Skeleton Man is a 2004 Sci Fi Pictures original film. It was directed by Johnny Martin, and stars Michael Rooker and Casper Van Dien. In this movie, the titular Skeleton Man stalks a squad of soldiers.

Plot[link]

The film opens with an archaeologist looking at some artifacts he has dug up from an Indian burial ground. Among these items is the skull of an Indian chief, Skeleton Man appears through a portal and kills the archaeologist. Skeleton Man then chases the archaeologist's assistant to a power plant, killing her and the two men working there.

Skeleton Man, now on horseback, kills a soldier and chases his partner. Before being killed, the second soldier manages to record a video and send it back to his bosses. They receive it and send in Delta Force to deal with this unknown threat.

As they advance, a female soldier falls behind and is impaled through the chest. The team finds an old Indian man who tells them that Skeleton Man, known as Cottonmouth Joe, was a genocidal warrior that killed his tribe and is now stalking them. The team pays him no heed.

Meanwhile, Cottonmouth Joe slaughters the workers at an oil pumping station. That night, two sentries are also killed (but are technically MIA as their bodies are never found). The team's scout (Casper Van Dien) also disappears.

The next day, the team encounters Cottonmouth Joe. The heavy weapons specialist charges him but is killed and the team opens fire to no effect. A support helicopter of Citizen's Militia is also destroyed. One man goes to recover the heavy weapons specialist's body but finds it missing. The squad then discovers the team scout, whom they accidentally shot in the firefight (Cottonmouth Joe having captured him and put him in a location to be shot). The team tries to lure their adversary into a trap, but run out of ammo. Another trooper is killed, as is the team sharpshooter who has her skull crushed by a tomahawk^{[disambiguation needed ]}.

The two remaining troopers (Captain Leary (Michael Rooker) and Lt. Scott (Sarah Ann Schultz)) again try to lure Cottonmouth Joe into a trap to no avail. Skeleton man ends his pursuit of them and heads to a nearby chemical plant where he kills several workers, two guards, the manager and several scientists. The two remaining soldiers arrive and find the place surrounded by law enforcement. Captain Leary takes a sheriff's grenade launcher and goes to confront the undead adversary. After a cat-and-mouse chase through the chemical plant, Captain Leary lures Cottonmouth Joe into a generator room and blows him up with electric current.

As the film's credits begin to roll, they suddenly reverse and show Skeleton Man back on his horse in the woods, thus indicating that he has survived.

Special Affects[link]

Cottonmouth Joe's horse changes from a tan Arabian to a black Clydesdale during attack sequences.

External links[link]

• Skeleton Man at the Internet Movie Database
• Dread Central.com Review

Peter John Hudson AM (born 19 February 1946) is a former Australian rules football player, considered one of the greatest full-forwards in the game's history.

Hudson was prolific in his goal scoring in all senior competitions in which he competed. Originally from Tasmania, Hudson played with New Norfolk Football Club, in the Tasmanian Football League kicking 378 goals in 78 games. He then played 130 games with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (now the Australian Football League). During this time he kicked 727 goals. Following his Hawthorn days he returned to Tasmania, playing a further 81 games for Glenorchy Football Club during which he kicked an amazing 616 goals. Some records state he actually kicked 769 goals for Glenorchy Football Club (the inaccuracy stems from the TANFL including goals scored in Intrastate and Interstate matches involving the TANFL and Tasmania as part of TANFL records at the time).^[2]

Over his career he kicked 1,874 goals in senior matches spanning the period of 1963 to his final match in the 1981 TANFL Preliminary Final for Glenorchy, where Hudson, who had made a brief comeback with two rounds remaining booted 30 goals in three matches (including 6 in his team's Preliminary Final loss to New Norfolk).
His impressive tally increases to 2,191 when night series and representative games are included, averaging over 7 goals a game over his entire career. Hudson was kept goalless just three times during his senior career, by Richmond's Barry Richardson in 1969, Carlton's Rod Austin in 1977 and Bruce Greenhill of TFL club Sandy Bay in 1978.

Hudson's ability to win the ball was hard to pinpoint. There were times he seemed to gain possession of the ball ever so quietly and with consistent, nonchalant ease his tally of goals for the game would gradually climb. Among his armoury of skills, he seemed to have the ability to quietly sneak away from the opposition attendant full-back. Before the frustrated backman knew it, Hudson had taken a nice comfortable mark on his chest for a simple goal.

His son Paul also played for the Hawthorn Football Club, Western Bulldogs Football Club and Richmond Football Club, and nephew Simon Minton-Connell also played AFL football for the Carlton Football Club, Sydney Swans, Hawthorn Football Club and Western Bulldogs Football Club.

VFL career[link]

In a Victorian Football League career beginning with the Hawthorn Football Club in 1967, he kicked 727 goals at an average of 5.59 a game.

Hudson won the Coleman Medal for the League's leading goal kicker four times in his career: in 1968 (125 goals); 1970 (146); 1971 (140); and 1977 (110). He also became the first player to kick 100 goals in a VFL season five times (the other year he exceeded 100 goals being 1969 when he kicked 120, but did not win the Coleman).

In 1971 he equalled Bob Pratt's record of 150 goals in a season after kicking three goals in Hawthorn's winning Grand Final side. Hudson kicked into the man-on-the-mark Barry Lawrence (St Kilda) in one of his attempts to break the record during the grand final.^[3]

In the first round of 1972 he seriously injured his knee just before half time. He had already kicked 8 goals and had just taken a mark within distance when he fell awkwardly. It was thought that his career had finished.^[1]

On 25 August 1973 he returned from Tasmania to kick eight goals against Collingwood at VFL Park. He did not play another VFL game until lured back for the 1977 season when he ended up kicking 110 goals for the season.^[4][5]

Post VFL[link]

Hudson coached and played for Glenorchy Football Club in the TFL in 1975 and 1976, taking them to a premiership in his first year. Following his second return from the VFL, in 1978 he once again played for Glenorchy, kicking 153 goals and winning the highest individual honour in the TFL, the William Leitch Medal. In the next season he again topped the goalkicking with 179 goals, winning his second William Leitch medal. He retired as a player at the end of the season. He coached Hobart in the TFL in 1986–1987 for consecutive unsuccessful finals campaigns.

In 1979, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day Honours, for services to Australian football.^[6][7][8]

He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and elevated to "Legend" status in 1999. His citation reads: "A freakish full-forward who just kept accumulating goals. Made brilliant use of the body, was deadly accurate and had an amazing ability to read the play. Holds the best goals per game average (5.59) in VFL/AFL history and in 1971 matched Bob Pratt's record for most goals in a season with 150."^[9]

Hudson is well respected for his business acumen. Since retirement he has had a stint as the Chief Executive Officer of Hawthorn. Currently he is a senior executive of insurance giant MBF.

Hudson is depicted in a Tasmanian state guernsey taking a mark against South Australia in Jamie Cooper's painting the Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport^[10]

In 2010, Hudson became the eleventh player to feature in a Toyota Memorable Moments advertisement with Stephen Curry and Dave Lawson, comically re-enacting his unsuccessful attempt to break Bob Pratt's goal-kicking record in the 1971 VFL Grand Final.^[11]

See also[link]

• List of Australian rules football families

References[link]

External links[link]

• AFL official statistics
• Fullpointsfooty bio
• AFL Hall of Fame