Bone Tomahawk (2015)

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Day 89 Of Sobriety. 

Well, this was a pleasant surprise—although I’m not sure if the word “pleasant” is wholly appropriate, considering how disturbing some of the scenes in this movie are. I heard about this film when it was mentioned in passing on the excellent Discover the Horror podcast. It is generally described as a “horror western,” and that seems about right.

Set in the late 1900s in the “wild west,” the plot concerns a three-man posse led by an elderly sheriff who go to rescue some townspeople (including the wife of one of the posse members) from a clan of Native American cannibals.

I had never heard of the film, or the director, S. Craig Zahler. This was his first feature, but I see that he has directed several others that generally seem to be in the exploitation/crime/horror vein, and after watching Bone Tomahawk, I am really looking forward to checking them out. One of them is an entry in the Puppet Master series (none of which I have ever seen).

I’m guessing that my ignorance of Zahler and Bone Tomahawk is not widely shared, though, because the cast includes some pretty major stars, including Kurt Russell (as the sheriff) and Patrick Wilson (well known to horror fans for the Conjuring and Insidious franchises), and it also has a cameo by Sid Haig (star of numerous films by Jack Hill and Rob Zombie).
 
In terms of tone, the film put me in mind of a Quentin Tarantino film crossed with an Italian cannibal film from the 70s or 80s—almost to the extent that it seemed derivative of those elements—but hey, I’m not complaining because I thought it was excellent. Great acting, tense, engaging plot, some nasty shocking moments, and—that increasingly rare thing—a good ending! 

Highly recommended.

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