Netflix movie of the day: Bone Tomahawk is a strange and brutal genre-blender
Kurt Russell is magnificent in this queasy mix of classic western and gory body horror
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Bone Tomahawk isn’t for the faint-hearted: it’s a brutal and bloody western described byEmpire’sresident horror expert Kim Newman as “exceptionally gruesome”. ThinkUnforgivenmeetsThe Hills Have Eyeswith an engaging cast and some genuinely horrific violence.
The film stars Kurt Russell as Patrick Wilson, a grizzled sheriff who sets out to save three people who have been abducted by bloodthirsty, violent clan members – and while it’s often borderline unwatchable, it’s also very funny in places. It’s a very odd movie – that’s nonetheless one of thebest Netflix movies– a genre-bending blend of western, horror and comedy.
Is Bone Tomahawk worth streaming?
Empire says yes: “this is as much a comedy as a cowboy horror film. Jenkins’s free-associating mutterings are inspired and fanciful, and feisty heroine (Lili Simmons) has a terrific speech about how the real peril of life in the Wild West isn’t ‘Indians’ or the weather ‘but the idiots’. Its influences veer all over the map, with stretches recalling the Coen brothers punctuated by echoes of Rob Zombie”.
It’s “a sci-fi horror cannibal exploitation picture by way of John Ford, it’s a deliberately paced, old-fashioned Western that occasionally morphs into a splatter movie,” saysMovie Mezzanine. Meanwhile,CinemaDopesays it’s “part revisionist oater, partHills Have Eyessplatter-fest … a tightly constructed trek into enemy territory that becomes increasingly tough to stomach, or shake off”.
“A few stumbles aside this is best campfire movie for some time,” saysTotal Film, whileThe Irish Timessays that “ultra-violence aside, there’s plenty to admire about this innovative genre-bender”.The Observersays it’s “a radical fusion of disparate elements which all enhance one another beautifully,” whileTime Outsays it’s “Equal parts charming, strange, goofy, unpredictable and genuinely horrifying.”
You might also like
Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.
Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.
Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.
Arcane season 2 was reportedly going to run for five seasons, so why is my all-time favorite Netflix show ending after two?
Scavengers Reign co-creator says the hit Netflix show with 100% Rotten Tomatoes has been canceled and fans are heartbroken
Lego will let you build Sir Ernest Shackleton’s iconic lost ship, the Endurance, in its next Icons set
