Bone Tomahawk delivers much more than just waves of disgust.
Kurt Russell heads a posse in this pulpy twist on John Ford’s The Searchers which is hide-under-your-seat scary.
There is dry, absurdist gallows humour here, alongside some very evocatively shot footage of the rugged west.
By the time of the final reckoning we have come to care about all of the characters which lends a sense of nobility, even poignancy, when the blood spurts and the horror begins.
It has a nice line in wry chatter and a pleasantly old-fashioned ‘lost posse’ plot with engaging, odd characters striving against the wilderness while swapping cynical frontier wisdom.
The film fairly revels in the esoteric banter that emerges from this disparate posse, but as entertaining as it is to watch Russell and co it also strains the patience. The kill-crazy ending does make up for it, though.
Kurt Russell leads the way in debut director S Craig Zahler’s literate take on the western, complete with explosive climax.
Best western: why Bone Tomahawk became a gunslinging cult hit.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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