Bone Tomahawk is a 2015 American Western film written and directed by S. Craig Zahler in his directorial debut. The film stars Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, Evan Jonigkeit, David Arquette and Sid Haig. The movie is about a small-town sheriff who leads a posse into a desolate region to rescue three people who were abducted by a cannibalistic Native American clan.
Plot[]
In the 1890s, two drifters, Purvis and Buddy make a living killing and robbing travelers. Spooked by the sound of approaching horses, they hide in the hills and encounter a Native American burial site. Buddy is attacked and killed by unseen attackers, and Purvis escapes.
Purvis reaches the nearby town of Bright Hope and buries his loot; seeing this, Deputy Chicory reports him to Sheriff Franklin Hunt, who shoots Purvis in the leg when he attempts to escape. Hunt sends the confident gunslinger John Brooder to fetch the town's doctor, but ends up fetching Samantha O'Dwyer, the doctor's daughter and assistant, who is caring for her injured husband Arthur. Hunt leaves Samantha in the sheriff's office with his other deputy, Nick, to tend to Purvis' wounds. That night, a nearby stable boy is killed in one of the barns.
The murder is reported to Hunt, who investigates the scene and finds the horses missing. The jail is empty and only an arrow is left behind. Hunt calls a local Native American man to examine the arrow, and informs Arthur of the news. At the saloon, the Native American man links the arrow to a troglodyte clan. He tells Hunt of the clan's dwelling place, "Valley of the Starving Men", and warns him that they are a group of cannibalistic savages. Certain that Samantha, Nick, and Purvis have been captured by them, Hunt forms a rescue party with Chicory and Brooder. Arthur insists on accompanying them to find his wife, despite his injury.
Days into their ride, two strangers stumble across the rescue party's camp and are killed by Brooder, who fears they are scouts for a raid. The rescue party set up a new camp, but are ambushed by raiders who injure Brooder's horse and steal the rest. Brooder, wounded by an attacker, regretfully puts down his horse. After a day of walking, a fight breaks out between Brooder and Arthur, exacerbating Arthur's broken leg. Chicory sets his leg and leaves him behind to recover, while he, Hunt, and Brooder move on.
Reaching the valley, the rescue party are ambushed by the Troglodytes. The rescuers kill three, but Brooder is killed and Hunt and Chicory are captured and imprisoned. Hunt and Chicory find Samantha and Nick in a different cell and learn the Troglodytes have already killed and eaten Purvis. The group later witness Nick stripped, brutally scalped, bisected alive, and then consumed. Samantha estimates the number of hostile cannibals to be around 12 (reduced to nine earlier by Hunt's posse).
Hunt tricks several Troglodytes into drinking liquor laced with opium tincture, with one dying while another becomes unconscious. Arthur follows the men's trail and discovers the valley. He kills two Troglodytes and discovers they use an animal bone in their windpipes as a whistle. He blows on it, luring another Troglodyte, then kills him.
In the cave, realizing two of their men were poisoned, the tribe leader grows angry. He and another tribesman pull Hunt from his cell, cut open his stomach and shove the hot opium flask into the wound. The leader then takes Hunt's rifle and shoots his arm and stomach. Arthur arrives, killing the leader, and frees Samantha and Chicory. A mortally wounded Hunt stays behind with a rifle, promising to kill any surviving Troglodytes when they return, to prevent them from terrorizing Bright Hope. As the three leave the cave, they see two pregnant females, who are blinded and have all their limbs amputated.
At a distance from the cave, they hear three gunshots, implying that sheriff Hunt may have killed the remaining males of the tribe. Chicory acknowledges the gunshots with a half-hearted smile. Tired, hurt, and with few supplies, the three survivors begin the journey towards home.
Cast[]
- Kurt Russell as Sheriff Franklin Hunt
- Patrick Wilson as Arthur O'Dwyer
- Matthew Fox as John Brooder
- Richard Jenkins as Deputy Chicory
- Lili Simmons as Samantha O'Dwyer
- Evan Jonigkeit as Deputy Nick
- David Arquette as Purvis
- Kathryn Morris as Lorna Hunt
- Sid Haig as Buddy
- Sean Young as Mrs. Porter
- Fred Melamed as Clarence
- Maestro Harrell as Gizzard
- Jamison Newlander as The Mayor
- James Tolkan as Pianist
- Jeremy Tardy as Buford
- Michael Paré as Mr. Wallington
- Zahn McClarnon as The Professor
- Michael Emery as Redheaded Fellow
- Raw Leiba as Wolf Skull
- Geno Segers as Boar Tusks
- Eddie Spears as Serrated Tomahawk
- Alex Meraz as Eagle Skills
- Jay Tavare as Sharp Teeth
