BONE TOMAHAWK
Director : S. Craig Zahler
Year : 2016
Genre : Western horror
Rating : ****1/2
Barely given anytime to sit down and relax after shooting Quentin Tarantino's thrilling Western 'The Hateful Eight', Kurt Russell once again dons the archetypal stetson for 'Bone Tomahawk', S. Craig Zahler's fearsome directorial debut that owes just as much to the controversial mondo terrors of Ruggero Deodato and Umberto Lenzi as it does to the classic yarns of John Ford and Sergio Leone. Co-starring alongside Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox and Richard Jenkins, Russell plays the rugged Franklin Hunt, the no-nonsense sheriff of a small town who must assemble a daring rescue party when one of his village folk is abducted by a tribe of vicious cannibals. Joining forces with his trusty deputy (Jenkins), a womanizing yet intelligent scoundrel (Fox) and the broken legged husband of the girl who was kidnapped (Wilson), Hunt and his trio of unlikely associates embark on a perilous journey across the sun-scorched terrain of the American southwest to retrieve their friend from certain death. And being consumed.
Perfectly captured by cinematographer Benji Bakshi, 'Bone Tomahawk' bears all of the visual trademarks of the classic Western. Clearly influenced both aesthetically and narratively by John Ford's seminal 1956 gem 'The Searchers', former author and screenwriter turned filmmaker Zahler injects both a love and a deep-seated respect for the genre through his meticulously well chosen use of location and setting, with every perfectly composed frame looking like it could have been made over half a century ago, bar a higher quality of film grain of course.
The performances from the focal quartet are also very typically Western-y, most notably from the great Kurt Russell who chews the sandy scenery with the same moustachioed relish as he did the wooden interiors of Minnie's Haberdashery Store in Tarantino's aforementioned 'The Hateful Eight'. The comparisons with Tarantino continue with Zahler's genre-literate screenplay which contains the same biting banter and chuckle-filled wit that made the former the massive success he is today. Career best performances from the always reliable Richard Jenkins and big screen regular Patrick Wilson help to elevate the movie beyond its conventional trappings while a nicely irritating performance from 'Lost's Matthew Fox adds a bit of hostility between our central foursome. It is then all the more harrowing and upsetting when these likable and extremely investable characters finally reach their fateful destination and the titular skull-made weapons come out to play.
The performances from the focal quartet are also very typically Western-y, most notably from the great Kurt Russell who chews the sandy scenery with the same moustachioed relish as he did the wooden interiors of Minnie's Haberdashery Store in Tarantino's aforementioned 'The Hateful Eight'. The comparisons with Tarantino continue with Zahler's genre-literate screenplay which contains the same biting banter and chuckle-filled wit that made the former the massive success he is today. Career best performances from the always reliable Richard Jenkins and big screen regular Patrick Wilson help to elevate the movie beyond its conventional trappings while a nicely irritating performance from 'Lost's Matthew Fox adds a bit of hostility between our central foursome. It is then all the more harrowing and upsetting when these likable and extremely investable characters finally reach their fateful destination and the titular skull-made weapons come out to play.
For the first 90 minutes or so, 'Bone Tomahawk' plods along at a steady but consistent rate, ambling through time just as our heroes amble through the cacti and mountains of their desolate and dangerous homeland. But once the much talked about cannibals appear on screen, the film suddenly explodes. With almost biologically accurate scenes of torture and mutilation, 'Bone Tomahawk' instantly loses its quaint Western veneer and suddenly bears the gruesome hallmarks of the most graphic of the video nasties and as someone who frequently savours the horrifying sights of 'Deep River Savages', 'Cannibal Ferox' and the ever-contentious 'Cannibal Holocaust', I was both surprised and morbidly delighted to see this level of relentlessly outre on-screen carnage in a modern mainstream film; with one particularly nasty prolonged execution scene proving to be one of the most shocking things I have seen on silver screen for a very long time. Forget your 'Saw's, your 'Hostel's. THIS is next level violence.
Taking the roof off at last years Fantasticfest, 'Bone Tomahawk' has the potential to be a the next die-hard cult classic and if the predominantly positive reviews are anything to go by, it could also prove to be a big contender at several horror and independent movie festivals. Much like the great movies it takes inspiration from, at 132 minutes, 'Bone Tomahawk' is a bit too long but the consistently great performances, its beautiful imagery and it's absolutely 'gorious' final act more than makes up for its very few shortcomings. Vicious, funny, intense and incredibly entertaining, this fascinating genre hybrid may be a slow burner at first but it's a flame that soon ignites a cacophonous firework display of mayhem, chaos and unparalleled slaughter - perfect for those bored with the more high-brow Oscar fare currently playing in cinemas.
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