an unflinching look at the realities of life in and around the mines of their impoverished but close-knit rural town. Nothing is sugarcoated or romanticized in this raw and gritty film, which follows Luther’s battle with black lung disease and cancer and Lucas’s struggle to come to terms with his father’s mortality and the physical and mental hardships of his chosen profession. There are no happy endings here. This must-see film is one of the better recent documentaries on the American South; highly recommended for all audiences."

-Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia

“This intimate program examines the lives of the miners. Cameras follow the men as they travel deep underground, crawl through tunnels, and chip away at coal. It also captures their trash talk, camaraderie, and sense of community. A compelling documentary.”

-Candace Smith, Booklist

“Bonecrusher compellingly details the dangers of coal mining, the sequences in the dark underground channels where men walk hunched over while breathing coal dust are truly harrowing.”

-P. Hall, Video Librarian

“Bonecrusher shines a light on our hidden workforce. College students who study law, environment, health professions, government and policy would be well-served to gain insight into the community profiled in Bonecrusher. A terrific film. ”

-Bette Jacobs, Dean, School of Nursing & Health Studies, Georgetown University

" I loved this film. I see it enhancing several classes – from the most basic courses to specialized studies in rural sociology and community services – helping educate students who have no knowledge of this part of America’s heartland."

-Deborah Abowitz, Professor of Sociology, Bucknell University

“This remarkable film powerfully demonstrates the potential for documentary film to transcend the specifics of class and reach all audiences at the most basic human level.

-Steve Wurtzler, Associate Professor Film and Media Studies, Georgetown University

“A dust-covered love story unearthed in Appalachia…Watching father and son negotiate mortality and money, Fountain’s documentary tugs at the heart as much as the conscience: In Bonecrusher, there really is no such thing as “clean coal.”

-Hilary Crowe, Washington City Paper

“In these days of telecommuting and job uncertainty, there’s something profoundly inspiring about the Chaffins, and Fountain has perceptively captured this rural sense of family and tradition… Bonecrusher is the intimate, reverent, and absorbing story of the relationship between Lucas and his coalminer father.”

-Eddie Cockrell of Variety

”The story is compelling in its mundanity--and just as compelling are the claustrophobic scenes of Lucas and his fellow miners working in the dark, miles and miles below the earth. A must see!”

-Erin Sullivan, Baltimore City Paper

“Through wonderful cinematography…this documentary takes the viewer to places both beautiful and terrifying.”

-Skizz Cyzyk for the Maryland Film Festival

”…top notch documentary…breathtaking cinematography…Bonecrusher mixes the dark and terrifying world deep in the Appalachian mines with the beautiful landscape that covers them.”

-Jay Berg’s Cinema Diary

"Bonecrusher is the best contemporary portrait of an underground miner that I have seen ever."

-Steve Fesenmaier, The Charleston Gazette