Written and directed by S. Craig Zahler
Starring Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Lili Simmons, Richard Jenkins, Evan Jonigkeit, Kathryn Morris, Sid Haig, David Arquette and Fred Melamed
USA, 2015
The horror western BONE TOMAHAWK has been on my list for years and it keeps getting bumped because I keep seeing it’s slightly over two hours long and also get grossed out about the cannibalism. But, I’ve finally gotten around to it, and I’m glad I have, because it reminded me that I like westerns, so it doesn’t matter if they’re over two hours long and have cannibals in them.
Kurt Russell leads a well-cast posse (Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox and Richard Jenkins) on a quest to follow the trail of a group of cannibals who have kidnapped one of the parties’ wife (Lili Simmons). After a brief horror interlude starring David Arquette and Sid Haig, the bulk of the movie is made up of this journey and an examination of the relationship dynamics between these guys. Who’s right, who’s wrong, who’s going to change, who isn’t. One of them starts out injured, so it also becomes a bit of a survival story as he pushes himself to continue.
I guess it’s a testament to the perceived unmarketability of westerns that this otherwise straightforward Hollywood crowd pleaser should take the form of a low budget indie production. It didn’t make waves when it came out, because no one saw it, but time has been kind, and now it regularly pops up on best-of lists, which makes me happy.
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