First time director, S. Craig Zahler, wrote a script distinctive enough to persuade Kurt Russell to appear in it, and then managed to take his script and create a hybrid western/cannibal film that builds slowly to a shocking climax.

SPOILERS AHEAD
Basic story line
A cowboy is arrested by Sheriff Kurt Russel on suspicion of robbery, maybe worse... what they don't know is that he's also recently desecrated that the sacred burial ground of a cannibal can of Red Indians... and they want to inflict their own justice!

When they swoop in the night to kidnap the criminal they also take a young nurse and a deputy too. So Russell, his ageing 'spare' deputy, the local hero and the nurses' husband set off to rescue them from the savages.

Up to now we are dealing with a well made,  but fairly 'standard' western, great tone and the cast is great... but it doesn't prepare you for what happens in the last half an hour.

The climax sees our heroes decimated by the cannibals, captured and graphically brutalised - but not quite down and out yet.

The sequences in the cannibal's cave owes more to Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust than John Ford's The Searchers, with the cannibal clan revealed as a freakshow of inbred psychopaths with no regard for human life.  

All in all a surprising film, well made and well acted... I'll be looking out for what Zahler does next.

Anthony
(Check out my mini reviews at http://www.subterrene.co.uk )    

Good to know.  

Not big into horror, but I do like the western setting and Kurt Russell rarely puts in a bad performance.  The one trailer i watched didn't quite seem to do the idea justice -- seemed lacking...  On the other hand 89% on R.T speaks of good things.  I'll be checking this one out.

Cheers Anthony.

I loved this movie.

The violence is shocking and will impact even the most hardened of horror film watchers.
but the dialogue and the performances of the actors is where this film really shines.

highly recommended.

I thought the script was one of the weaker westerns that Craig S Zahler's written (especially compared to his two absolutely brilliant western novels; two novels which I am still unable to fathom why they have not been adapted to the screen), but everything that I've read makes it seem like he's taken some of the weaker aspects of the script (the slow second act and the tonally distinct third act) and turned them into the strongest aspects of the film.

Consider my interest most certainly piqued.

Really wanting to see this one. Glad it appears to be great from all I've heard of it!

I thought it was Okay.

Kind of fell apart in the third act for me. It was anticlimactic.

SPOILERS:






We spent like 90 mins walking around to end up in a little cave.



END SPOILERS.

Kurt Russell stars in this gritty western that follows a small (4 man) posse as they try to retrieve some townsfolk kidnapped by Indian savages. Some very gruesome scenes that suit the period. Perhaps a little slow in places, but it's well worth the wait.

For the first time since Unforgiven, I feel as though I've watched a realistic western. Something that could actually have happened and I loved it. I saw The Hateful Eight recently, but this is better than that. With Tarantino, he deals in history too, but you always know that you're watching a film. None of it could ever have been real.

The language in this was very well researched. So much so, that it seems the writer is an expert on this period of history. I love westerns and I like writing them, having written two (albeit cross-genre) myself, and I am jealous. I'd love to have this writer go over my scripts and improve the language.

A simple, straightforward storyline, but if you like Westerns then you should love this. Unless you like fake westerns with bullshit characters, of course.

8 out of 10 for originality.

No worries... great you saw it, I'm assuming it's going to get a limited release over here, which is a shame ;-(

I recommend The Green Room too, saw it as same film fest - very good.

Anthony

I'll have to give this a look - my wife loves Kurt Russel (eye candy for her).

I will admit that Blazing Saddles has kind of fok'd up westerns for me - every time they pan in to the small town by synapses connect and "There was a town called Rockridge..." startsplaying in my brain.

I did love Unforgiven (a near perfect movie) as well as Tombstone - so maybe there is hope for me.

The script may be available here:

http://www.celluloid-dreams.com/assets/7283/BONE+TOMAHAWK+Script.pdf


For some reason, I can only hit it on my ipad, but not on my computer.  You might want to try right click and "save as".


Don

Dustin,

Contact the author and request he read your work. You never know...

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS...

Finally got around to seeing this.  Not bad, the attention to authenticity was refreshing, Zahler certainly knows the period.  I’d echo Demento -- for me the ending didn’t do justice to the build-up.  Bit of an anti-climax, perhaps even a cop out given the potential.  Granted, Deputy Nick’s scene in the cave was brutal; but after that the sense of dread and tension seemed to evaporate.  I guess I was expecting a far darker ending -- actually surprised as to how ‘easy’ it was for the characters to escape.

Not to say I didn’t enjoy it -- more entertaining than most.  Hopefully it leads to Zahler getting more of his work into production.  Halfway through ‘Wraiths of a Broken Land’ -- i'd be interested to see this make it to the screen.  I'd guess the budget for Bone Tomahawk made it more accessible.  

Script link worked for me -- though only on my phone and even now I’m not sure exactly how I downloaded it, just found the PDF a day later…

So,

I get some cajun shrimp and a burger -- start this movie up and the throat cut scene comes on immediately.

I finished eating instead of finishing watching.

Oh well.

Quoted from Penoyer79 I loved this movie. The violence is shocking and will impact even the most hardened of horror film watchers. but the dialogue and the performances of the actors is where this film really shines. highly recommended.

From the DVD cover I expected this to be trash. The title didn't exactly inspire either. It was a film I'd never heard of until I heard it might be good by my better half. She wasn't exactly impressed by my comment 'that will suck big balls'.

The cast wasn't exactly up there either. Kurt Russell hasn't bettered his turn in The Thing. He's pretty good, but usually ends up in movies beneath him.

Matthew Fox did well as Jack in Lost. Pity all that went well pear shaped at the end. Some of Lost was truly outstanding. I can't say I'd seen him anything decent since then.

I've always liked Patrick Wilson. His TV stuff is usually good, like Fargo. But there's not many outstanding films with him in. I liked Watchmen, but it doesn't really stand up to subsequent viewings. There's a little known film called Little Children he's in with Kate Winslet. It was good, but I really don't want to see it again anytime soon.

So my hopes were low. I was surprised. I was hooked from the very start until the very end. There's not many times I can say that about a film like this.

The story doesn't let up or let you down.

It gets a bit graphic in parts as the quote above suggests, but considering the nature of the story this was to be expected. Hardened horror fans will love it.

I think I preferred Kurt Russell in this than in The Hateful Eight. Matthew Fox was also rather good here. So was Wilson and the rest of them.

I really liked it. Impressive.

Also impressive is they shot it in 21 days. A first time director from his own script and on a reasonably small budget. I wish I could do that.  

R

Huh... I watched most of Lost (all but the last season which I'm saving for a rainy day...) and had no idea that was Matthew Fox -- his character 'Brooder' just kind of turns up and tags along -- not in a bad way.  Well I'll be...

From the DVD cover I expected this to be trash. The title didn't exactly inspire either. It was a film I'd never heard of until I heard it might be good by my better half. She wasn't exactly impressed by my comment 'that will suck big balls'.

The cast wasn't exactly up there either. Kurt Russell hasn't bettered his turn in The Thing. He's pretty good, but usually ends up in movies beneath him.

Matthew Fox did well as Jack in Lost. Pity all that went well pear shaped at the end. Some of Lost was truly outstanding. I can't say I'd seen him anything decent since then.

I've always liked Patrick Wilson. His TV stuff is usually good, like Fargo. But there's not many outstanding films with him in. I liked Watchmen, but it doesn't really stand up to subsequent viewings. There's a little known film called Little Children he's in with Kate Winslet. It was good, but I really don't want to see it again anytime soon.

So my hopes were low. I was surprised. I was hooked from the very start until the very end. There's not many times I can say that about a film like this.

The story doesn't let up or let you down.

It gets a bit graphic in parts as the quote above suggests, but considering the nature of the story this was to be expected. Hardened horror fans will love it.

I think I preferred Kurt Russell in this than in The Hateful Eight. Matthew Fox was also rather good here. So was Wilson and the rest of them.

I really liked it. Impressive.

Also impressive is they shot it in 21 days. A first time director from his own script and on a reasonably small budget. I wish I could do that.  

R

EDIT: There is a point I only recalled when I was reading other posts on this thread which is a major plus with this movie. It was Dustin's about the language. They nailed that in so many ways. I've no real idea if that is how they talked back then, but it sure as hell as felt right every time.

My favourite was Patrick Wilson remarking to Fox about 'You make flirtatious remarks in my wife's presence and there will be a reckoning.'

Another was 'This is not the time for womanly imaginings.'

It wasn't just good writing, it was the way the actors sold it as that's how they talked then.

R

I saw this one a couple months ago.

I thought it moved slow, but the surprises forced me to keep watching.
One scene scarred my daughter who actually threw up from how graphic it was.

I think it was ok, original, but I don't think I would watch it again even though I like westerns.

Cindy

The film more or less seemed to go right to VOD, because I barely recall it in theatres. But I kept hearing good things about the film. For a long time I avoided it. Then recently, I decided to give it a shot. kurt Russell, Patrick wilson and a Sid Haig cameo. Can't be all bad. What I got was a pleseant surprise. Two additional surprises. Two townsfolk were played by Sean Young and Micheal Pare- they had about one or two lines each in the town hall meeting in the saloon and see ya later.
It was odd because these two talents had had a small bit of resurgence in supporting roles in the last few years.

As the film got going, I was really getting into it. Parts loosely reminded me of The 13th Warrior/Eaters Of The dead.

the makeup on russell was so good for a short while I forgot who the actor was. I remember asking myself what happened to Tommy Lee Jones...boy, am I in trouble, mistaking Kurt Russell for Tommy Lee Jones!

;D

The man-split was graphic and shocking, yet, you felt something over the death of that character.I also got myself rooting for Wilson's wounded one-man cavalry. Will he make it or share the same fate?

I dunno. Maybe it is true and H'wood has fear of westerns, including those that dabble in horror and/or suspense.

Finally got to see this...and I've been looking forward to this for a long time.

Almost immediately, I could tell something was "off" with David Arquette and Sig Haig's scene.  It came off as a pisser, or a comedy, or just a little odd.

The oddness continued throughout and I wasn't sure if I liked the off kilter dialogue, was supposed to laugh at it, or take it seriously.  I was actually very relieved to see I was not alone when I read reviews on RT and IMDB.

Same goes for the setup and plot here - is it really to be taken seriously? No...I don't think so, as it just doesn't make alot of sense if you pay attention.

At 2 hours and 12 minutes, this is way overblown and slow as molasses.  In fact, the "middle" of the film is really the majority of the film, and it's nothing but walking and talking.  When we finally get to the good stuff, it's handled oddly again - ultra graphic, but so far from believable or even scary/intense.  To me, it was actually a little goofy.

And I think goofy is the word here overall, as really none of this can be taken remotely seriously.  Almost like the far inferior Ty West flick, "In the Valley of Violence".

I wanted to love this and I even tried loving it, but in the end, I was left pretty surprised how little I actually enjoyed it.

Does anyone still have the script to Bone Tomahawk?
Don't know what happened to mine and every link to the script seems defunct now.

I'll see if I can find a copy Libby

Hmmm, thought I had one but can't find it...

Fouud two links though...

$2.75 to download on Zahler's own site - https://www.scraigzahler.com/store/bone-tomahawk-script-pdf

And looks available on Scribd if you sign up https://www.scribd.com/document/349176341/Bone-Tomahawk-Script

Thanks so much, Ant!
I know I had it too and I only want to look at one scene, but can't find it. Maybe it's a self combusting file after a while.  :D