Bone Tomahawk

John Chard9/10

Feb 14, 2016

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It's sure to be a bone of contention... Written and directed by S. Craig Zahler, Bone Tomahawk stars Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins and Lili Simmons. Music is by Zahler and Jeff Herriott and cinematography by Benji Bakshi. Ah, yes, the horror western hybrid, a most difficult thing to get right at the best of times, even harder to entice newcomers to the sub-genre splice if they don't particularly like horror or westerns! This is a tough sell, a pic of startling originality, but of homage worthiness as well, that it kind of feels like a film made for a secret society of film fans. A society perhaps like the Troglodyte tribe who dominate the horror aspect of this particular tale. Plot is set in the wild west, where after a set of circumstances leads to the kidnapping of three people from the local jail - by members of the Troglodyte tribe, four men set off on a rescue mission... How splendid to find a narrative that isn't afraid to nod towards one of the most revered westerns of all time, yet be its own entity at the same time. Bone Tomahawk will polarise opinions, no question about it, the whole middle section involves a travelogue pumped by characterisations and a need to set the stage for what will occur in the final third. However, to even think that the four horsemen of the apocalypse bulk of this movie is mere slow time cinema is unfair, for dark comedy is at work - a racist horse? Surely not?. So the screenplay not only sparkles with wit, but it also pulses with drama, drama that comes from human stubbornness. Be it men who know that no matter what will happen, they will maybe die in honour due to mistakes or mismanagement, or just a matter of redemption, this mission on the surface seems pure folly, but in reality there is more at work here. And thus comes the horror, characters have been well formed, we know them and are interested in what will happen to them. Like or dislike is irrelevant, we bloody know them, so as the film hits its raging "B" movie straps, shouting at the screen or wincing in harmony becomes a requisite. As is squirming... Intricately paced, beautifully photographed and splendidly performed by a top cast who aren't interested in top billing or walk of fame recognition, Bone Tomahawk is a grade "A" culter. Zahler could be someone to keep an eye on. 9/10

Reno7/10

Jul 14, 2016

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> Meet the most savage people of the American native. This was one of the three western films I've watched back to back recently. The other two were 'The Salvation' and 'The Homesman'. They all were totally different from each other and I enjoyed them a lot. I did not know what this title means, but I learnt it before going for it which means some kind of axe used by the American Indians. So I have waited for that moment to know why the film's called that and then, omg, I was very shocked, totally uncomfortable to watch that part. I felt like it was a western version of 'The Hills Have Eyes'. This was a road movie. A group of peoples' journey to rescue those who were abducted by some mountain tribes. The rescue was the third act and the rest of the film was about how they make into that remote place. Obviously a slow pace, makes you sit whatever position you want, but after the 90 minutes you will be more focused than before as the narration gets tense. The best part of the film in any western the audience were looking for finally arrives. It was a simple, but very strong and disturbing. The cast was the plus point, everyone did their part best. Even the music and the locations were very nice and appropriate. One of the rare western films I've seen, with a mix of horror-terror. This is the cheapest film and shot within a month of time, but a fine production and completely unexpected film. Possible for a sequel, but I think that's not a good idea unless it retains the same crew. If you're okay with a slow narration, then you will enjoy it. Compared to the opening, when it ends, you will feel satisfied. It is not a greatest western of all time, but still worth a watch. 7/10

Wuchak7/10

Nov 23, 2020

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_**Slow-burn Indie Western with a quality cast builds to a potent climax**_ In the 1890s, four men in the Southwest -- a sheriff (Kurt Russell), his aged deputy (Richard Jenkins), a gunslinger (Matthew Fox) and a wounded cowboy foreman (Patrick Wilson) -- set out to bring back captives kidnapped by a mysterious nameless tribe that lives several days ride away. Lili Simmons plays the cattleman’s wife while David Arquette plays a trashy outlaw. Sid Haig has a small role in the opening. “Bone Tomahawk” (2015) has a surprisingly good cast for an Indie Western that only cost $1.8 million and shot in 21 days. It was the first film written/directed by S. Craig Zahler and reveals a master filmmaker in that he was able to make a quality movie on such a low-budget. The film has the confidence to take its time with interesting characters and entertaining mundane dialogues, which is reminiscent of Tarantino. There are flashes of violence, but this is a slow-burn Western that builds to a rewarding climax. It’s a unique Western that meshes the Tarantino-style with realistically mundane Westerns like “The Homesman” (2014) and horrific gritty Indies like “Cry Blood, Apache” (1970). It’s superior to the latter two, especially “Cry Blood,” but it’s not quite in the ballpark of Tarantino due to lack of funds. Yet it ain’t far off either. The movie runs 2 hours, 12 minutes, and was shot at Paramount Ranch, Agoura, California. GRADE: B+/A-

Fugly. There were so many things to dislike, hate, and/or projectile-vomit from this ghastly horror that I am a little embarrassed about how I couldn't wait to grab some alone time to watch Bone Tomahawk. This is a gorge-suppressingly awful movie that is too long, more tedious than suspenseful, and features a man getting scalped, strangled, and split in two, crotch to chops. I thought the water buffalo in Apocalypse Now had it easier. The movie vaguely reminded me of John McTiernan's The Thirteenth Warrior (with a dash of Quest for Fire). In TTW, an Arab diplomat hooks a ride with Beowulf and his posse. The blood flows like spaghetti sauce as the "Geats" fight it out with a tribe of spider-worshipping Neandernasties. Here, a mini-posse of 1890s Southwesterners go on a rescue mission into desert badlands held by a pack of "Trogladytes." Where McTiernan drives the narrative at a bone-crushing pace, Bone Tomahawk crushes bones, slices scalps and genetalia, and makes the characters almost impossible to like. Kurt Russell, a man who has a voice as gritty as his stare is cold, is so restrained that the fire he brought to Tombstone is almost snuffed out. I suspect the movie tried to present the good guys as flawed and believable, but we get tired of endless trudging through the outback of the Southwest while the characters use arcane language. As I'm writing this, I'm slowly changing my mind about the blandness of the characters. Maybe they are, in their own way, working-class anti-heroes, but I just wanted a bit more savagery on the part of the "good guys." I'm going to hit "submit" now and hope my wife has not prepared spaghetti for dinner.

CinemaSerf7/10

Feb 9, 2026

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At the scene where one of his townsfolk was killed and three were kidnapped, sheriff “Hunt” (Kurt Russell) discovers a fragment of a weapon made of bone and that leads him to believe that it’s a tribe of troglodyte natives who live in distant caves who are behind the crime. Unsure why they have uncharacteristically ventured into “Bright Hope”, he recruits the injured husband of one of those missing (Patrick Wilson), his own long-suffering deputy “Chicory” (Richard Jenkins) and loner gunslinger “Brooder” (Matthew Fox) to rescue them. Now they can’t say they weren’t warned about these warriors, and before long they realise that their weapons are every bit as effective as their guns and that their brutality cares not for age nor sex. Gradually we learn the cause of their fury, but with the party hopelessly outnumbered, outmanoeuvred and outsmarted what chance they won’t just end up suffering the same fate as the apprehended? Initially I felt Russell a little too lightweight for this gritty part, but he actually fares quite well once we head into the desert and the realms of these scantily clad remnants of prehistoric existence. It’s instinctively violent, graphically at times, and the tense direction leaves us feeling quite a naturally palpable as opposed to choreographed and manufactured sense of fear for this ill-equipped posse. Wilson also punches above his usual weight as he drags his determined “Arthur” across this unforgiven terrain hoping, perhaps against hope, to save his wife from a truly grizzly fate. A western it may be, but it has elements of horror to it that are actually quite gruesome as it rattles along for a couple of hours and though uncomfortable to watch, it's well worth it.