Kurt Russell stars as a sheriff doing battle with a gang of inbred cannibals.
By Chris Tilly
Bone Tomahawk takes two very different genres and smashes them together in pretty successful fashion. Initially the film is a western, set in a town called Bright Hope and filled with rogues on either side of the law. As is typical, a mysterious stranger shows up, raises suspicion, and ruffles the feathers of sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell).
Conflict ensues, the stranger gets himself thrown into jail, and it kind of feels like we’ve seen it all before. But we really haven’t, as overnight a stable boy is murdered, and the stranger and the local doctor are kidnapped. A Native American expert is brought in to investigate, and reveals that the perpetrators are a tribe of inbred, cave-dwelling cannibals.
What follows is a twisted, violent men on a mission movie, the sheriff teaming up with elderly deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins), local gent John Brooder (Matthew Fox) and the doctor’s husband Arthur (Patrick Wilson) to hunt down the troglodytes.
And the film is at its best when we’re with them, all four strong, fascinating, beautifully written characters whom you find yourself really rooting for. They are decent, honourable men, forced to face off against a foe they don’t understand.
And they are well cast, with Russell as brave and noble a sheriff as you’d expect, Jenkins sweet and lovable as his number two, and Wilson a revelation as a character whose broken leg won’t stop him from rescuing the girl he loves.
That said the movie is less successful when it comes to the cannibals in question. Writer-director S. Craig Zahler doesn’t give them much of a back-story, shrouding their customs and circumstances in secrecy. But it means that they lack personality and depth. Nameless, faceless killers are all good and well, but when they look and act alike they become somewhat interchangeable.
The villains do deliver on the horror however, their kills genuinely disgusting, with one death as shocking and spectacular as any you’ll see this year.
The pace is stately yet the film never feels slow, it’s beautifully shot, the old west really popping off the screen, and there’s some first-class facial hair on display.
But Bone Tomahawk’s biggest problem is an ending that underwhelms. The set-up is great but the pay-off doesn’t quite deliver, with storylines wrapped up off screen, and several characters deserving of a more satisfying conclusion. But it’s nevertheless a fun-ride, especially if you like your horror nasty and your westerns bloody.
A genre mash-up that deliver on both fronts, Bone Tomahawk is a two-hour blast that features great dialogue, strong characters, and imaginative and memorable kills.
