An elderly Sheriff, along with his deputy, acquire a posse to hunt down and rescue their own town’s people after a group of cannibalistic “Troglodytes” cause chaos in the town of Bright Hope, capturing innocent citizens along the way. One of those captured is the wife of a local rancher, who consequently joins the gang on the hunt for revenge, despite a heavily injured leg. Enlisting with the trio is also an experienced, and equally as confident gunslinger, who felt partially responsible for the events that took place in the town. An at times entertaining thrill ride that takes a different approach to most modern day westerns.

Director: S. Craig Zahler
Writers: S. Craig Zahler
Starring: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox

It’s fair to say that Bone Tomahawk is something of a unique Western, in regard to the nature of the movie. The brutality captured is something that not many films of this nature manage to portray, with the filmmakers subjecting the viewer to a large amount of graphic, gory and often traumatic scenes throughout the one-hundred and thirty-two minute runtime. There are plenty of infamous scenes during the flick, that force the average viewer to turn away in horror.

Putting the brutality and violence aside, it has to be said that the story and plot were fairly easy to follow, with much of the opening portion of the film focused on character development and setting up the rescue mission the posse would undertake later in the story. The filmmakers also did an excellent job of showing the audience the potentially deadly consequences the men on this mission were about to face.

Another strength of Bone Tomahawk would have to be its ability to build an eerie and suspenseful atmosphere, particularly in the later stages where the film leans more heavily into the horror and violence mentioned earlier. With that being said, one potential drawback is the lengthy portion of the movie devoted to the men’s journey, during which very little of note actually occurs, which many viewers would find slow and somewhat tedious.

In terms of the cast and their performances, it’s most definitely worth highlighting the fact that this movie had an extremely vast and notable cast. Kurt Russell took up the role of the Sheriff responsible for leading the group of men, while Patrick Wilson and Matthew Fox appeared as Arthur and Brooder, respectively. Elsewhere, Lili Simmons portrayed Samantha, one of the town’s people captured by the ruthless Troglodytes.

At times, you’d be forgiven for wondering whether or not this was a low-budget and less impactful Quentin Tarantino flick, but overall, it was a pretty entertaining film that took a different spin on the Western genre. Most certainly worth the watch.

“I’m far too vain to ever live as a cripple.”

Brooder – Bone Tomahawk