Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015) - Watch the trailer on YouTube
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Article updated: 2024.07.28
The Bone Tomahawk (2015) is a historical adventure film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
Original title: Bone Tomahawk
Series: -
Setting: alternate / fantasy Earth
Product type: Film, Genre: historical adventure, Style: western, natives, cavemen, horror
Release: Premiere: 2015.09.15 (Fantastic Fest), Release: 2015.10.23
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2021.12), first time
Rating: Good (2+ out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Good (2+ out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Bone Tomahawk, a historical adventure movie from 2015. It's about a sheriff and his posse trying to find some criminals and save their doctor, but getting into unforseen troubles. The Bone Tomahawk film is interesting, I recommend it.
Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
image © Twilight Riders
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Review (spoiler-free) - Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
I have seen a video review about Bone Tomahawk that made me feel interested. It still took me a long time to finally get to watch the movie. I didn't watch the trailer, but from the review, I knew how some scenes will play out.
The Bone Tomahawk movie is about a sheriff and his posse trying to find some criminals and save their doctor, but getting into unforseen troubles.
The story is long, but in a fun an interesting way. The people talk slowly, and they are not very clever. The pacing is slow, but this is consistent and works for the story. There’s a right amount of comedy, thrills and horror in this movie. There are no character arcs, but this doesn’t take away from the movie. I didn’t find any logical problems.
The cinematography is good. The vistas are nice, providing visually interesting scenes. The action scenes are tense, fast, and brutal.
The characters are well developed, during the long scenes of nothing happening, we really get to know these people. This made the emotional scenes more impactful. Their portrayal by the actors is realistic and convincing.
The music (by Jeff Herriott and S. Craig Zahler) is not very noticeable, but good, fits the story.
Bone Tomahawk is an interesting historical adventure movie, I think fans of the genre will enjoy it.
My experience
I was satisfied with Bone Tomahawk (2015).
Rating: Good (2+ out of 3 points). Bone Tomahawk is a well-made film.
Enjoyment: Good (2+ out of 3 points). Bone Tomahawk is interesting, I liked it.
Rewatchability: High. I think it's mostly the surprise of the story that makes you feel interested, but if you liked it, you probably liked it for the characters and themes.
Chance of watching it again: There's a chance. Now that I know the story, there's probably no need to watch it again, but I liked it enough that I might watch it in the right circumstances.
Chance of watching a sequel: High. I'd sure watch it.
Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
image © Twilight Riders
Will you enjoy this?
If you like mystery or thriller movies, you might like Bone Tomahawk.
If you like Wild West stories, you might enjoy this, although it has a more toned down and realistic feel, than the usual action-oriented Westerns.
If you like horror or action thriller movies, you might like the film, although there are not many action scenes or scary scenes in the Bone Tomahawk movie. However, those few are very effective.
If you can get through the first half hour of the movie still interested, from then on it gets into gear, and you might even love this.
If you enjoyed the The 13th Warrior (1999), you might be interested in this story.
If you are disturbed by depictions of people hurting each other, avoid Bone Tomahawk.
If you are disturbed by realistic depictions of violence, this movie is not for you.
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in either Wild West stories, or stories about cannibal tribes, I think it's worth watching the Bone Tomahawk movie for the plot points.
Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?
The visuals probably look better if you watch it in cinema, but I assume you’d get a similar experience.
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Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
image © Twilight Riders
Review with spoilers - Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
I really liked the Bone Tomahawk movie.
Cover
The cover of the movie is okay, it doesn't say much, but it doesn't spoil the movie.
The trailer
The trailer is great. It gives us the atmosphere of the movie, and gives us a glimpses into the story, without spoiling it.
Promise of the first scene
Two men run into a native American territory. One of them gets killed. I assume there will be fighting among the white settlers and the natives. Or the guy that got away will try to take revenge.
Execution: The revenge was the other way around, but I still consider it a completion of the promise.
Plot summary / Synopsis
In 1800s USA, Two robbers, a younger one (David Arquette as Purvis) and an older one (Sid Haig as Buddy), kill a group of camping man, but they can't find anything valuable on their bodies. One of the men was able to shoot his gun, alerting someone nearby, so the robbers escape. They run into a place with ominous signs. The older one gets killed, while the younger runs away.
11 days later, at night: In a settlement (Bright Hope), there's a cowboy (Patrick Wilson as Arthur O'Dwyer) with a broken leg. The man is angry that he can't work, but his wife (Lili Simmons as Samantha O'Dwyer) is happy that they are finally spending time together, unlike anytime since they were married.
The younger robber digs a hole, probably to hide something.
The older deputy (Richard Jenkins as Deputy Chicory) goes to the sheriff (Kurt Russell as Sheriff Franklin Hunt), and tells him that he saw a stranger hiding something, then going to the saloon. The sheriff decides to check him.
In a saloon (the Learned Goat), there is a gentleman (Matthew Fox as John Brooder), and the young robber. The sheriff asks some questions from the younger robber, and when he tries to run away, the sheriff shoots him in the leg.
As the doctor is drunk, they call the cowboy's wife to treat the leg wound. The sheriff asks the younger deputy (Evan Jonigkeit as Deputy Nick) to assist her.
A black stable guy checks some noises, when he gets ambushed by natives, and killed.
Next morning, the sheriff is told that they've found the stable boy dead, the horses gone, and there's nobody in the sheriff's office, not even in the jail.
They find an arrow in the sheriff's office.
They meet at the saloon. A local native American tells them that the arrow belongs to a cave dwelling primitive cannibal tribe. They left the stable boy because they don't eat black people.
The sheriff, the cowboy, the older deputy and the gentlemen decide to go to their territory.
When they set up camp at night, the gentleman puts ropes around the camp with bells attached to alert them.
One night, two people approach their camp, seemingly friendly, but the gentleman shoots them, claiming they were probably scouts for a raiding party. The broken leg of the cowboy got worse.
They get ambushed in the night, and they steal their horses.
Without their horses, they decide to travel at night, and sleep when it's hot in the day. They bury their stuff, so they can travel lightly. The cowboy goes first, while the rest of the team will follow him, hauling their gear. However, they start to catch up to him, then leave him. By the time he reaches them, they've already set up camp and sleeping. The put him to sleep to operate his leg, and leave him there.
The three of them finds the trail of the stolen horses, when they are attacked by natives. The gentleman gets his hand cut off, but all of them get injured before killing the attackers. They leave their dynamites at the seriously wounded gentlemen, and go.
They get attacked, knocked out and taken away. The gentleman gets killed before he could use the dynamite.
The sheriff and the old deputy get taken to a prison, where they keep the cowboy's wife and the young deputy are held. They've already eaten the robber. Before the natives butcher the young deputy, he tells the sheriff that the robber deserved to be shot, he admitted that he killed many man in their sleep, and he desecrated the burial ground of the natives, that's why they went after him.
As the natives didn't take their belongings, they still have some opium with them. They come up with a plan to poison the tribe, but only get to poison three of them.
The cowboy get attacked, but kills the attackers. He cuts a throat whistle out of one of the attackers, and uses it to lure others.
The natives take revenge for the poisoning on the sheriff, and they hurt him badly, but the cowboy arrives, and this allows the sheriff to kill his torturer. The cowboy lets the wife and the old deputy out, but the sheriff is too injured, so he stays to kill the rest of the natives. They think there's three of them left.
The cowboy, the wife and the old deputy leave. On their way, after they cross the sacred ground of the natives, they hear three gunshots in the distance.
The setting
It is set in an alternate / fantasy historical Earth, where cannibal cavemen live.
Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
image © Twilight Riders
The troglodytes
They live in caves, and eat humans. They don’t have a spoken language.
The native Americans call their territory the Valley of the Starving Men.
They don't speak. And most likely, they can't, due to the holes in their throat.
There are about twenty men, and two pregnant, but blind women.
They blind their women by putting pegs in their eyes. Their legs and arms are amputated. They seem to take things very calmly, so maybe they are also deaf. It is implied that they rape their own mothers.
They put a hole into their throats, and put a whistle in it so they can howl.
When they butcher someone, first they get their scalps off, then put it in their mouth, then spike the scalp to stay inside the mouth - probably to prevent further screaming. Then they hold the victim upside down by their legs, and start to hack downward from the pelvis, until they reach the ribcage.
They don't eat black people.
The message of the story
I'm not sure there's one. “Don’t cross sacred burial grounds”?
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Bone Tomahawk film are played in sequence, following the same storyline.
There is no a single viewpoint character.
It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution, although the ending is just implied.
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Things I liked
- I liked the look of the cannibals.
- I really liked the dialogues. They were natural, and occasionally funny.
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
I haven't seen any other works of the writer / director (S. Craig Zahler), but now I’m interested, as he clearly has a talent for this.
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Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
image © Twilight Riders
Analysis of the story - Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
I really liked the story, I didn't find any problems that would have prevented me from enjoying Bone Tomahawk.
Problematic elements
Horses: If they intend to go the fastest way possible, especially as they intend to carry back people, they should get some extra horses to ride with them. It would be okay, if there were no more horses left, because the natives took them.
Extremely sharp bone weapons: Whenever the natives used those bone tomahawks, they cut off appendages or fingers. I find it strange to believe that bone weapons would be this effective.
Unanswered questions
- What happened to the sheriff?
- Were there really just three more, whom the sheriff had killed?
- Will the remaining troglodytes take revenge on those who have left?
- What will happen to the pregnant troglodyte women? And their kids?
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Possibilities of improvement
How it could have been better?
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Behind the scenes
Thoughts about the reviews of others
Racism: Some people consider Bone Tomahawk to be a racist movie, because the movie shows the antagonists - who are probably remains of some stone-age people -, in a bad light. While I'm not sure how can a movie be racist towards an invented race (or species), if you feel that way, try to avoid any kind of war movies, as many of them depict the enemy in a negative light. Also, most alien invasion movies do the same.
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Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
image © Twilight Riders
Uses for the film - Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
Plot
- There are cannibalistic cavemen in the area, that occasionally eat people.
- A man disturbs the sacred ground of a tribe, so they go after him to take revenge.
- A group of people is kidnapped from a small town. The lawman and some volunteers go after them.
Scenes
- The butchering scene is good to show how primitive cannibals prepare a human for eating.
Designs
- The look of the cannibal tribe is great.
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Robbing people: The attackers have to go silently to kill the sleeping people, and steal their belongings. The players set up the playing area together. The defender deploys their units anywhere on the playing area. For every defender squad, there can be one sentry, that’s awake, the rest are sleeping. The attackers can enter from any edge of the playing area. The sentries are tired, they only watch into the space in front of the models, and they stay in the direction where they were set up, unless some event alerts them. If an attacker tries to sneak up to a sentry, there needs to be some kind of skill check, or a random roll of d6, on 1-3 it is able to surprise it, on 4-6, the sentry is alerted, and it turns to face the attacker. If the sentry is attacked in close combat, it can alert the others at the end of the turn, if the sentry is still alive. If the sentry is killed by a ranged weapon, it can roll some kind of skill check, or a random roll of d6, on 1-3 it is able to call an alarm, on 4-6, it falls silently. If the sentry is hit by a ranged weapon, but not killed, then it can call an alarm. For the sleeping soldiers, it takes one turn to wake up, another turn to get up with their weapons. Each defender has one loot, and the attackers can spend a turn to carefully take a loot from a sleeping man. They can also try to grab the loot of any man they touch during their move, but then each sleeping man has to roll a d6, and on a 1-3, they get awake.
Getting through sacred ground: The attackers have to sneak through the playing area. The defenders are numerous, but they are not alert. They go on pre-determined paths, or in random directions, the defender player decides this before the game begins. The defender player can start control the defenders, when they see the attackers, and alert the others.
Solo play: The defenders are played by the system. They patrol in random directions.
Rescue operation: Some of the attacking team members have been captured by the defender. The defender sets up the playing area, and puts a prison area inside. The defenders go on pre-determined paths until they see the attackers. The attackers have to reach the prison they hold their team members, then free them, and escape from the playing area. The attacker units carry additional weapons (and shields if they use them) to arm the prisoners, but they don’t carry additional armour. The attacker wins if at least one prisoner leaves the playing area, and more than half of the attacking force is alive.
Disguise (easier for the attacker): One of the attackers has the ability to disguise himself as one of the defenders, to lure them into false safety. He has their uniform, can use their whistle, or knows the right code-word. They realise that he is a stranger if they get closer than one movement.
Multiple prisons (harder for the attacker): There are multiple prison areas. The defender decides how many prisoners they put in which areas, and writes it down, or puts upside down markers in the prison areas.
Captured elites (harder for the attacker): It’s the best units of the attackers that are captured. The attacking force consists of less powerful units.
Captured leader (harder for the attacker): The leader of the attackers is among the captured. The attacking force doesn’t have a leader. In case of multiple prisons, the defender decides where is the leader.
Solo play: The defenders are played by the system. They patrol in random directions. In case of multiple prisons, when you reach a prison, roll a d6. On a 1-3, one prisoner is there, and you can roll again. When you roll a 4-6, stop rolling, there’s no more prisoners there. When you reach the last prison, all of the remaining prisoners are there. If you play with captured leader, on your first roll of 1, it’s your leader.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Western civilians: Human-sized human civilians in period clothing.
Primitive cannibals: Human-sized human warriors, without armour or shields, with bone throwing axes or bows.
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Similar stories - Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
Novels
Michael Crichton: Eaters of the Dead (1976): In a medieval setting, a group of warriors are hired to defeat cannibalistic cavemen.
Movies
The 13th Warrior (1999): In a medieval setting, a group of warriors are hired to defeat cannibalistic cavemen. Based on the Eaters of the Dead novel.
TV series & episodes
X-Files: Home (1996): In a contemporary setting, there are inbred savages, who keep the female of the family as a quadruple amputee, for breeding. By the end of the story, they are mostly killed.
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Frequently asked questions - Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
Is the Bone Tomahawk film based on a book or comics?
No, Bone Tomahawk is not based on either books or comics.
Is the Bone Tomahawk film a remake or reboot?
No, the Bone Tomahawk film is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Is there a post credit scene in Bone Tomahawk? Does Bone Tomahawk have end credit scenes?
No, there's no post credit scene in Bone Tomahawk.
Where can I see Bone Tomahawk? Where can I watch Bone Tomahawk online? Is Bone Tomahawk available on Netflix? Is Bone Tomahawk on Amazon?
As of 2022.01.04, Bone Tomahawk is available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Microsoft Movies, YouTube, Vudu.
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Resources - Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
Information
IMDB: Bone Tomahawk (2015): Database article.
WikiPedia: Bone Tomahawk: Database article.
Letterboxd: Bone Tomahawk 2015: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: Bone Tomahawk 2015: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article.¤
Reviews with no spoilers - Bone Tomahawk film (2015)
: Review video about the Bone Tomahawk film with no spoilers.¤
Reviews with spoilers - Bone Tomahawk film (2015)
: Review article of the Bone Tomahawk movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
Analysis - Bone Tomahawk movie (2015)
: Analysis video, explaining the finale of Bone Tomahawk.¤
https://www.ponapisach.pl/2015/11/bone-tomahawk-2015.html
http://schizocinema.blogspot.com/2018/01/poetic-savagery-bone-tomahawk.html
https://www.werewolves.com/review-bone-tomahawk/
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Buying the product - Bone Tomahawk, movie (2015)
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Have you seen the Bone Tomahawk film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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