From the outset, S. Craig Zahler’s debut feature Bone Tomahawk seems every inch a solid addition to the modern Western genre, from its dry, sun-bleached look to the presence of Kurt Russell as the stoic Sheriff Hunt. Its first and second acts move along at a fair-enough pace, ticking all the usual genre boxes: Samantha (Lili Simmons) is abducted from a quiet Western town, Sheriff Hunt arranges a posse to retrieve her, which includes his sycophantic Deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins), her lame husband Arthur (Patrick Wilson) and enigmatic dandy Brooder (Matthew Fox), and the gang encounter the usual natural and unnatural obstacles as they draw ever closer to their target.
But it’s as the film closes in on its third act that Bone Tomahawk explodes into its gruesome, ultra-violent conclusion that leans more toward horror than anything from the traditional Western genre. It’s a right turn that comes as the gang approach their destination, discovering that the tribe behind the kidnap of Samantha (referred to simply as ‘troglodytes’) are sub-human, almost mythological creatures that feast on human flesh and communicate with high pitched squeals.
The four lead performances all offer something subtly brilliant, at times subverting the Western traditions with beautifully written interactions. Russell, his mustachioed face as synonymous with the Western as pretty much any other actor currently working, is ostensibly the gruff, dutiful Sheriff putting his sense of right above all else. But there are brief moments where his vulnerability appears, both as a result of interactions with the troglodytes and with his companions. Wilson and Fox are equally great, as is an unrecognizable Jenkins as Sheriff Hunt’s minion. The four characters all seem to be trying to play up to their stereotypes: the Brave Sherriff, the Vengeful Husband, the Mysterious Stranger and the Devoted Deputy, but all too often succumbing to the unrealistic expectations that these roles provide for them. Fundamentally, they’re just four normal men.
While in theory a film that spends the first 75% of its running time as a refined, slow-burning Western that suddenly turns into something that wouldn’t look out of place at the next Mayhem Film Festival, might seem jarring: the transition works beautifully. The final act of the film betrays all of the understated subtleties of its opening, replacing it instead with a brutal sledge-hammer of gore, including one of the most brutal death scenes I can remember seeing on film. It’s like seeing Yo-Yo Mar open a concert that is headlined by GG Allin.
For a directorial debut, cinematographer, musician and novelist Zahler displays an enormous (and justifiably so) set of balls. Drawing wonderful performances from his entire cast, and blending two genres with skillful acuity, in Bone Tomahawk he has created a film with the feeling of an instant cult classic.
Bone Tomahawk will be showing at Broadway Cinema until Thursday 3 March 2016.
Bone Tomahawk Trailer
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