Review: Bone Tomahawk

Bone Tomahawk got a quiet release at the end of 2015, so quiet I'd never even heard about it until some glowing reviews started coming in about a brutal but brilliant Western Horror being sent straight to VOD. It peaked my interest and I figured I'd give it a shot, and it almost lives up to the hype, I've definitely seen more violent films but in terms of a slow burning return with a modern twist, this is something genre fans have been waiting for.

Set in The Old West in a little town called Bright Hope, a mysterious drifter comes into town, hiding a stack of loot just outside, his arrival rouses the suspicions of Sherriff Franklin Hunt who, along with Deputy Chicory, go to question the drifter resulting in an altercation and Hunt shooting the drifter in the leg. With the doctor drunk off his ass, word is sent to his assistant Samantha O'Dwyer who is currently tending to her husband Arthur who suffered a broken leg after a working accident.

Samantha stays during the night to tend to the drifter's wounds but come morning not a sign of the pair of them or Deputy Nick who was standing guard with them. With an arrow stunk in the jail and a stable-boy brutally killed not far away, Hunt realises that one of the savage tribes is responsible and has kidnapped Samantha and the others, gathering a team of himself, Chicory, Arthur and xenophobic bounty hunter John Brooder, Hunt sets out to find the captives, unaware of what violent horrors await him and his group.

It's a very simple story but that in turn is why it works, for the first 3/4 of this flick you could swear you were watching a typical, albeit well-written, Western from the days of Ford and Leone with the four very different men making their way through the hot and harrowing desert, fighting off raiders, injury and their own differing ideals. It isn't until the last act that things ramp up with the Tribal's - the film makes a point of saying they're not actually Indians even though the more close-minded individuals might mistake them as such - and their cannibalistic ways serving as the horror portion of this Western Horror, it's quite jarring but it means that all the tension and fear is confined to that last half hour and all the proper character work is done beforehand, it could've been shortened a tad, yeah, but it works.

The film's main boast is the strong character works, particularly from the main four though there's some solid supporting work with David Arquette and Devil's Rejects' Sid Haig playing a pair of killers and thieves who inadvertently start this whole mess. Fargo's Hanzee reunites with Wilson to play a small role as the town's resident Indian expert and Banshee's Lili Simmons makes a big impression as Samantha, in the time before her kidnapping we see a smart, strong-willed woman who isn't afraid to call the men out on their idiocy, it made the quest to find her all the more worth it.

Patrick Wilson took on the straight man role as Arthur O'Dwyer, Samantha's husband who immediately joins the trek to find her, regardless of any prior hunting or tracking experience. Wilson's always been a solid straight man and he's no different here but what makes Arthur works in his broken leg, he has the biggest drive to find his wife but he also has the biggest setback and it's the balance between how far he wants to go and how far he can actually go that makes the character work. Between dangerous opium consumption and badly judged steps, Arthur quickly proves to be a man who'll go through hell to save his wife but perhaps a little too costly for the others.

Matthew Fox takes on what is probably his best role since Lost as John Brooder, a well-dressed, well-educated man with a violent streak and a hatred towards Indians. Brooder injects the group with a wild-card, he's a man who's always ready to make the hard choice, even if that hard choice involves shooting first, asking questions never, Fox borders the line between despicable and intelligent well, at times Brooder's severe dislike of anyone different makes him unlikeable but at others his own sense of honour works in his favour, hell the only reason he's even on this quest is because of his own personal guilt for getting Samantha involved. It's that greyness to him that makes the character work and builds in his favour by the time he explains his hatred for Indians, not excusing his actions but explaining them as a tragic by-product of the era.

Richard Jenkins nearly manages to steal the film as Chicory, an old-timer and Back-up Deputy probably only given the job by Hunt so he had something to do following his wife's death. Chicory isn't the brightest bulb on the tree, he's a little slow on the uptake and certain elements fly right over his head but where he differs from similar, more annoying characters is that Jenkins makes Chicory so damn likeable, he's got a sense of job-worth, of doing the right thing no matter how difficult it might seem, all the times he goes off rambling or focuses on the wrong thing just add to his character and makes his total loyalty to Hunt all the more tangible because it's the one thing he actively makes sure to stick to.

And finally Kurt Fucking Russell (as he's properly known) takes on the lead role as Sheriff Franklin Hunt. At first Russell appears to be in Kurt Russell mode, making Hunt a grouchy old man with a habit of killing folk, but as the film goes on you see there's a lot more to him. Hunt's actually got a lot of respect and admiration for the people of Bright Hope and this cannibalistic hell that's befallen them is something he needs to sort out as his duty to them all. Hunt's tough as nails but he's actually a much softer character than say John Ruth (Russell's OTHER 2015 Western role), Hunt prefers to think about his actions, know what he's going to do ahead of time and execute it to plan instead of improvising, he's got his killing moments but he's easily more on the side of hero than antihero, it's refreshing to see that in a Western lead, while grey morality has been a solid staple of the genre, Russell's heroic Sheriff stands out against the savagery of the Tribal Villains.

The film is the directorial debut of S. Craig Zahler, a novelist who adapted one of his own scripts and makes a big impact, like I said the film does start off with a slow-burn but Zahler makes it work by putting the four leads against each other, the way all four interact and bicker adds some levity and at times humour to the proceedings, I was surprised at some of the light-heartedness in this film. particularly between Chicory and Hunt and their long-standing friendship. It wasn't all light though, some moments including a pair of possible raiding scouts give the film some much needed weight to pit the group against each other and push their fractured ideals against one another, for example, where Hunt might see a source of information, Brooder might see trouble and it's how they react to each other that makes the slow-burning first part work out so well. By giving us people to care about and watching them interact like genuinely flawed people Zahler delivers something akin to the Sergio Leone works, created a dry, imperfect world but one that matches the attitudes and personalities of the people involved.

Of course this is a horror movie and there is some pretty damn good horror, as soon as Hunt and the Gang (totally using that for future Band name) are attacked by The Tribals the film explodes into a very different beast, almost immediately things take a much darker turn that's only exarcerbated by limb amputations, horrendous Tribal screeching (seriously, watch this movie just to hear this ungodly sound) and what is probably the most brutal and sickening death scene I've watched since Valhalla Rising, I've not even going to talk about it because it's so difficult to watch and yet so wonderfully original at the same time. By saving all the horror until the end Zahler creates a film that doesn't run out of steam but rather holds it back until that final sprint to the finish, and what a spring it is, yes I know I said I've seen more violent films but the level of brutality is definitely up there and the Tribal's are a truly horrifying creation, something inhuman and yet completely real, just watching some of their works makes you realise this is not your typical Western film.

I

'm glad I heard about Bone Tomahawk because I really enjoyed it, it felt like a throwback mixed with some modern day ultra violence, mixing kidnapping with cannibalism and putting a host of fine actors at the forefront and a new voice in the director's chair who can hopefully pull this off again.

8.5/10