Bone Tomahawk (2015)

 

I fear this one flew relatively low under the radar for most people. A real shame, because this film is a great mixture of western and horror, but more in the vein of the ever darker shades like 'Apocalypse Now' and with no real jumpscares or mythical monsters. No, the monsters are real and are surprisingly human, although that does not mean they are humane. 

Anyway: this film rocks. 

The story starts off when two pillagers (played by David Arquette and Sid Haig) think they have been spotted by riders, so they head off into what appears to be a remote valley in order to escape capture. They discover some sort of tribal ground, which of course is never a good sign. 

A short while later, we are introduced to our main characters in the town of Bright Hope. There's Patrick Wilson as a cattle driver who has broken his leg and is now stuck at home with his young wife. There's Kurt Russell as the sheriff, who is calm and collected and there's Matthew Fox as a stuck up gunslinger whose fashion sense clearly prevails above all else. Most of the men are off herding cattle, so the town is pretty deserted, save for some women, children and old men. 

Things take a turn when one of the pillagers from the beginning comes into town. The sheriff incapacitates him by shooting him in the leg, and they need to call on Patrick Wilson's wife, as she is the town's nurse. Nothing strange about that, until the mysterious natives from the start turn up in town, kill the stablehand in a pretty brutal fashion and kidnap both Patrick Wilson's wife and a young deputy. 

So now the hunt is on, as Russell, Wilson, Fox and elderly Richard Jenkins head out to find the kidnap victims and hope to bring them back. The main snag is that the tribe that seemingly did all this, is even frowned upon, shunned and feared by the other Native Americans as being aberrations. 

And then, it builds until the true horror is unleashed near the end...

This film is a lot better than it sometimes gets credit for. Yes, it is fairly slow, but the tension that is being built up is almost tangible. You get enough time with the characters to get to know them (there are only a few anyway) and when the shit hits the fan, you will understand their motivations a lot better and will actually root for them. No one is mere cannonfodder here and even the most levelheaded of people can be driven to do awful things. This is especially true in the case of Matthew Fox' character, who first comes off as a total jerk, but as we get to know him, a lot of his behaviour starts to make sense and you will sympathize more with him. 

But what really makes this stand out is not simply the excellent buildup, it's the very visceral nature of the horror in this film. It is brutal, gutwrenching and very, very realistic in ever possible way. There's not a lot of it, but what there is, will leave some pretty gruesome images in your brain. I won't spoil it in any way, shape or form, but suffice to say it's hardcore. Not only that, but certain implications made during the story make it all more tangible and even harsher than first glances might reveal. 

Sorry to be so vague, but I really don't want to ruin this experience for anyone. Let's put it this way: this is an excellent dark western, but if you are at all squeamish, this might not be the film for you. But if you can stand it, you will find a highly underrated film with excellent performances and a creepy atmosphere that isn't often reached by others.