When it comes to movies, my favorite genres are horror and Westerns. Yet, as a busy dad, there's never enough time in the day to sit and enjoy a film I want to watch. If I had it my way, I'd regularly plan double feature nights at home to get my fix of scares and cowboys. However, there's a six-year-old girl who lives under my roof, and my wife's tastes vastly differ from mine, so we keep it family friendly -- most of the time, anyway.
Lo and behold, my birthday is approaching, and I am getting the place to myself. Instead of sitting through four hours of cinema, I began wondering if there was a singular movie out there that could blend the best of both genres.
There absolutely is, and it's streaming on Netflix right now. Let me introduce you to Bone Tomahawk.
Bone Tomahawk follows four men as they venture into the desert to rescue some townspeople who were kidnapped after a surprise attack. This is no ordinary rescue mission, though. It's revealed early on in the film that a group of savage, cave-dwelling (and potentially supernatural) cannibals is the guilty party. Defeating them will be no easy feat.
To that point, the eventual confrontation between the men and these attackers is one of the most grizzly, violent displays I've ever seen in a Western.
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Kurt Russell plays Sheriff Hunt alongside Richard Jenkins, who plays Deputy Chicory, in the horror-Western movie, Bone Tomahawk. RLJ Entertainment
The first and probably biggest draw here is the movie's stellar cast. Kurt Russell leads the charge as Sheriff Franklin Hunt, alongside Patrick Wilson as Arthur O'Dwyer, Richard Jenkins (the Oscar-nominated actor for The Shape of Water) as Deputy Chicory and Lost alum Matthew Fox as John Brooder. Supporting players include Lili Simmons, Zahn McLarnon, David Arquette, horror icon Sid Haig, Fred Malamed, Michael Paré, and Sean Young.
Tombstone is hands down one of my favorite westerns, and seeing Russell get back on the horse, so to speak, to lead another western (The Hateful Eight, which he also stars in, hit theaters the same year) is reason in and of itself to watch this movie. As wonderful as he is in the role of Sheriff Hunt, the movie gives enough scenery to chew for Wilson, Jenkins, and Fox -- each actor delivers nuanced performances that keep things grounded, even as the stakes are steadily raised.
An extra tip of the hat should be given to Fox, the enigmatic standout. Brooder is not a likable character, yet his ego doesn't define who this man is either. His drive to hunt down these attackers stems from a deeply personal trauma that earns him equal parts disdain from the audience and empathy. Without him, the crew probably wouldn't make it as far as they do.
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