Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Plot of Bone Tomahawk: It is 1890 in the mid-west. The sheriff shoots a villain in the leg and he is taken to the jail. There the doctor is sent for, but he is away so his assistant, a young woman, married to Arthur who has a broken leg, is called. A night passes and in the morning Arthur realises his wife has not come home, and on going to the jail the sheriff finds that there is no-one there, but an arrow embedded in the woodwork provides a clue. A friendly native American tells them that the abduction has been carried out by cannibal renegade cave dwellers, so the sheriff, his deputy, a gunslinger, Brooder and Arthur, despite his broken leg set off on a rescue mission. On the way they are required to defend themselves from robbers and in time their horses are stolen, making Arthur’s chances of keeping up with the group less likely, particularly since his broken leg needs resetting. Later the leaders are faced with the cannibals who seem to be able to overcome them.

Content: There is a sex scene between husband and wife. Probably a bit of drinking in the bar before the robber is shot. There is male nudity but in anything but erotic circumstances. There are scenes in the jail as first aid is carried out and then after the abduction the group trek across the countryside, first on their horses and then on foot. A distressing scene when Arthur has his leg reset. The cannibals are nearly naked and are facially disfigured, and have means of creating eery sounds. There are distressing scenes in their cave, some of them very unpleasant. If you watch this you can’t unsee them. Another film which is not for children.

A View: This was a very low budget film which made a bit of money in the end. I had heard about its horror content in the media but had not felt motivated to watch until it turned up on our cable channel. It had a sort of fascination but lacked any sort of humour and once in the cannibal’s cave it was all pretty horrible. I only kept watching so that I could write this review. So not a bad film, but a difficult watch, so be prepared.

Fun Fact: The cannibals are called Troglodytes in the film. Originally the name for a race of people in Ethiopia, who had wives in common, ate lizards and snakes and had a sort of “screeching” language.