When I was a small child in the late 60s, I remember going to the
drive-in with my parents to see a horror movie. The movie involved a
scientific experiment that went bad, resulting in a creature with a
turtle-like body and a snake-like head. If you tried to kill it, say
with an ax to hack it into pieces, each piece would split in two and
it would multiply. The creature would suck the bones out of people. It
must have made an impression on me, but for I have no idea what the
name of the movie may be.

Hello.

The movie was "Island of Terror," starring Peter Cushing.

From the SciFi.com message board:

"Island of Terror with Peter Cushing. A scientist is trying to find
the cure for cancer but instead creates bone sucking creatures. They
devour him and a lot of the people and animals on the small Irish
isle. Cushing and the police find out about them, Cushing also looses
and arm in the process."
http://bboard.scifi.com/bboard/browse.php/2/7/1437/1?


From a description from the British Horror Films web page:

"...Hitting them with an axe is a bad idea (as the unfortunate village
doctor discovers to his cost) and they realise that once they have fed
on the bones of their victims, these "silicates" become inactive and
then split into two."
http://www.britishhorrorfilms.co.uk/islandofterror.shtml

Video at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6303046487/

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search strategy:
google groups: movie "bones out"
google: "Island of Terror"  cushing bones

Thanks.

Thank you so much! Now I just wish it was on DVD since I no longer have a VCR.

Thank you for the tip.

It is available as a Region 2 DVD if your DVD player is capable of
playing that format:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=60893&item=6340158923&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW