The Western is arguably the most American of all genres. It's where we get our definition of a "tough guy hero" from one; we imagine John Wayne's swagger and quick hand on the trigger. While the genre has gone through some lean periods, the last couple of years have seen a revival of sorts. In 2015 alone there have been multiple films taking audiences to the dangerous, dusty Old West. Later this year Quentin Tarantino will follow up his Django Unchained with another Western, The Hateful Eight, but his star Kurt Russell has saddled up for the equally violent and awesomely-titled Bone Tomahawk, which is also worth checking out despite a few pacing issues.
Directed by author S. Craig Zahler, Bone Tomhawk isn't your typical Western, although it sticks to the straight-line structure most of those films have. As the name suggests it's very much a horror, too, and one that goes for maximum gore factor rather than scares. Russell stars as small-town Sheriff Franklin Hunt who gathers up a posse to locate missing doctor Samantha O'Dwyer (Lili Simmons) and a petty outlaw (David Arquette) after they've been kidnapped by cannibalistic "troglodytes". Along for the journey is a motley crew that includes Samantha's injured husband Arthur (Patrick Wilson), old deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins, a scene-stealer), and brash gunslinger John Brooker (Matthew Fox).
So there's quite the tremendous cast here, and Zahler gets the best from them all, giving them space to acclimate to the gradual rhythms of the genre. There isn't a ton of violence but when it happens it's brutal, stomach-churning stuff involving arrows and hatchets and things that tear people limb from limb. One especially nasty mutilation later may be the grossest kill anyone will see on screen this year. To describe it would be to spoil it, and audiences deserve to discover that queasy moment for themselves. What's most interesting is how easily the film explores male identity and masculinity, trademark themes of the Old West, while successfully embracing horror elements. Zahler mixes in a good deal of dark gallows humor, usually told by the great Richard Jenkins, and the dialogue has a surprisingly theatrical, Shakespearean flair that is always engaging.
The deliberate pacing becomes an issue with the 2-hour plus runtime, and the drab, dust-covered locale doesn't help. There's also the sense that more could have been done with Russell's character, who is basically a one-note rawhide cowboy with little else to offer. Other than Jenkins it's Wilson who fares the best, once again playing the guy who is masculine in appearance but lacking in intestinal fortitude. It's what he does and he's good at it. Bone Tomahawk may be too much of a slow burn, overall, but there's a very specific audience out there who are going to love the way it combines Westerns and horror while respecting them both.
Rating: 3 out of 5
