BONE TOMAHAWK

US, 2015, 132 minutes, Colour.
Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, David Arquette, Sid Haig, Katherine Morris.
Directed by S Craig Zehler.

The Anonymous synopsis writer from the IMDb sums up this graphic film:
After an outlaw unknowingly leads a band of cannibalistic Troglodytes into the peaceful western town of Bright Hope, the monsters kidnap several settlers, including the wife of a local rancher. Despite his injured leg the rancher joins a small rescue party with the sheriff, his aging deputy and a strong-willed gunslinger. What follows is a journey into hell on earth as the posse comes to realize it is up against a foe whose savagery knows no bounds. The film takes place at the turn of the century around the border of what is now Texas and New Mexico.

The film has a very strong cast, headed by Kurt Russell, the rancher, searching for his wife, with injured leg but stoically going forward. He is accompanied by Patrick Wilson and Matthew Fox. Richard Jenkins and David Arquette are in support, as is Sid Haig, veteran of a number of films with horror overtones.

While the film has a Western setting and Western characters, it moves into the horror genre with its portrayal of the cannibals, visual presentation of them, white make up, cruel, keeping guard, destroying and devouring.

It is not surprising that the film was nominated at many horror festivals – while keeping the framework of the traditional Western.

1. 21st-century Western? Looking back at the West, its isolation, law and order, the Indians, the clans? Violence in the old West?

2. The title, the Indians, the cannibal tribe, their life, style, weapons, aggression?

3. The recreation of the West, the 19th century articulate vocabulary and style? The town of Bright Hope? Homes, the saloon, the sheriff, life in the town, the background of the Desert, the desert terrain, the mountains, the cave? The cave and the interiors? The feel of the West? The musical score?

4. The prologue, the two prospectors, killing the strangers, robbing, leaving? The Indian cemetery? The man killed by the arrow, the other escaping to the town, burying his goods, going to the saloon, the encounter with the sheriff, his running, shot in the leg, his being tended by Mrs O’ Dwyer? The abduction?

5. The stable, the young man going to the horses, his brutal death, the weapons? The abduction of the stranger, Mrs O’ Dwyer and the police assistant? The discovery of what happened, in the barn, in the house? The mayor and his dignity, his wife’s demands? In the saloon, the Indian refusing to go, the other members of the town? Chicory and his being deputy? Brooder and his status in the town, the gentleman, the Indian fighter?

6. The O’ Dwyer’s, their life, Samantha and her medical skills, and his injury, at home, the bond between them? Samantha and her going to tend the stranger? The abduction? The effect on Arthur and his reading the letter?

7. The sheriff, his wife, the bond between them? The sheriff being an honourable man, the situation, organising the posse, the discussions, the problems, farewell to his wife, Chicory going to the cemetery, his bond with his wife, the farewell to Nadine? Brooder and his story?

8. Arthur, upset, deciding to go, the dangerous situation with his leg?

9. The trek, the discussions, camps, Chicory and the range of stories that he told, Brooder and his story, the death of his mother and sister, the many Indians killed? The Mexican strangers, Brooder killing them? The ambush and taking the horses?

10. Walking, Arthur struggling, the signs of the stone? Brooder and his attention to Samantha, Arthur hitting him, falling, Chicory setting his leg?

11. The attack, Brooder and his showing the way into the cave, shot, dying, the cigar?

12. The sheriff and Chicory, getting in, finding Samantha, their being caught by the Indians, put in the cells, their discussions, the cannibals and their behaviour?

13. Nick, taken out of the cell, the torture, the split, and this to be repeated for the sheriff?

14. Arthur, the drugs and the opium for relief, Chicory having them, the Indians drinking and dying? Arthur, coming to, walking through the desert, into the cave, the back way, shooting?

15. The escape, the sheriff left to die, the survival? Grim West?