Year released: 2015
THE CHARGE: Forcing a head-on collision between two distinct film genres and charging admission to view the wreckage.
THE EVIDENCE: A couple of no-good sidewindin' bushwhackin' varmints stumble upon a burial ground and before you know it, one of them ends up deceased. The other takes refuge in a town run by Sheriff Kurt Russell and his majestic sheriff-y beard, but he may have unwittingly led some rather agitated cannibalistic tribesmen to an all-you-can-eat buffet. But the cannibals prefer to get their food to-go, and drag some townsfolk back to their caves. Will Sheriff Kurt and his beard save the day?
I've seen Bone Tomahawk typically classified as a horror-western but by my reckoning, the film's about 80% western and 20% horror. And let's get this out of the way early: anyone who goes into this movie expecting either an action-filled shoot-em-up or a jump-out-of-your-seat fright flick is going to be sorely disappointed.
First and foremost, the movie is a character study. The story is simple cowboys and indians stuff, with the stakes raised by making the indians a tribe of cave dwelling cannibals. It's certainly not complex enough to require a two hour and 12 minute running time, which is how long it takes for Bone Tomahawk to go from beginning to end.
But this movie's not about the story, it's about the people. Or, more specifically, it's all about the actors. All the townspeople are portrayed as fairly simple folk, giving the actors plenty of time to stretch scenes out to better display their acting chops. And director/writer S. Craig Zahler gives his actors plenty of tangential Tarantino-esque dialog meant not to move the plot forward, but to give depth to the characters and give the viewer a deeper understanding of their motives. It gives the film a leisurely pace that's downright hypnotizing thanks to the strong acting by Richard Jenkins as an aged deputy, Matthew Fox as a foppish but borderline psychotic gun-for-hire, and Kurt Russell as Kurt Russell.
That beard is so bad-ass, it's growing its own beard.
And yet... as much as I enjoyed the film while watching it, I find that on reflection, it doesn't really hold up well. There's way too much scenery chewing by the cast. There are gaps in logic that you could drive a herd of buffalo through. And for as long as the film takes to tell its story, there's a lot it leaves unanswered, especially where it concerns any backstory for the cannibal tribe. Why do they live in caves? How did they get the technology to build rudimentary but effective jail cells to hold their captives? Why do they craft and swallow whistles that they then use to communicate?
And then there's "the scene". The notoriously gory scene where one of the captives is hung upside down and cleaved down the middle by the cannibals. The scene itself is quite stunning. The effects work is top notch. The scene is brutally effective. And it certainly generated a lot of buzz when the movie was released. But it just didn't need to be there. It's only there for shock value, adding nothing to the story except for providing a reason to apply the "horror" tag to the film. Frankly, I think it drags the whole movie down, instantly changing it from an artful slow-paced drama to a crass exploitation flick.
People gathered from miles around to behold the beard's majesty.
I'm not going to tell you not to watch Bone Tomahawk. It's a different kind of movie and I admire movies that do something different to set them apart from the cookie cutter productions churned out by major Hollywood studios. And as I stated earlier, the movie had a hypnotic effect that kept me engaged throughout its extensive run time. Just go into it knowing what to expect.
Western fans: yes, there is extreme gore. Those of you expecting a replay of Kurt Russell's performance in Tombstone will probably be surprised by a couple of scenes more in line with his performance in The Thing.
Gorehounds: there are only a couple of scenes that will satisfy you and the movie takes almost two hours to get there.
And beard lovers: be prepared to revel in the glory of Kurt Russell's magnificent facial hair.
THE VERDICT: Bone Tomahawk is NOT GUILTY of providing a high quality yet quirky western drama, but GUILTY of sabotaging itself just to generate buzz to increase the film's notoriety, when it was already buzzworthy due to its strong performances.
