Horror and Westerns mesh together remarkably well, with this movie as one of the better examples. The first acts of this piece are a traditional western story and character study, in which a group of characters are on a rescue mission through a great expanse of the old west. There's a lot of love for the traditional western here, the vistas, settings, and tropes are handled with reverence, helped along by a stirring performance by Kurt Russell's mustache and a cast of quality actors. Then the horror kicks in which becomes one of the more brutally horrific and shocking scenarios I've seen this year. Gorehounds will be quite satisfied, but this is far from an Eli Roth film, in that you actually learn to like and love the characters as they're forced to endure atrocity. There is plenty of horrific gore, but it isn't necessarily gratuitous or over-the-top, instead servicing the horror of the scenario rather than solely to make the squeamish squirm. There's an eerie plausibility to this story and is arguably a more grounded take on an "Eaters of the Dead" idea. The villains of the piece are routinely described as monsters, and when they finally do appear, the description is apt but exaggerated and understated simultaneously. These are human monsters, but any single one of these creatures is more savage and horrifying than coteries of supernatural beasties. This is a genuinely horrific film, while simultaneously an excellent western and character study with fantastic performances and great writing.
Bone Tomahawk