When we met David Arquette on the Halloween Horror Nights Opening Red Carpet, he turned us on to “Bone Tomahawk”.  Having just enjoyed a viewing on Video On Demand, I have to say I was entertained, surprised, and left with a lingering, uneasy feeling.  Some of the most effective films in horror elicit this kind of response. This isn’t an endless parade of kill scenes, it’s not torture porn.  This is a western film.  A really solid western, that just happens to crash headfirst into a large clan of cannibal fringe (pre)Native Americans, that even Native American tribes know to avoid.

The film opens with horror film icons Purvis (David Arquette ) , and Buddy (Sid Heig), bandits who are rummaging through belongings of their latest victims.  They get a little sloppy this time around, end up firing a shot, and seem to attract the attention of nearby riders on horseback.  Fleeing the scene they head up into a strange canyon to hide and accidentally desecrate some sort of sacred burial ground.  They hear a strange melodic whistle and within moments hell rains down upon them.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire, Purvis stumbles his way into a sleepy little one horse (and one saloon) town.  Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but he arouses the suspicion of the “backup” deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins). Chicory feels compelled to inform Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell), who just happens to have 1) a knack for getting people to confess their crimes and 2) a habit of shooting people in the leg when they try and run.

Purvis ends up in jail, bullet lodged in his leg, and Sheriff Franklin wants him healthy so that the families of the people he has victimized can enjoy a proper hanging.  Which leads us to the O’Dwyers, a frontier couple that also happen to live in this normally quiet town.  Franklin dispatches the local sharp shooter, and from the looks of it well healed gambler John Brooder (Matthew Fox) to get Samantha O’Dwyer (Lili Simmons) to tend the wound, because she is the backup town doctor.  While her husband Arthur (Patrick Wilson) is laid up with a broken leg and forced to remain at home.

The next morning Samantha, Purvis, and the Deputy are gone, A few townsfolk are dead, and a left over arrowhead freaks out the local Native American Authority Tall Trees (Zahn McClarnon) who like any good harbinger of doom, explains these aren’t any typical tribe, they are troglodytes, and if they have taken people…they are already as good as dead.

So Arthur, bad leg and all, is obviously going to find her. The sheriff and backup deputy are responsible not only for her missing but want to find the missing deputy, with John Brooder tagging along.

This is just the opening act of “Bone Tomahawk”, and I have to say I love this movie because it dares to let the plot unfold in a good ol’ fashioned character driven western move way.    The film is about the journey, the character flaws, the discord that occurs when four people are thrown onto a dangerous trail none of them want to be on.  These aren’t concepts that aren’t easily or quickly explored.  If you are looking for an action filled adventure, you might be disappointed.  The dangers that this posse encounter are more about the trials and tribulations of the typical wild west until the film is almost 3/4 completed.  Then nearly superhuman cannibals amp things up considerably,   For me the film itself lives wonderfully somewhere between Silverado and every cannibal movie ever set in the jungles of South America.  Most of all this is an absolutely amazing cast of recognizable stars and the performances are very strong.  Richard Jenkins is particularly charming as the loyal, simple,  and more capable than many expect Chicory.

One additional strong word of warning, this film is not for the squeamish,  particularly once the troglodyte cannibals enter the film.  Some of the scenes are graphic on par with the SAW or Hostile franchises.  It’s not violence for violence sake, but it’s disturbing if you aren’t expecting it.

On Video On Demand and in Theaters now this is a definite recommendation for it’s originality classic western style storytelling.