Bone Tomahawk
2015
**
Director: S. Craig Zahler
Cast: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, Evan Jonigkeit, David Arquette, Sid Haig, Kathryn Morris, Zahn McClarnon
After two people are abducted by a mysterious and brutal tribe of cave-dwelling cannibals, the sheriff of Bright Hope assembles a rescue party, which includes his elderly deputy, a gunslinger, and a rancher whose wife was taken. S. Craig Zahler's horror Western offers graphic violence, some glaring plot holes, and extremely slow-paced storytelling. It takes about 90 minutes before the group reaches the cave-dwellers on horseback, even though the abductors appear to have made the journey on foot with two hostages. I understand that the plot requires the rancher to be separated from the rest of the posse, but his gnarly leg injury leads to several drawn-out and excruciatingly slow scenes. The film may be aiming for authenticity, but the story carries more than a hint of racism: white heroes ride to the rescue, the cannibals refuse to eat Black people, and Mexican characters are deemed suspicious and shot on sight.
