Two-Minute Movie Review: Bone Tomahawk

Bone Tomahawk is a low-budget movie ($1.8 million) that expertly weaves horror elements into a western setting.  It starts off slow and ends with a great payoff, but what keep the slow parts from tedium are the great dialogue and characterization.

As it turns out, the cast took low salaries to make sure the film could get funded: Kurt Russell, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, and Patrick Wilson head it up, and each actor fills his role to a T.  Sean Young, David Arquette, and Sid Haig are given minor, even thankless roles, but they do a great job with them.

Chicory, played by Richard Jenkins, has the stand-out role, and his delivery keeps the clever repartee from descending into comedy.  Matthew Fox runs a close second as a fastidious-but-murderous figure: he's grown as a performer since Lost and takes full advantage of his tendency to seem, if not villainous, somewhat questionable of character.

There's not a lot I can say about this film without giving the fun away: a lot of it comes from the surprise as well as the creepiness.  There's one scene near the end that was particularly gruesome; it's the first time I can remember feeling nauseated during a film, which says something.  Just go see it.

Four out of five stars.