Home Media Catch Up - Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Director: S. Craig Zahler

Cast: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Lili Simmons, Richard Jenkins

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 132 min

Home Media Catch Up is a series dedicated to reviewing films released within the same year or prior year that I either missed upon theatrical release or have not got around to viewing on home media yet. Therefore, they won't contain the historical depth of a Retrospective Review, nor the initial reaction of a Theatrical Review, but more so something in between.

While Westerns have been made since the dawn of cinema, many declare John Ford's 1939 masterpiece, Stagecoach, to be the turning point in which the genre was finally taken seriously. Few genres flourished as much as the Western initially did when it became popular, dominating the cinematic conscious from the 1940s through the 70s. Unfortunately, once Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate bombed commercially in 1980, the genre started its slippery slope into cinematic obscurity. Even though certain filmmakers continued to make Westerns, such as Clint Eastwood, the genre somewhat became a thing of the past, just as the Western frontier did itself.

Nowadays, it is always a celebration amongst genre fans whenever a true Western comes out, as they tend to rarely get made anymore. Fortunately, the tail end of 2015 has offered up a wealth of Western material, with big budget-awards season offerings such as The Revenant and The Hateful Eight supplying genre fans with their Western needs. However, one low budget contemporary Western offers genre fans a different kind of thrill, or at least a different kind of sub-genre altogether. Bone Tomahawk, a true Indie picture from first time director S. Craig Zahler, offers up Western atmosphere along with the gruesome gore and terror of a cannibal picture. It also features Kurt Russell and that awesome mustache and beard of his from The Hateful Eight in a much smaller picture. While in no way for the faint of heart or those with little patience, Bone Tomahawk is an exceptionally well made, although slightly over long and occasionally sadistic, Western for those looking for a truly visceral viewing experience.

You've been warned. Proceed with caution.

Bone Tomahawk opens with a disturbing scene that sets the tone for the rest of the picture as two thieves, Buddy (David Arquette) and Purvis (Sid Haig), rob and steal from campers. Upon walking further into the desert, the two stumble upon a burial ground owned by Troglodytes, cave dwelling cannibals who show no mercy to their victims. Purvis quickly finds himself attacked and sliced open by a cannibal, while Buddy high tails it out of there thinking of himself.

After arriving in the small town of Bright Hope, Buddy earns the attention of backup deputy officer Chicory (Richard Jenkins), who finds his appearance and actions suspicious. When he informs Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell), the two of them confront Buddy, which leads to Hunt shooting him in the leg. Hunt is left in the town jail overnight and sought after by Samantha O'Dwyer (Lili Simmons), the town doctor and wife of Arthur (Patrick Wilson). Unfortunately, the cannibals tracked Buddy back to Bright Hope, and abduct both him and Samantha in the night. Therefore, Hunt, Chicory, Arthur, and an upper class man, John Brooder (Matthew Fox), set out to find the two and bring them back.

Bone Tomahawk is a success story for any aspiring filmmaker looking to produce a cheap film. It's incredible that first time director S. Craig Zahler produced the film on a mere $1 million budget and found a way to entice such recognizable actors as Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, and Richard Jenkins to the project. After watching the behind the scenes documentary, as well as having a friend familiar with the area of Southern California, I discovered that the film was shot in a Western town and in the wilderness of Malibu, California. The clearly clean looking sets and outfits do somewhat spoil what could have been a more immersive Western experience given a bigger budget, but Zahler mostly does a great job getting as much as he can out of his limited budget, especially once the film moves purely into the wild. The film also features some truly fantastic special effects, especially during any sequence involving gore, gun fire, or bodily dismemberment. Therefore, any aspiring filmmaker or movie buff will want to give the film a watch simply for Zahler's success story alone.

"I was on Lost."

Due to its limited budget, Bone Tomahawk mainly relies upon dialog and character over spectacle, although it does go all out in its final act. Therefore, the bulk of the film rests upon Zahler's ability to write and direct interesting dialog and compelling characters. For the most part, he succeeds. After all, the first two acts of the film are all about establishing character. In fact, it takes the film around 40 minutes to get to the point in which the main plot kicks off, thereby affording the first 40 minutes the task of purely establishing the characters. 

However, the film's over long run time may be felt by the viewer, especially during the slow burn of act two. Some of the scenes and accompanying dialog don't feel entirely necessary at points, such as Wilson's reading of a poem, and could have possibly been left on the cutting room floor. Thankfully, the great performances help get the viewer through most of the film's slower points, as any minute of screen time with Kurt Russell and his beard is infinitely more watchable than one without him. It's a tough balance, but a strong reminder that dialog is going to dominate a picture when a mere $1 million are at your disposal.

Speaking of performances, every one brings their A-game to Bone Tomahawk. The four main leads form a likable team of players.  Russell is his usual bad ass self, Wilson is his usual boy scout self, and Jenkins is his usual kind hearted and adorable self. I was most surprised by Matthew Fox of Lost fame though, who gave a show stealing performance as a rich uppity gunslinger with a unique moral code. The film is also jam packed with numerous cameos, including David Arquette (Scream), Sid Haig (The Devil's Rejects), Sean Young (Blade Runner), Kathryn Morris (Cold Case), Michael Pare (Eddie and the Cruisers), and James Tolkan (Back to the Future Trilogy). Many of these cameos are mere moments long though. In all honesty, Sean Young completely skipped past me on my first watch, as I don't even remember her appearing on screen.

Wilson takes aim and fires in one of the film's most memorable scenes.

Bone Tomahawk is a part of a very rare type of sub-genre, the Western horror to be exact. In fact, it crosses over into cannibal territory as well, which is its own sub-genre in and of itself. Therefore, fans of either Cannibal Holocaust or Unforgiven will find something to like here, as Bone Tomahawk caters to both the Western and horror fan alike.

The bulk of the horror doesn't arrive until the film's dynamite final act in which all kinds of blood and gore is unleashed on the screen. The exact moment in which Zahler lets loose with the blood and mayhem is so unpredictable, that those who have started to snooze off from the slow second act will most likely have to rewind in order to catch up again. There's no denying that the final act is exceptionally brutal. The film will most likely go down in history amongst genre buffs for one particular scene of brutal murder that caused even myself to cover up my eyes. After all, I typically swear off cannibal films because I find them too sadistic and gruesome for my taste; I haven never even seen the likes of Cannibal Holocaust, Cannibal Ferox, or Eli Roth's latest The Green Inferno because I know I won't find any enjoyment in them. Therefore, whenever Bone Tomahawk crossed over into hardcore cannibalism, my mouth gaped and my eyes squinted.

While I typically excuse brutal violence, especially when it is part of the action or Western genre, I felt that Bone Tomahawk's most gruesome moments were unnecessary and fairly sadistic. For example, when a character is scalped in gruesome detail, I felt that Zahler could have cut away from there and left the rest to the viewer's imagination. Unfortunately, Zahler continues to show the man eat his own scalp and than be sliced in half down the middle of his body, followed by all of his entrails pouring out onto the dirt. This moment was so sadistic and evil, that it made me question whether I liked the film at all. Another sadistic moment includes a cannibal slicing open a character's stomach and forcing a hot tin into their body. However, nothing compared to one of the film's final moments in which it is revealed that the cannibals own two blind and crippled women purely for reproducing. That might be more disturbing and vile than any moment of on screen violence purely for its horrendous implications. Therefore, let me stress that Bone Tomahawk is not for the weak, as it truly goes where few other films go.

If you can't handle this image, than you won't handle Bone Tomahawk.

Even though Bone Tomahawk's gruesome gore and torturous sequences will make any viewer's stomach churn, the film balances it out with some thankfully satisfying and realistic action to boot. Therefore, it's not just torture and gore, but revenge and escape as well. S. Craig Zahler has crafted quite a unique Western; one that features A-list actors, a $1 million budget, and some of the most gruesome imagery to be put upon the screen. Horror fans will find themselves in heaven, while others might feel alienated or distant from the film's hardcore proceedings. While the gruesome gore may be too sadistic for my taste, the film's rather slow start is the film's biggest downfall. If Bone Tomahawk had been a tad shorter, as well as a tad less violent, than I could easily sing its praises to everyone. Even with its apparent flaws and my own personal taste set aside, the film is still a hidden gem that true genre fans are going to want to seek out. Just remember to bring either a barf bag, a remote to fast forward through a scene or two, as well as your own trusty hands to cover up your eyes.

Rating: 7/10 - While immensely sadistic and slightly overlong, Bone Tomahawk excels as a visceral Western horror.