Poor Westerns. They are a dying breed.

Unlike horror, Westerns are rooted in a specific time and any modern filmmaker who uses the genre must figure out how they wish to deal with the period’s sexism and racism? But if you reinterpret the genre to include more progressive sensibilities, you lose its authenticity. What is the balance? It is a conundrum that has severely damaged the popularity of the Western and has made producers less likely to invest money in them. In fact, making a Western in today’s climate almost feels like an act of bravery. It is a genre few directors today are willing to take on, but then again S. Craig Zahler has always been a maverick.

Bone Tomahawk is a modern western that contains many of the same elements as horror. It starts with two robbers who stumble upon the wrong Indigenous tribe and accidently disrupt their burial grounds. One of the robbers manages to escape and finds his way to the town of Bright Hope. But it turns out that his movement has been tracked by Indigenous cannibals, and the townspeople are about to pay the price.

Shortly after his arrival, the robber is questioned for suspicious behaviour by the town’s Sheriff (Kurt Russell). When he tries to run, the Sheriff shoots him in the leg and takes him in for questioning. Unfortunately, it is late, and the town’s doctor is drunk, so the Sheriff calls upon the doctor’s assistant- a more than competent woman- to help remove the bullet. The Sheriff then goes home after leaving behind only the deputy to watch. But this is a bad move he will regret.

In the morning, the Sheriff awakes to news that a murder has occurred and the robber, the doctor’s assistant, and the deputy are missing. An arrow left behind suggests that their abductors are “Indians”, but a quick chat with a man known as the Professor reveals that the group of “Indians” are actually more of an anomaly. They are a tribe of Cannibals living across the plains and, if the people in Bright Hope act fast, still recover their people alive, though it is more likely a suicide mission. Road Trip!!!

Now, I openly acknowledge that Bone Tomahawk is not a “woke” film by any stretch of the imagination. This is a film where most White characters get to die heroically, while those who are Black, Hispanic or First Nation just die. And when the Cannibals arrive in Bright Hope, the person in the town who dies and is left behind is the Black stable boy (Really?!?) because, we are told, Cannibals are racist eaters. (What? Why?) But obviously Bone Tomahawk’s biggest transgression is in its depiction of a First Nation’s group as Cannibals- an issue that is addressed by the inclusion of a Indigenous professor whose only role is to state that the Cannibals are feared and have been disavowed by the other tribes. In his words, they are “troglodytes”. Sadly, the attempts to make the film’s white male-gaze more palatable are as transparent as the sins they inflict. But then again, that is S. Craig Zahler. He is the Frank Miller or Orson Scott Card of the Indie movie world. He is a writer and director of great imagination, but the politics in his work often clash with progressive values. But to Zahler’s credit, his inclusion of identity politics always is deliberate as sub-text. Zahler makes films that are intended to provoke a conversation. And in Bone Tomahawk he goes out of his way to depict the film’s most realized hero, Sheriff Hunt, as a man who condemns racism and who will treat all individuals, regardless of race, with respect- at least until they prove otherwise.

But S. Craig Zahler is also an ambitious and mature writer with a pension for originality. His scripts are packed with clever dialogue, and this attracts known actors to his small budget projects. It is when our four main protagonists set out on their impossible journey that Bone Tomahawk really starts to sore. Kurt Russell (I love Kurt Russell!) plays Sheriff Hunt, the wise diplomat who always keeps his eye on what will most likely be the best outcome in any situation. Patrick Wilson is Arthur O’Dwyer, the devoted husband with a broken leg, whose only motivation is to get his wife back. Richard Jenkins plays Chicory, the talkative old Assistant Deputy who proves to be much cleverer than he sounds. He is this quartet’s moral compass. And Matthew Fox plays John Brooder, a mysterious man with a fast draw and a reputation for having killed a lot of “Indians”. The men are motivated by guilt over their roles in the abductions and their desire to see friends and loved ones returned, but their similarities end there. Sheriff Hunt and Chicory are suspicious of Brooder because of his overt racism and uncanny survival skills. And everybody is concerned that O’Dwyer’s leg and obsessive drive will only hinder their already challenging mission. Zahler’s script puts these men into situations where these conflicts erupt and their resolutions are morally gray. None of the characters come out of these situations looking obviously villainous or idiotic and this makes the film much more interesting to watch.

Horror fans will also appreciate Bone Tomahawk’s often extreme use of graphic violence. This is a film that starts with a horrific murder and contains near its end one of the most brutal deaths ever put on screen. The violence is sparse and sporadic, but when it comes, Bone Tomahawk does not hold back. And the visual appearance of the troglodytes is absolutely terrifying. They look like extras that stumbled out of Cannibal Holocaust, except they are HUGE. (I remember the people in the Yanomamo tribe being short and scrawny.) And their howl is monstrous. Just as important as Zahler’s clever writing, it is these horror elements that have helped give this film a lasting cult appeal.

Every film Zahler makes feels like an immense labour of love and Bone Tomahawk is no exception. It is a brutally graphic western with horror undertones that help to set it apart from a diminishing pack. The Western may be a dying genre, but Bone Tomahawk’s script reimagines the frontier in a way that is very much alive. 

Love him or hate him, S. Craig Zahler is a director that is continually creating films about believable characters in gritty, morally complicated situations. Art is political, and film is art. Zahler often has a finger on the pulse of politics that are not always my own, but I can at least appreciate his willingness to create stories that act as a provocation to current Hollywood trends and dredge up harsh realities that some people would rather just ignore.