Bone Tomahawk is an Unforgiving and Brutal Peek into the Dark Horrors of the Wild West

Bone Tomahawk is one of my favorite horror movies of the year, but damn, it left me feeling very uncomfortable and disturbed. 28 Days Later: Bone Temple was the last film to break me, due to how evil the villains were in that film. I have trouble with watching films that are carry the themes of trying to survive in a cruel world, due to the heavy material that takes place with the innocent people that end up running into monsters. 

Bone Tomahawk follows the story of a random duo who had just murdered a group of people. These two men instantly get their karma when they come across a ritual site made out of human bones, and they are attacked by an unknown tribe. One of them escapes, running to a small town called Bright Hope, bringing pure evil to their uncorrupted lives. 

The town is briefly attacked by this unknown tribe, killing one man who was going to check on the horses in a barn. They take away the man who escaped from them, including the doctor and one of the deputies of the town. The town learns from one of their experts, who claims that this tribe is known as troglodytes, cannibalistic people that torture women and eat men. It’s up to four unlikely heroes to go after the trio, to hopefully bring them back alive, willing to face whatever evil awaits them. 

The heroes set off in search of this tribe. 

The four heroes consist of a sheriff named Hunt, an intelligent man named Brooder, the doctor’s husband named Arthur, including the other deputy, Chicory. The men encounter several hiccups along their journey, such as Arthur’s leg injury from falling off the roof of his home, and Brooder murdering two men to protect the crew, only to get attacked and lose their horses during the fight.

Arthur eventually is no longer able to continue his journey, and they leave him behind, but they promise to leave behind stones to mark his way once he catches up to them. The trio reach the tribe, and they are instantly attacked once they find their cave. Brooder gets the worst injuries, losing one of his hands. He tells Hunt and Chicory to get to the cave, and leave him with the dynamite. Hunt and Chicory are apprehended by the tribe, and Brooder is killed, but not before he is able to kill one last troglodyte.

Hunt and Chicory are brought to the cave, where they reunite with Samantha, Arthur’s wife, and Nick, the other missing deputy. The one that brought the tribe to their town had already been killed, eaten offscreen. The tribe returns to their prisoners, and brutally slaughter Nick in front of the remaining trio, and Hunt promises to avenge him. 

The tribe leaves their prisoners, taking Nick’s mutilated body back to their hideout. Samantha comes up with a plan once she hears that Hunt’s wine flask contains a drug, that can possibly take down several of the troglodytes. Hunt pretends to drink from the flask, prompting their enemies to drink the drug.

Meanwhile, Arthur is coming a shocking comeback, determined to save his wife and remaining friends. 

Arthur decides to hunt down the tribe, and is able to luckily gun down several of these monsters, once he comes across an instrument that they used to call each other. He lures several of them with it, and is able to reach his people that are being held in the cave. The troglodytes quickly return in a rage, dragging the body of one of their own to Hunt, once they realize the flask had killed one of them. 

They take Hunt out of his cage, and proceed to torture him. Before they can end his life, Arthur comes to their rescue, killing several of them. Hunt finishes off the one that was torturing him, but he knows that he won’t survive. He tells Arthur to leave with his wife, and he gives orders to Chicory, telling him to escort them back home. They make their goodbyes, and Hunt promises to put an end to the rest of the tribe, with the gun that the troglodytes had used as part of the torture. 

Arthur, Samantha, and Chicory leave the cave, beginning their journey back home. Chicory carries a stone as a weapon, in case he needs to fight to protect the couple. The trio hear three faint gunshots in the distance realizing that the tribe is no longer a danger to them. 

The film ends with Chicory carrying a relieved smile, as he drops the stone, no longer needing it. 

This ending broke my heart for a moment, knowing that Hunt kept his word, avenging his fallen people. It sucked, because he left behind his wife back home, but he was a sheriff through and through, a true protector that cared about his people. He was not a perfect hero, but damn, he was a good man. 

The deaths in this film were freaking gnarly and gorey as hell, but this film had so much heart when it came to the characters of the film, and every single death hit me so hard. 

Bone Tomahawk is one of the best western horror films ever made, and I would definitely consider this film to be a fantastic and grisly masterpiece. 

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn