Bone Tomahawk

BONE TOMAHAWK (USA/IFI/132mins)
Directed by S. Craig Zahler. Starring Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, Evan Jonigkeit, David Arquette, Fred Melamed.
THE PLOT: It’s a five-day journey in three days when Sheriff Hunt (Russell) leads a posse out of Bright Hope, out to rescue two men and the wife of the bed-ridden Arthur O’Dwyer (Wilson). The three were abducted by mysterious raiders in the middle of the night, and time is of the essence, given that the kidnappers are “something else entirely”, a tribal Indian breed like no other…
THE VERDICT: This is the movie ‘I wish The Hateful 8’ had been. ‘Bone Tomahawk’ has a plot, a purpose, a feckin’ punch.
Not that Zahler is Peckinpah, or Ford, or even Hillcoat, but there’s a welcome sense of menace to ‘Bone Tomahawk’, its B-movie ballsiness offset nicely by deeper, darker rumblings.
And no better man for arthouse-meets-grindhouse shenanigans than Kurt Russell, rightfully taking his place as an elder statesman of cult classics and kitschy old hits that are actually, hey, very, very good.
With a supporting cast that boasts the likes of Patrick Wilson and Richard Jenkins, you know from the opening credits that this ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no foolin’ around.
RATING: 4/5
Review by Paul Byrne