Episode: 370 • Duration: 01:17:44
In our final episode, where we leave the West, we’re tackling something a little different – a contemporary western, and one that adds some weirdness to the proceedings with Bone Tomahawk. This horror-tinged western stars the good man Kurt Russell as a sheriff bound to his duty to track down kidnapped townsfolk who might be eaten by the neighborly troglodytes. We talk about the influences, the suspense, and the potential sus-ness of S. Craig Zahler’s debut film.
We’re also drinking Blue Barrel’s New Fashioned Hard Root Beer!
Red Hot Action Summer is over, but that means we’re starting our Halloween season. We’ll be back in September with our new event, running all Samhain long.
Hit that play button above to listen in.
Transcript – Red Hot Action Summer: Westward Ho (5) BONE TOMAHAWK (auto-generated)
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0:01
Howdy partners.
Welcome back to the Blood of Black Rum podcast Red Hot Action Summer.
This year, we’re not going to a specific era.
Instead, we’re heading out West, what we’re calling Westward Ho.
This time you’ll find American Westerns from all kinds of eras.
0:19
There’s sure to be some Clint Eastwood, some Pecked Pot and Ethan John Wayne with a couple of surprises thrown in as well to tell your mom pop, come on out, saddle up and listen in all August for red hot action summer Westward Ho Howdy folks.
0:40
Ryan here from the Black Rump podcast and I’m joined with my Co host Martin.
How’s it going, partner?
Pretty good, buddy.
We are at the tail end of our red hot action summer where we’ve gone westward, westward ho.
0:56
We have done a number of different Western eras in the American Western.
And this time we’re actually doing a contemporary Western, which is something if you’ve listened to the last few episodes that we’ve done, we’ve shield away from.
1:11
We haven’t done any real contemporary Westerns.
You know, we didn’t do any Yellowstone or, or.
Whatever did you read the as like a contemporary western?
Yeah, that was a joke.
It was, it was a joke.
That was a it was a, it was a, it was a laugh.
It was a gaffe.
It was, you know, it’s a joke.
1:28
A.
Guffaw.
Yeah.
But you know, and again, there aren’t that many contemporary Westerns.
It’s not a widely done genre at this point in time.
There’s only been a number, a handful that have released over the years, so the pic is slim.
1:51
However, there was one that stood out to me that I really wanted to do because I’ve heard of it for quite a while and I’ve never seen it.
And it was something that, you know, kind of stood out as an interesting thing.
It really hits all of the notes of something that we would do on the Blood and Black Rum podcast from the cast to the subject matter.
2:12
And then, you know, obviously the American Western theme that’s going on here, along with the contemporary bent.
And also with something that I thought was really interesting is that this is one of those what you would consider a weird W type film, something that was kind of propagated in the 50s with the EC comics where they would, you know, like they the EC comics mostly known for Tales from the Crypt, you know, the Vault of Horror, stuff like that.
2:46
They’re poor comics, you know, pre code horror comics.
However, they also were very influential in promoting this idea of the weird West in that you have this kind of Western theme and you know, Western set storylines and then incorporate some spookiness, paranormal activity sometimes like sightings, alien sightings, stuff like that would be kind of it combined into this Western theme.
3:18
And a lot of times it’s still hit on a lot of those easy comics, moralistic tales, you know, like you might follow bank robbers in the West and then they get their comeuppance through paranormal means.
But the idea of the weird WI think is a really fun one.
3:37
More recently, the EC comics revitalization has done a new like one shot comic of the weird W stories, which I thought was really cool that just came out think last year.
And so this movie it it hits those themes.
And Martin, you’ve been talking a lot about Red Dead Redemption as you’ve been replaying the first one in single player mode.
3:59
And you know, that also does incorporate a lot of weird W ideas into it.
It not it not so much in like the main storyline, but as you kind of traverse around and you might find Bigfoot, you might find, you know, ghost trains, especially in Red Dead 2.
4:19
So that that also like kind of pulls from the weird W elements that we haven’t really ever discussed on the show before.
Any anything, anything to point out.
Are you are you a big fan of Weird West?
Are you you don’t have much knowledge of it?
4:36
Yeah, I don’t like have much knowledge.
Yeah.
It’s tangential stuff that happens in the film.
Yeah.
In films are, you know, media and stuff like again, like, yeah, as I was telling you off the podcast, like I like a week or two ago and finished up Red Dead 1 and Undead Nightmare Platinum did again, like a loser.
5:01
It has to play an undead nightmare.
You know, I was like, I, I, you know, people really loved it back in the day and they still love that, you know, think about it.
But I’m like, I don’t really think they play it that often because it’s kind of a kind of a bore.
It’s like 8 hours of like, you know, kind of monotony and like the horror stuff is like it’s there, but like, you know, it’s you know, I don’t know how long the charm lasts.
5:24
Like like people have been saying with Red tattoo weird.
Like you know, when’s Undead Nightmare 2 coming out?
So you don’t even need that.
Like, they’ve included enough weird, scary, spooky shit and, you know, Red Dead 2, like, you know, to make up for, you know, aliens and zombies.
5:44
Yeah, Fun little encounters.
I I, you know, I, I like the idea.
I like this, this whole idea of like, you know, sightings and things like that that may have occurred out in the West, you know, in the prairies that no one, you know, is no, no one’s around for except for a couple people, you know, out on horseback riding in the night and they experience this weird, you know, supernatural element.
6:04
I, I think that’s really a fun idea.
And I think here I use that kind of loosely for this movie because this movie, you know, is essentially a Western, but it does have a very, you know, specific horror bent to it, which comes out more later on in the film.
6:24
And I think it leads us perfectly too into our Halloween activities that we’re going to be doing for next time.
You know, like right after this, when we get into September, we’re going to be moving into our Halloween themes.
And it’s kind of the perfect crossover between, you know, the end of our Western film series and movement into more horror related elements.
6:46
So we’re going to be covering 2015’s Bone Tomahawk, directed and written by S Craig Zahler.
That film I am completely surprised, kind of blown away now that it is 11 years old.
But that makes sense since as Craig Zahler has gone on to do like two other feature films, one being Brawl and Block 99 or whatever.
7:09
A Brawl in Cell Block 99, which was a Vince Vaughn film.
Kind of a weird role for him to take on.
Yeah.
And but so it makes sense.
I just cannot really believe that it’s been 11 years because I, I feel like I even remember my dad talking about Bone Tomahawk at the time when it came out.
7:28
And he was like, yeah, yeah, I’ve seen that.
There’s this Western coming out.
It’s called Bone Tomahawk.
And he was kind of interested in it because he he does have some interest in Western films as well.
So I do remember it coming out, but I just for whatever reason, never checked it out.
7:43
And I do remember the fanfare that was surrounding it as well.
And then more specifically, why did we pass it up?
Because Kurt Russell’s in this movie.
This is this is right down the pipeline for us.
So it’s true.
Not sure how we missed out on that, but for whatever reason I do.
7:59
Remember seeing the poster and quite a bit back in the day and I was out and I don’t know why per SE, I never like went to go, you know?
Just, you know, go.
See it And because it’s like Western Kurt Russell being sold.
Right, Yeah, Kurt Russell vehicle Western give it to me.
8:16
Yeah, So I don’t know why I missed out on it, but into.
The veins.
That’s right.
But yeah, it’s.
So I think that, you know, historically this film has had a pretty popular run since its 2015 release.
8:35
It seems like a lot of people like this movie and it’s pretty well known as being like one of the essential quintessential contemporary horror westerns in that it kind of pairs both together.
And we’ll talk about that how this film maybe how how it does trying to do both things at once, whether it works or doesn’t work.
9:00
And you know, some of the other ideas at play in the movie and and some of the inspirations that probably went into this film as well.
But before we get into that, let’s talk about the beer that we have on the show, or I should say malt beverage, because I don’t really necessarily want to say that it’s beer.
9:16
It’s not really beer, no, Although the ingredients do say first and foremost that it contains beer.
Not sure what exactly that means and I don’t know how they got away with that is just a blatant nondescript element in the ingredients, but sure, we’ll go with it.
9:41
So the story behind this was I was out, I ended up down towards our beverage Center for some reason and I stopped in ALDI actually.
And sometimes ALDI has some cool stuff in there.
9:58
They just sometimes are sort of like a catch all for weird things.
And you know, you can catch them at cool times where they have like different knock offs.
And in this case, I happen to see that they had this brand called Blue Barrel, which obviously is some sort of ALDI brand.
10:17
You know, it’s their their beer brand for this particular type of a beverage.
And they had what’s called a new fashioned hard root beer, an American classic.
And I said American classic.
Well, that’s what we’re doing.
10:33
We’re doing American classics.
That sounds right up our alley.
Hard root beer?
That sounds like something they’d be drinking in a Western saloon.
We’re not we’re we’re not doing 5 of goes West.
Yeah.
Oh, that’s an American tale.
My bad.
That’s true.
It’s also an American classic.
10:51
So I think we, we have a couple of experiences off air with hard root beer type beverages, one my earliest one being Doctor Mcgillicuddy’s root beer, which is like a liqueur that you can get and it’s, you know, effectively just like malt beverage root beer.
11:12
I think they make a number of different flavors, but root beer was the one that we got.
And I believe we just had that on a on a whim one night when we were having a little slumber party.
That’s right, And I remember waking up with a mighty fiery headache after having that root beer.
11:31
Not even, not even a hangover.
Just like a really bad Wow, you consume too much sugar that night.
Yeah, that’s part of the reason why it’s like, you know, these types of things I stay away from ’cause we were watching.
It was your first experience with Man With No Name Trilogy watching.
11:51
Think that time that you’re thinking of for a few dollars more.
Could be.
Yeah.
I think so, yeah, it’s possible.
It’s one, one of those two.
Yeah, I remember, you know, we didn’t imbibe that much and but it’s I still woke up with a a pretty, pretty bad headache.
12:10
And so that’s that was our first experience.
And then I think we’ve had one other hard root beer.
The name escapes me now.
Not your father’s.
Yes, not your.
Where did that go by the way?
Have you seen that?
I think it’s, I think it’s still around.
But like, you can’t like, you know, like really find it anywhere.
12:27
Yeah.
Because there was a time before like Heard Seltzer’s and all that took over like in 20/19/2018, like when we were going to like our beer fest, like they had like tossing this shit out like to everybody like, hey, try your not your father’s root beer.
12:43
Try your not hard root beer.
It’s the next thing.
You gotta try that hard.
Root beer, yeah, all kinds of like, all kinds of hard sodas was really like the the big thing before seltzer really made a turnabout.
And now they just use like the actual brands, like, yeah, they have a hard Mountain Dew you.
Know yeah, right yeah, yeah, like the fuck off with like your your weird ass brand names like we’re just going Pepsi’s making them now you know they’re they’re getting into the business of of hard alcohol.
13:10
But this one yeah, this one is blue barrel hard root beer.
This is not this is like a knock off.
It would probably be considered a knock off of the not your father’s root beer.
I guess so I’ll let you go first since you’re not really a purveyor of this type of beverage.
What what do you think about the hard root beer?
13:28
It’s OK.
It’s definitely got like, you know, nice, you know, traditional bog standard, you know, random grocery store or convenience store like brand root beer taste do it.
13:44
So it just tastes like root beer.
Back end is really heavy on the alcohol heat.
I’m with the it’s only 5, it’s 5.8.
So but like it’s like, you know, very noticeable, doesn’t really add much to it.
13:59
And the problem I have with like all these different types of malt beverages are no matter what they do, whether it be like a like a Mountain Dew, you know, type, you know, alcoholic soda or this or Zema or Twisted Tea, whatever the fuck.
14:16
They all at the end of the day on that back end with that alcohol that they can’t, you know, hide behind, you know, the drink you get nothing but a pure blast of like straight off the assembly line cake, like sugar.
14:33
And it’s like it’s for me, they just, you know, I’ve always find that to be a very annoying flavour.
I don’t like the taste of just like pure sugar beet.
Like, you know, you’re just having a bag, like right.
14:49
And you’re just sitting there scooping it in.
So it’s not bad.
Like I can drink this.
But the other two you gave me, I’ll be probably sitting on them for a long time just because like it doesn’t like they don’t do anything for me.
And as you said too, the other thing is I always feel like same reason I could drink 12 bottles of water that day and had this be buy one like alcohol beverage and I’ll wake up feeling hungover then if I just drink a 15 pack of a bud light or something because like just the, you know, amount of sugar in it is just ridiculous as shocked the system so right.
15:25
As you, as you quickly pointed out, when you saw the bottle, you were like 230 calories.
That’s that’s egregious.
It is true.
It is a high on the calories.
I definitely would not recommend trying to have a a few of the a couple of these, a few of these.
I’m going to stick with one though.
15:42
I have 3 and I’m going to move on to something else.
It’s not to say that I don’t necessarily like this.
I do think that it’s not bad.
I do think that it has a kind of sort of an, I don’t want to say off putting because that makes it sound like it is bad.
16:02
It just a kind of unique and maybe unwanted flavour on the 1st sip of like it’s a it’s almost like it’s sort of root beer, but there’s just added mental, not even mental.
I don’t know.
It’s just some, some sort of added additional thing that is not necessarily as tasty as what you would expect from a root beer.
16:24
You’re.
Tasting the beer and if you saw the ingredients, you would know that’s the beer.
Yeah, there’s just something about it that has a little bit of an off putting flavor to it.
However, I don’t necessarily, I don’t mind it.
I think it’s drinkable.
16:41
Like I said, I don’t think I would go for multiple of these at a time.
For one thing, I’m not really a huge soda person in general.
So I think you know, when you, when you’re, you’re basically saying like, listen, I love soda so much, I need to make it alcoholic just because like I got a drink.
16:59
I want to drink soda all the time, whether I’m partying or whether I’m, you know, trying to get through the work day, I need a soda.
I’m not really that kind of person.
So when I go to have a like a beer or drink, the first thing I’m thinking of is is not like a soda type flavour.
17:18
However, I do think this is an, an interesting unique experience.
And for like 799 for a six pack, I don’t really think you can beat it.
If you were just like in ALDI and you see this and you’re like, I think I’m craving a little root beer.
I don’t say that I don’t think it’s a bad thing.
17:34
I would recommend if you like that sort of flavour, you, you could try it.
I, it is probably going to be a little bit different for everybody’s tastes, but it’s not bad.
I, I, I don’t think I’d get it again, but it was an interesting experiment, you know, and then again, we’re not like huge malt beverage drinkers at regardless, I think we’ve done a number of malt beverages on here, including Zima at one point.
17:58
They’re not really our thing.
But you know, if these, if this is kind of your thing, you know, give it a try.
It’s, it’s sort of the knock off, not your father’s root beer from what I remember.
I think not Your Father’s Root Beer was a little bit better, if I’m remembering correctly, but it’s not bad.
18:16
And you can’t really find that one either.
So, or at least we can’t.
All right, so let’s talk about Bone Tomahawk.
Bone Tomahawk.
One thing that really struck me that I didn’t really realize about this movie going into it is obviously, of course, I knew Kurt Russell was in it because he’s like prominent in like a talking head sort of thing on the cover of the poster.
18:41
But but other than that, I didn’t really look too far into this.
But this actually has a pretty solid cast of characters in it.
This is again, another one of those movies that’s like band of guys off on, you know, a a a ride to to do something specific.
18:59
You know, in this case, they are a posse that are setting out to kind of save the main character.
I guess one of the main characters, Patrick Wilson’s character, his wife, who’s been abducted by what they think are like Native Americans that are have have come through their small town of Bright Hope.
19:21
And she’ll love that the name Bright Hope of like you.
It’s like a fucking West.
Oh, Bright Falls.
Yeah, yeah.
But it’s like even more so it’s like even even like bright falls is kind of for Alan Wake is kind of like on the nose of like, you know, bright and dark and stuff like that.
19:40
But like in this one is even more on the nose of like.
Look.
Look at the hope.
Of this town, it’s like, you know, it’s a burgeoning town of 200 people as the sign off 1. 100 and 83821 we need to bring that back as a society, we need to have more when you enter cities like population signs there.
19:58
Someone standing around, just waiting.
With a, you know, like a one of those stickers or whatever it is, just stick it up there if somebody dies or take it down, you know.
Whoa, whoa.
Linda died.
That way you can know like, oh, there’s a vacancy.
20:16
Yeah, right.
Exactly.
They just died of cholera.
That’s true.
That’s true, but I do like that really on the nose suggestion like this.
This is a town of hope and and brightness.
And what did they do?
The Native Americans came in and they ruined it.
They abducted a woman and it’s so it’s it’s got that same idea of men set out on a journey that we’ve done multiple times in this, even in this red hot action summer, you know, band of brothers, a unique band of brothers, but no less a band of brothers that we’ve, you know, that we’ve done before.
20:53
And so the idea isn’t really all that dynamic.
But I think what Bone Tomahawk kind of brings to the American Western is a more updated sort of planchet of the way that it’s filmed and the presentation and the more the the eerie nature of being at risk out in the wilderness.
21:24
You know, in this case, a very vast open Prairie that you just cannot see in the distance who is watching you?
And there’s sort of this eerie, you know, voyeurism to it that you’re, you’re, you’re always watched and you, you just don’t know where from, which I think is, you know, an interesting dynamic for a Western like this.
21:48
You go from what we’ve done in a couple of films like, you know, you know, Native Americans like got heroically go and beat them and, you know, fight them off or we’ve had to fight them off before.
There are noble but savage people.
22:05
We fought them a billion times to now, like, the more modern like, well, that’s not like good enough for the modern American psyche.
Everyone’s afraid they’re going to be raped and dragged off these days by people of color.
So why not, you know, right, make it, you know, we’re updating it for the modern, you know, the modern audience.
22:25
And and not only that, but like, obviously the idea here is, is is almost leading us into more of a like Hills Have Eyes territory in that wait a second.
It’s not specific Indians.
Like it’s not a tribe of Indians like the Cheyenne or, you know, the Apache Indians or anything like that.
22:47
No, this is like a ancient race of Native American tribes that have been here that are almost like cavemenesque people that have lived in this valley in cave system and they’ve effectively been incestualized and sort of inbred to the point where they kind of become these, you know, cannibal, you know, hills have ice type people.
23:20
I was going to say up in upstate New York, we call that Allentown.
That’s right.
Yes, yes, yeah.
Don’t put them coming out of those hills.
Come on.
No, but well.
Yeah, it’s like, it’s a great idea.
Like, because the whole like 1, I had no idea this was a horror film after the opening credits.
23:42
Like when like the one guy takes it like they, you know, get killed and like, you know.
Oh, yeah, Said hey, yeah, yeah.
I had said hey, right, yeah.
Very prominent exploitation actor Devil’s Rejects and House 1000 Corpses and you know, you know that.
24:00
Had no clue and so it was like.
Kind of a nice opening for you to like.
No, it was like, it was like, just like I was like, yeah, ’cause I was like, what the hell?
Like, what am I watching?
And then like, like the film does take forever to like build upon.
24:16
Hold on, hold on, hold on your first thought, though, wasn’t holy shit, that’s David Arquette taking some time off for me box his you know, major boxing career and and scream franchise I.
Had no idea.
I didn’t realize Purvis with David Arquette at all.
24:32
Until when?
Until right now.
I thought at first like, maybe like, ’cause I was looking at like the cast and I was like, is he the guy in the white suit?
No, that doesn’t.
Like that’s not David.
Good.
Lord didn’t recognize him at all.
24:47
No, didn’t recognize him.
One, I didn’t recognize him one bit, you know?
Good Lord.
Yeah.
Well, that’s surprising.
So I thought your first, your first, that would be your first thought.
And then the second thought would be, oh, wow, this is a horror kind of a horror movie is, you know, the the opening sequence too, is really interesting in that it does kind of conjure this idea of, you know, it it cements this idea of like you’re always watched because they had there’s this cool kind of idea that they’re traipsing through and sort of desecrating this area’s burial ground.
25:21
And there’s a, you know, Sid Haig has a funny line where there, you know, David Arquette’s basically like, should we be going through here?
This seems like it’s a bad idea.
You know, like, and Sid Haig is just basically like, well, you know, we’ve got a, you know, we’ve got a pass because he pulls out his gun and he’s like, you know, we’re just going to shoot whoever doesn’t want us to be here.
25:42
And then, you know, it’s a pretty shocking and immediate where they come into this burial ground and they’re just kind of walking through and then out of nowhere like fucking arrows, just like, you know, and it is a nice shock.
It’s which is great too, because the arrows give you that like, you know, suspense, like it’s not like a a gunshot.
26:01
You know, like yeah, yeah, they and and the other thing that the film has and this will kind of carry through throughout the movie is that it really does not have a like overbearing soundtrack to kind of usher in the audience to like, oh, something is going to happen.
26:21
You know, it does have a little bit of like a kind of a undertone buzz base to it that’s just sort of like a you know, it’s to set the mood, but it’s not like there’s an orchestral score pounding you in the background saying like, listen, there’s going to be a shock here and there’s going to be something’s going to happen and you can best prepare yourself and, you know, grab your seat and get prepared.
26:43
It doesn’t have that.
So it that actually, I think it’s kind of refreshing and that there’s really no lead in to the the shock.
It’s it’s like you know that there’s probably something going to happen, but you don’t know when or if it and then and then it kind of like just happens immediately.
27:02
Which is a plus for the film.
I think, you know, in fact, the minimalistics score, especially seeing as how, as we’ll talk about later, like how just grounded, you know, any of the violence is, you know, makes it that much more impactful.
27:20
But yeah, like I said, I was shocked to shit ’cause like, I was like, what the hell?
I remember looking at Wikipedia, I think I just said Western film.
I’m looking at it like, oh, this is Western horror.
I didn’t see the horror part.
Like, yeah, what do we have?
27:35
And I do think that that was sort of intentional as well.
You know, like the, the the poster artwork definitely looks like a sort of like tombstone esque poster.
It does not indicate anywhere that there’s going to be, you know, ancient tribal men in, you know, sumo diapers traipsing around and there’s a lot of bare ass in here.
27:58
So which is nice for the for the on the initiated of a male nudity.
There’s is quite a bit and there’s there is some full frontal penis too, which people always talked about is something that’s missing a lot from horror films and in films in general is the full frontal male.
28:16
We need more full frontal male nudity.
It’s normalized.
It’s it’s right, you know, it’s we need to equalize it a little bit more, You know, again, because we in this film, we do get Lily Simmons character.
She’s she’s topless and and Patrick Wilson gets a handful.
And so it’s only fair that later on we do get to see some some male frontal nudity nudity there.
28:38
Speaking of Lily Simmons, her character Samantha is sort of like this learned woman.
She’s sort of side Dr. in the town.
Doctor Quinn.
Yes, yes, sort of.
I mean, that is that’s kind of a funny reference to think about when Doctor Quinn is literally the medicine woman with the Native Americans and and that’s sort of the opposite here, but.
29:01
How did like I I’m blown away like by the lighting and of this film, because when we first see her, she’s got like her hair up.
It looks like her hair is like brunette.
But when she’s out having the nuptials, like you know, her hair is all of a sudden blonde and bleached, bleached blonde.
29:16
Well, wait, WAVY as shit.
Like, she’s like got this perfect prop.
Like I want to know like, well, what’s she doing?
What’s where’s she finding this hair product in like, you know, 1890s?
That that is an interesting thing about the movie too, is that it is a little does have a few goofs in the movie, including the fact that if you you you didn’t know him as David Arquette while you’re watching the movie.
29:40
But if you look, sometimes his teeth flash in their regular teeth and then sometimes they are like completely blackened, like he’s got dentures in.
And so there’s a couple of of, you know, problems with continuity in this film.
29:57
So I think, you know, that might be the case of Lily Simmons hair as well as this sort of.
Well, I mean, it’s not, it’s not not a big deal, but it’s just funny because it’s like, oh, she looks like, you know, and then all of a sudden because they’re having sex, like her hair is like I’m blonde, you know, woman with my hair flowing, but.
30:15
They had to set the mood is like, well, if it was just some random brunette, would you go out and, you know, with a injured leg and go rescue?
You’re probably not.
But the blonde, the blonde is like, OK, I’m I’m I’m putting on my splint and I’m heading out.
30:31
You know, my my biggest.
I have a qualm here and I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t think Lily Simmons is a very good actress in this movie.
She’s extremely flat.
I don’t think that she does a very good job of hitting the note of like a period piece woman.
30:53
I don’t know if that’s just her demeanour, direction or something else, but I I don’t really care for her in this role.
Not that I think that that makes much of a difference in in the long run because she’s not in the film all that much.
But I did have to mention I did find her to be a sore spot in like an otherwise well acted movie, especially considering she’s acting with, you know, Kurt Russell and Patrick Wilson in a lot of her scenes and sort of has to match their tone and demeanor.
31:24
I don’t think she she can.
So that was a little bit of a gripe.
But other than that, you know, how did what do you think about this?
The whole idea that like the inciting event is that she’s abducted.
31:40
And so you have this very generic woman in refrigerator story of like, well, the men must must, you know, pull themselves together and head out.
You know, it’s not like, oh, Nick was captured.
You know, the, the assistant deputy or whatever deputy Nick was captured.
31:57
We got to go rescue him.
They’re, they’re not like if Nick was gone and that was, you know, we got another deputy.
What are you going to do?
That’s why I deputize a bunch of.
People, it’s part of the job, you know, you sign on and and that’s it is what it is and he’s on his own but.
32:17
It’s, I think it’s fine.
I like, like again, like I like, like because at first like it doesn’t like until like the end, like at least for me, like I didn’t like thinking about it like, well, why in the hell like would they get kidnapped the entire time in the beginning, like with David Arquette that I didn’t recognize with like the whole like Indian burial part.
32:41
You know, the I was thinking like, why are they walking across it?
There’s like a path where they can walk around it.
Like, you don’t.
You’re just being, you know, assholes.
It’s like stepping on a grave in the cemetery on purpose.
You’re like, well, they built the the trail you.
32:57
Know, but like just out of curiosity, like how it like it is like kind of like they live out in a cave in the middle of nowhere like and I can’t imagine there’s that many towns and or that many people that trade spy that they, you know, are eat like.
They’re eating on the on the regular, yeah.
33:14
It seems like that’d be kind of hard, but I mean.
Well, normally they’re eating Mexican it seems like because that’s all they encounter out in the in the wastes is like a couple of Mexican guys that are, you know, sort of bandidos and you know, it.
It leads me to, I don’t know if I want to get into this right now.
33:35
Maybe, maybe a little bit later, we’ll get into it.
We’ll leave it at that and remind me to come back to that.
Idea put a pin in it right, but like it’s in.
I think it’s a fine enough setting because I’m, you know, set up because again, like we get spend like 20 minutes in the town, see how charming it is like.
33:52
True.
Who our players are like, you know, I like the name of the bar, you know, the salons, great.
You know the learning goats, you know.
Like the the town is and I do love how well read a lot of the the characters seem to be like Kurt Russell fucking says Kurt Russell fucking says why are you reading literature in the bath?
34:12
You know, like I fucking love the banding that they that he has.
I feel like the writing for this film, like I do like the dialogue, but I I feel like as Craig Zeller was sitting there the entire time, like snickering to himself, like like.
Let’s see that.
Like, like, like brigands, not just, you know, criminals or bandits, like, no, no, I have to use like the 1600s naval parlance of.
34:39
Brigands, how about that one time where Kurt Russell says can you close that aperture?
Yeah, right.
Like it’s I do, I agree with you.
I do think Zoller was sitting around and sort of like, damn, that’s good.
That’s.
Like he had a source by him or he was like, I’m well read enough.
34:58
Like like you like sit in there because like I’ve I’ve known the word troglodyte.
I learned something today.
I had no idea troglodyte actually met a cave dweller and no fucking cool.
I thought it just meant like somebody that you thought was like a.
Like a dumb dog sort of thing.
Yeah.
Yeah, Well.
35:13
Just like, just like an idiot, like, you know, someone like you’d call him a troglodyte.
It’s like with, you know, Jeff Daniels and Squin the Will and like a Philistine, you know, like, I didn’t know that.
And I go, I’m like, Oh my God, it actually does me.
Yes.
Like I’ve been using that word for most of my adult life.
35:31
Like, but like, it’s yeah, no, like the words, the words that they like they bandy about like I like I, I, well, heck to look it up, but like, how do you think they’re riding their horses?
And like I’ll take Vanguard like easy, like like like easy line and like, you know, I.
35:50
Agree.
Yeah, that was pretty funny too.
That’s I have like, you know, we’ve seen a lot of westerns.
I’ve never never heard anybody in a Western film.
Say I’ll take.
Say I’ll take Vanguard, but I do.
I’d like, I kind of will allow it because Matthew Fox has this sort of dandyish foppishness to him that it like kind of makes sense that he would say something ridiculous like that because he he kind of has just like haughty nature to him.
36:14
Well, his suit is ridiculous that he’s taking that thing out into the desert.
I mean, I think it’s.
Sort of the.
Joke, you know, it’s sort of the joke because like even at the beginning where he’s in the saloon and he’s, he’s about ready to go to the doctor and he stands there and has to adjust his hat and cap and, you know, adjust everything and breeches and all that and walks out the door.
36:36
I I mean, I think it’s part of the joke, but I do love.
No, it is.
But I mean, yeah, but it is just funny.
Like he he’s just so erudite.
He would I must have went to like contillion school to learn how to be a proper gentleman.
Like, like, I like, I was like sitting there and I like anytime like a word was being used, I was like, Ryan’s probably sitting at home, like if he had his head down for a minute and perked his fucking head up.
36:57
But it’s like.
Yeah, I mean, I, I will say that I do really, I think that it’s really funny at times and it has this sort of specificity to the character that I think works pretty well.
One thing that I you know, I think that this film suffers from is it’s it’s too long.
37:18
It it’s it’s too long for what it offers up.
I know that it’s trying to be sort of this character driven piece and and it’s got a slow burn to it.
But I think that, and feel free to interject if you disagree, but I do think that the middle portion of them just, you know, going across.
37:38
Let’s say wander in the desert like Moses for 40.
Years I do think that’s that’s just a little too long in that Zahler is trying to work in these character elements that sometimes work.
I I you know, I’m not going to disagree and say that they’re not it’s not somewhat effective in that, you know, we do get different character points for each person.
38:00
You know, we know all about, you know, chicory and it’s sort of like unique perspectives and things.
And I think Richard Jenkins does a great job.
And I’m not saying that I I don’t, I think we we jettisoned all of that.
But I do think that the film is overall too long in the middle.
38:16
You know, it’s, it’s, it’s sort of almost asks the the viewer for too much patience to really wait for the payoff.
I I, I, I would agree, I wouldn’t say like it needs a huge cutting.
No, like the film is 2 hours.
38:32
I would say knock it down to like 10 minutes off the film because a lot of that middle part, like it is good character building.
It’s like, you know, so when like the ending rolls around, you have like a greater, you know, strength to what happens.
But I mean, I think like, you don’t need to have like one night.
38:51
It’s like, you know, a wolf that steps over the belt and it’s bandidos and it’s this like, you know, like have like the same scenario but three different things, like happened like to, you know, make it work.
Yeah.
I think it would have been more interesting to say like them at camp, like see them like crawling through the desert and like what they’re actually running into, like beside, you know.
39:14
Yeah, right.
I mean, I, I will say that I think a number of those moments, like you said, I wouldn’t cut them all.
I wouldn’t.
I definitely don’t think that all of them are extraneous.
Like that one scene where Matthew Fox, his character just immediately shoots whoever fucking crosses the the line there is it nice shocking moment.
39:31
It says a lot about his character as a whole, which will get even more later on.
And that he’s, you know, sort of like this proclaimed Indian murderer of like 110 different people.
I think it says a.
Lot 106. 106 and I think it says a lot about his character in that moment.
39:49
So I wouldn’t cut all of those things, but I do think that it just it could it could use just a little bit of editing to kind of whittle down some of the extraneous parts that are that really don’t serve much purpose or just kind of reiterate some of the ideas that have already been stated before.
40:06
But again, I do like the character development that we do get.
One thing that I think is kind of frustrating, which I kind of mentioned before with this women in a Refrigerator storyline, that’s.
That sort of is reductive in a way is that this, you know, the whole idea that Arthur is like, I’m fucking more almost mortally injured, but I’m setting out on the, you know, a five day ride and you know, it’s it’s kind of AI think it’s over the top in a way that I don’t think makes a whole lot of sense.
40:36
I think like it would have made more sense if Samantha was, let’s say, the only town physician, right?
Like now that would be something where it would be like an immediate crisis.
We’ve got no one else.
If someone gets having.
Like, you know, like a cholera outbreak going on, like.
40:54
Like I’m not saying that the the impetus of a human life is not important or emergent, but it just feels like 1 white woman missing from town is like, you know, all hands on deck situation.
41:11
Whereas this one black servant gets annihilated in the fucking stables.
And they’re like, I don’t know.
I mean, some, some guy came through here, you know what I mean?
Like it does feel a little bit and, and that OK, now I will get into this a little bit.
41:28
I think we just talked about it.
I do the guy, let’s say the one guy worried about his Colt.
Yeah, what about my colon?
The guy fucking.
But he’s just sitting in the, you know, in the fucking stable.
Ripped pieces.
So I’m, I’m going to say this, I, I, I’m, I 100% expect people to some people to disagree.
41:52
And I’m not saying this in a way that I think like negates the film or like you can’t enjoy the film, but I do find racist overtones in this movie.
I think what I find a little bit problematic is the whole idea that these are effectively Native Americans, but an older generation of Native Americans that are, you know, more Cavemen at esque.
42:19
And it’s sort of like a roundabout way of saying like, hey, you know, like this is what Native Americans do, but like, these are worse kind, right?
I think that the film has a problem with not focusing so much on other dynamics besides white people in the movie.
42:40
And it it it that would I think that would be excusable in itself if you just kind of overlooked the fact that like, OK, these aren’t they’re technically not what they call quote UN quote Indians, because even a Native American dude is like, these aren’t our people, you know, like I’m not claiming them, but.
42:58
He’s the He’s the one that band.
He’s out of Troglodyte.
That’s right, but it has a problematic way of multiple types of things happening where it sort of ignores other cultures in a way that sort of kind of feels to me.
43:17
I think this is a perfect example.
Like Lovecraftian in the sense that like Lovecraft’s like, well, I’m not saying the fish people are actually Jews, but I’m not not saying that either, right.
Like, I’m not, I’m not not saying that, but I’m not, you know, I’m not saying it, but I’m not not saying it.
43:33
And I, I feel like this sits in that weird little area where it it feels vaguely racist in a lot of ways.
And I say that in a way in in I guess let me let me pause and let you state your piece in that sense and if you agree with me or not, but.
43:53
Because this is my first experience with, you know, S Craig’s dollar.
I I can’t say what’s in his heart.
Sure.
Me either.
I can’t either.
I’m not saying yeah.
I mean, like, and, and because, you know, the primitive cannibal is like a, you know, well renowned, you know, horror staple and we’ve seen it, you know, from not just with this being, you know, Native Americans, but like, you know, Polynesians, you know, white trash, like with like the hills have eyes and like, you know, Rob Zombie shit.
44:30
I I don’t I wouldn’t my I personally like I wouldn’t jump to the racist tones.
And also because like he had is like keeping like a period tone.
44:46
Like it’s like, it’s like with LA Noir, like Gazelle Noir set in the 40s, There’s like, and their goal was to make it feel really lived in.
There’s a lot of racist things that are said in that, you know, like, and do I think the developers are, you know, you know, trying to like promote.
45:04
No, but they’re like, you know, like, all right, we’re being immersive here to like, and I personally like, I don’t view these, you know, civilized, like God fearing people.
45:19
Like they’re all like walking around crosses and like, oh God, like I don’t feel like like I don’t like watch that.
I mean, they’re struggling go like, yeah, that’s right.
They’re, you know, you know, with the white men civilized these assholes and brought them Jesus.
45:35
And this is how they thank them.
You know, I think it’s just more like an archetype of the people of the time that lived in the era, you know, because Kurt Ross, the real, you know, isn’t really that he’s and, you know, neither, you know.
Yeah.
And I would I guess.
Neither, you know, neither is, you know, chicory.
45:51
Like, you know, so like I, I, I can see, like, I can see it like, like I would like to hear like somebody who’s, you know, native, like, you know, what Native American people’s opinions are on it.
Sure.
Yeah, 100%.
But like for me first, like watch like if I saw a couple of like, you know, and this is like like a constant theme in the films that like, yeah, I would be like, yeah, yeah, probably is.
46:17
But like yeah 1.
One thing.
You say if you’re doing like cannibals in the West, what are you going to have like a bee?
A fucking ends up being like, oh, it’s a buyer.
Oh, it’s, you know, like.
It’s one thing that I will say is I’ll go a little bit further.
46:32
I’m not, I’m definitely not saying like, oh, as Craig Zahler set out to make a racist move, like, I’m certainly not saying that I’m not, you know, I’m not making any judgements on him as a writer.
I’m saying that like I think the the plot ends up coming off somewhat like that, maybe unintentionally.
46:49
I’m going to go further and say like because you brought up a lot of and other people too have brought up a lot of other exploitation type movies.
Like the Hills of Eyes is a really good example to use to associate with Bone Tomahawk because they are so similar.
And I think it’s pretty clear as Craig Sawyer was pretty influenced by the Hills of Eyes, you know, knowingly or, you know, unknowingly when he wrote the movie.
47:14
The Hills have Eyes, though, is not so it it it makes it a point to humanize the cannibals in a way that I feel like bone Tomahawk does not do right.
The cannibals are that way because they were forced into that lifestyle there.
47:32
There was, you know, something out of their control with the nuclear element that they they could not continue living like a normal human lifestyle.
And so that I think makes it a little bit different than bone Hamilcock because one of my, my biggest complaints with the finale, the conclusion, what have, what have you, is that it all it comes off saying like not much, right.
47:59
Like I, I don’t, I, I feel like at the end of the day, the full storyline is sort of lacking an overall point to it.
It’s sort of just like, hey, look, western expansion and yeah, there were some issues with western expansion and like, darn this, you know, this predominantly white town is being afflicted by this troglodyte race that’s somewhere out in the The Cave system.
48:28
But other than that, I feel like it has frustratingly little to say.
I think, well, I think it’s just a, it’s just a buttoned up exploitation film.
Like it’s, it’s right.
But my it’s my complaint.
Is that exploitation films have something to say and generally they have a, a a you know, sort of a sub subvertive theme to them in in a way, you know, it is exploitative, but the the exploitation is sort of the point in that like, look, we’re pointing out the the flaws of the exploit exploited, you know, and I would say that this film frustratingly lacks something like that at the end of the film to really bring it together and say, like, this is the reason why you watch them brutalize and massacre, you know, these cannibals after that, you know, obviously they were in danger, but like this is the reason I feel like it lacks that sort of I.
49:25
Think it’s it’s Terrifier and Cannibal Holocaust, but just like it’s gussied up in in a Hollywood veneer.
I I don’t because like a lot, I don’t think like at the end of the day, like I think it like cannibal Holocaust, like there was something about like, you know, like all the media and like, you know, we being like, you know, it’s been however fucking long since we did.
49:53
Inserting, inserting ourselves into the the business.
So, you know, like we.
Yeah.
But at the same time though, it’s cool.
But is that like the really the main thing most people walk away with after watching the film?
No, I mean, again, I mean we did terrify her and I’ve only seen the first one.
50:09
You know, whether it had a deep meaning or not, it doesn’t really matter because you know what?
It sold a shit ton of shit and got, you know, because of it being like just exploitation slop.
You can.
50:26
This is in a sense, exploitative slop.
It’s gussied up and well mannered and area type.
But it’s like, when it comes down to like, the premise and the violence, it’s definitely, you know, just that like, there’s nothing like here that’s any different than like a House of 1000 Corpses.
50:48
Yeah, agreed.
I agreed on that point.
I’d like.
Yeah, like I said, and I’m not saying that that makes it any less enjoyable for the viewer.
I, I, I’m not saying that I think that it is something where like, well, I’m checking out, I, I can’t watch this movie.
51:04
Like I was saying like sorry to interrupt.
I was just thinking about like 2015, like one of the things they do, which is stupid.
And I don’t think it’s done to be like, look how you know Native Americans are bad.
But like the they have two, only two women, they’re pregnant and they’re all their limbs are cut off and they’re blind and, you know, so they can’t run away or something.
51:27
It’s just like shock value.
I think there’s nothing, I don’t think trying.
He’s trying to make a point about like these people, like, you know, savagery in itself.
It’s just shock value.
It’s not the film from 2015, which is probably the reason why I didn’t see it, because I was just in awe of it all year.
51:45
Fury Rd. where like, obviously the women and all that kind of stuff, There’s like a piggy mouth.
Like, yeah, since that’s like, you know, I think it’s mutable.
Or I think that’s, I think that’s fair.
I think the point you’re making is fair in that that is what it sets out to do.
52:01
I’m saying personally, I found that to be a little bit lacking for the rest of the movie.
Like I enjoyed myself enough, but I felt at the end of the day, when I got to the end of Bone Tomahawk and the conclusion was just effectively like now we just killed them all because they were a nuisance and they were going to, you know, they were going to go back to our town.
52:26
I just felt like it was lacking heft.
There’s just something missing to make it stand out to me as like, why did I why did I continue through this?
You know, very admittedly very brutal, you know, very some sometimes mean spirited type of film.
52:43
I think you brought up Terrifier is a great point.
This pre pre predates Terrifier, I think a little bit.
And it has a very similar scene where they split the dude right down the middle.
You know, Deputy Nick is an unfortunate having a really, really bad day in that he’s first scalloped and then, you know, hung upside down, split right down the middle, but before they eat him.
53:09
And I think, you know, Terrifier is a really good comparison to.
This movie that’s like what I thought of at first, is like, just like.
Yeah.
Except this time you got, you got you have Kurt Ross and like, don’t worry, the Calvary’s on the way.
53:24
Yeah.
Yeah, like, because it’s like, you know, don’t worry, you’re getting your butt hole.
Fucking yeah.
Like this would be good comfort for him, right?
Like, and he’s getting like absolutely destroyed while still alive and, you know, experiencing this really horrible thing that’s happening.
53:44
So I mean, yeah, again, it’s not like I’m saying don’t watch Bontama because of all these things.
It isn’t just my criticism of the film in that I felt like it was sort of, it’s ended up lacking something that I I felt would be like a driving factor in me saying that.
54:00
Yeah, I definitely want to watch Bone I I definitely want to recommend Bone Tomahawk for this.
If you’re going to watch it and you just like looking for exploitative Western fair that’s got like a horror predominant theme to it.
I think Bone Tomahawk is the movie for you.
It’s again, we’ve talked about some of the comparisons, but I would also throw out the descent as another type of comparison masses.
54:24
Chainsaw Massacre.
Sure.
The Texas Chainsaw Master to an extent, sort of like the, the primitive nature, the, the thing, you know that, you know, they’re cannibals and stuff like that.
So I like, I’m not saying don’t watch it, just saying that’s, that’s a criticism that I have.
Like I, I can, I understand because I did see like that before, like, you know, getting on like I can see it.
54:45
But like for me as somebody who for the most part like exploitation, like like all those like parts, like for me, like you’re never anything that I’m like, oh, this is, you know, sure, you know, cinema mass, you know, Bonita, you know, and I like it is, you know.
55:07
Yeah.
It doesn’t matter as I say, as I say, it’s just like, you know, shock value.
Sure, yeah, which it does have in spades.
I mean, the the gore is pretty is is pretty intense at times.
It’s it’s certainly got some good effects.
55:24
I think some other you know it, I think it comes and goes like the the effects can be good, the effects can be bad.
I think they lingered a little bit too long when Patrick Wilson is cutting that like bone whistle type thing that they have in their throw out because it was very clearly like a, you know, a molded dummy that was there.
55:41
But other times like which?
That’s a great Which.
That’s a great thing too, because they shriek in like to like, you know, they don’t talk.
They they have this freak and it gives you the thought like before, like the net, like it’s revealed like a very tail end, like the last like 10 minutes in the film.
55:57
Like it gives you like, is this a like?
That’s another thing too, like, you know, of like leading up to it of like not thinking about like it as like a Native American portrayal because it does have a supernatural horror element to it too.
56:15
You know what?
Because they’re like, oh, that can’t natural.
Like, you know them fucking sounding like a goddamn elk.
You know, but.
Yeah.
And it’s like, Oh no, they put, yeah, little, you know, thing in their windpipe.
Help out with that.
56:30
Yeah, it is cool.
It’s got some really cool ideas.
You know, the the actual like bone utensils.
Like man, they must sharpen the shit out of those fucking bones because multiple scenes of them throwing those like but like literal bone Tomahawks that they have and just like severing hands, severing feet.
56:52
Which is amazing.
Those things look fucking heavy ass.
Shit.
Right.
Like, like and they’re just whipping.
Them, they’re practice that you’re throwing like Frisbee golf over there.
Just, you know, it’s, you know, it’s the, the, the ideas are cool.
I like the ideas and I like the brutality.
57:08
I think that the sort of mean spirited nature of it is sort of like the, it kind of lends itself to the idea of the, the Wild West is like, you know, shit happens in the West and it’s uncivilized and brutal.
And so I like that idea.
I think the the the idea of like the the women being, you know, effectively gimped and just constantly impregnated and they can’t see and they’re just laying there.
57:35
It’s pretty horrifying.
It’s pretty, it’s pretty gruesome detail that they throw in there is sort of like almost sort of like an afterthought.
They just kind of walk by them and they see them.
And as it’s a very quick, probably like 20 seconds of just showing that and that’s it.
57:52
They mention it.
They make mention of it, but but again, you’re not quite sure when she mentions it earlier on if she just means like, oh, they literally were born that like deformed because we know that they’re sort of, you know, product of incest and, you know, they have this sort of deformity or we don’t know that it’s actually like self-imposed like, Oh no.
58:12
They drive stakes into their eyes and, you know, cut off their legs and arms and it’s fun little, you know.
Little.
Games Egg Sax and you know so that’s pretty horrifying and it sort of makes again like the IT might have been useful to have seen that prior to the end where they escape because that might have made the plight of Samantha a little bit more scary right like, oh, we know that that’s what they do to women.
58:40
Like it’s probably unlikely they’re going to just eat her like which would be the the best outcome in that scenario of like, oh, just eat me please, you know, or like, you know I also have to say Matthew Fox’s character brooder.
He goes out probably the best way because he just said fucking gets, you know, his hand cut off and then like stabbed or shot with an arrow.
59:01
Like, that’s the way you want to go if they’re, you know, disemboweling you and, you know, shooting you with a penis and.
And he’s got, he got a freaking, you know, a cigar at the end too.
Yeah, you.
Know, yeah, that’s, that’s probably the best way that you can expect to go out.
59:17
So, you know, at the beginning you’re kind of thinking like, oh, that’s, that’s not great.
But then at the end, you’re like, no, I, I think I would probably prefer that, you know, it was a good idea for him to stay behind.
So, yeah, I mean, I, I think that like the, the brutality is, is really there again, you kind of have to wade through the film’s middle part to get to it.
59:41
There’s a, a, you know, a pretty big gap between the action that’s a sort of slow burn as you start to start to see these characters.
What do you think about the, the whole idea that Patrick Wilson is really the, you know, sort of the churchified guy, You know, he’s the one that’s praying before dinner and, you know, calling out to God and, you know, even when he is, you know, trying to fix his splint and he, he yells out and he’s like, God damn, Jesus, God damn.
1:00:11
And he’s like, sorry about that, sorry about that.
You know, what do you think about that?
Because it’s sort of.
I feel like the film was attempting to reference sort of the the folly of religion a little bit, but it doesn’t really get into it enough where it really makes it makes it a point.
1:00:29
In that regard, it’s sort of a almost seems like a forgotten thought.
It’s just there, like I don’t think it’s expounded upon.
I have like a thought because like a lot like as we’re, you know, been talking about like, like, yes, like the, you know, woman in the fridge and, you know, the, you know, exploitation of like the women in this.
1:00:50
And I, again, I don’t think I think the film succeeds on atmosphere, dialogue and building the tension and pacing for the most part because I think like with stuff like that, I think, again, it seems like he was too busy sniggering about like, I’m used Aperture.
1:01:14
Yeah.
I like to have like, you know, like, you know, think that deeply about that part, you know, So, you know, I mean, like, because it’s not like there’s like, you know, some like, at the end of the day, like, oh, yeah, you stay with your wife, but your friends are dead.
And that leg you have is definitely going to need to be chopped.
1:01:32
Like, you have gangrene at that point and you’re going to probably die.
So was it worth it?
Yeah, like the journey back, like the film doesn’t even fucking talk about like, like, OK, you made it.
You succeeded.
You still have no horse.
1:01:49
How are you getting back?
Like your leg is mangled beyond repair.
In fact there are other family from like a couple, you know, caves, downs going to come and kill you.
And the morphine is gone.
Literally.
The opium is gone.
The tincture.
The tincture, yeah.
1:02:06
The only one who escapes this without like any real damage is Chick Curry.
He’s like, well, laughs, already dead.
I will say I did really like that, that ending trade off, which I think would actually was, you know, a good pay off is where when Kurt Russell’s character staying behind, he’s like, you say goodbye to my wife and I’ll say hello to yours.
1:02:31
And you know, that was kind of a nice, this nice little line there.
I I like that one.
It’s it’s you know, again, it’s sort of works on the idea that like you had to know these characters throughout the journey a little bit to really.
Yeah, to have.
Something like that happen.
Yeah, so I do like that.
1:02:47
I again, that’s what I’m saying.
I think that those are sort of effective moments and and why the the elongated length of the film is somewhat warranted, but I just think it could have used a little bit of editing.
What else?
1:03:03
What else did we talk about?
Whiskey and coffee, What’s your thoughts?
I feel like I’ve only had it like maybe once or twice.
I would prefer them separate.
I don’t really think that adding whiskey to your coffee elevates the coffee, and it probably just makes you feel like, well, I just wish I just had that whiskey.
1:03:29
I wish I just had a hot toddy and.
Stuff, right.
So I’d, I’m, I’m going to say, I’m going to say like no for me, I would pass on that.
What about that gruesome tea?
I love the phrase.
I I need to start using the phrase more where you just walk in and something smells bad and you’re just like that smells gruesome.
1:03:47
You know, I fucking it’s that’s got heft to it.
It’s not you’re not just saying like, oh, that’s kind of smells bad.
You’re, you’re saying like it’s gruesome.
Yeah, ’cause that’s like a rotting body.
Yeah, I I need to start using that more, especially when someone.
Had a truly hate as.
Shit.
1:04:02
Or something like that, you know what I mean?
Like I need to start using that more.
Next time we take a shit.
Next time I go into a public bathroom, I’m just going to yell it out.
I’m just going to say, whoa, that smells gruesome.
And let the person in the stall just be like, feel very ashamed of themselves.
1:04:20
Even if it doesn’t smell bad in there, I’m just going to do it anyway.
Well.
If you just say gruesome, he’s like, oh, what’s that gruesome tea?
And it’s like, who won?
Like the tea is being brewed that would ever smell gruesome.
1:04:36
I don’t know how you would get there.
What would you have to add to a tea, whether it be, you know, green, red, black, white, you know, to get there.
But that’s besides the point.
Who’s drinking tea out in the fucking W?
1:04:52
You look at Kurt Russell in this film.
Do you think that man’s ever look laid eyes on a tea bag before?
Does he look like he’s ever like taking the time to steep some tea over?
How he is taking the time to make a nice corn chowder.
Well, that’s why I mean.
1:05:08
He’s a gourmand as we see in this movie.
Like you said, not only does he, you know, he’s, he’s packing to go on a 5 day ride and, and expecting to encounter the worst.
And you don’t have to go after Native Americans and potential danger.
But he’s he, he’s still taking the time to like, make a nice trail mix, put up a nice cheese board.
1:05:30
You know he’s a gourmand at home.
He’s got beef cords, you know, like you use the beef cord.
Right, like, you know, like, and again, that’s like, you know, it’s, it’s sort of like this the the idea of the West, but like most of the time they’d have like stale bread, you know, like I’ll pack the stale bread and you know, for it would be good for the journey because it’s not going to go get any more stale, you know, or, or, but it is not to.
1:05:52
Say to say it is a good part though, like, like, because that’s like one of the few scenes we’re going to see him was his wife because his wife’s not really the film.
So like, you know, gets this because she’s very, you know, reluctant for him to go out there.
She’s like, what the Hell’s the point?
Like don’t do things.
You’re going to probably go out there and die.
1:06:07
And she’s like, you know, he’s like God, hell, you know.
Yeah, it’s the, it’s the idea again.
It’s like the, the manly.
It’s a manly thing to do.
It’s the.
Well, it’s not just that he’s actually the sheriff.
He does have legal, he does have like a legal obligation because he even points set out he’s like, look, only like me and Dwyer are probably the ones, you know, legally required to go and right.
1:06:32
But I did love that.
I do love the line when he shoots David Arquette in the leg at the bar at the saloon.
And like they’re like, and the wife comes in to like try to prep the wound because they call on her and she’s like, he’s got a fever, he’s probably going to die.
1:06:55
And then he’s like, well, that man, what’s his name?
He goes, well, his buddy.
So that means he probably stole it from somebody or somebody he doesn’t like.
And I prefer for him to not to die.
Or there’s a lot of people who probably like to watch him swing and you.
Know.
I I just love that because like one of my favorite lines and I sent it to you.
1:07:12
I don’t know if you watched them.
One of my favorite lines in Django Unchained is when the Marshalls like trying to get Django and Dr. Schultz out of the saloon after he just gunned down the local sheriff.
And he, Schultz is like, do I have it on your own or that you as a lawman, you will not gun me down.
1:07:32
He’s like, like you just gunned down that man.
The sheriff goes exactly just like that on your law as AUS officer.
You’re not going to gun me down the street like a dog.
He goes, well, as much as we’d love all to do that, I ain’t going to cheat the hangman in my town, like, you know.
Yeah.
1:07:48
Yeah, it is.
It warms the heart, you know?
It’s true.
All right, So we got to give Bone Tomahawk a rating.
So on a scale of zero to 10, excellent missionary position, there’s a great, great line where they, you know, Patrick Wilson flips.
1:08:06
He’s like, she’s not getting it done.
When she’s on top, she’s sort of like just, you know, kind of going through her paces and he flips her over and does the missionary.
And when he first does 1 thrust and it’s like 1 big old ramrod and she’s like please continue.
1:08:21
Yeah, she’s like, yeah, because she’s just a woman.
What does she know about?
That’s true.
She doesn’t.
Know she’s on top, she’s sitting there knitting, you know?
It is hilarious so.
I know.
No, it is because he’s a fucking crippled and he’s like go to Med, go switch, you’re not doing good.
1:08:39
And she’s like, I’m sorry.
And then like.
Yeah, she’s a little bit perturbed that he would, you know, complain and then, then and then she finds out.
Oh no, wait a second.
That’s my spa.
Yeah, please continue.
It’s a it’s a funny one again.
That’s another one of those things that you expect Zoller to be sitting around.
1:08:59
I like it.
I like it when the women are on tap and they’re not pleasing me, so I flip them over, you know, mid waddled and say here’s the light.
I mean, that was the Thunder.
Now he used the lightning.
Yeah, here’s something like that.
1:09:15
Yeah.
It’s great.
So what would you?
Give Bone Tomahawk.
I’d give it a 7 1/2 out of 10.
I think it’s a very good film.
I think it’s very, it’s a very flawed film, but I do think it’s really enjoyable.
1:09:33
I think the highs make up for the lows of this film.
I think it’s really interesting idea, you know, taking a classic Western trope of like, you know, Indians, you know, you know, kidnap some settlers and turns it into, you know, Western hills have eyes or Cannibal Holocaust.
1:09:59
And I think the pacing and the the overall acting of almost all the characters as except Lily Simmons, as you said, is really engaging.
1:10:14
And they do a really good job building that tension on from the opening credits to the end, you know, and the dialogue just is, you know, well written and does have some smart lines as well.
A really well made film.
It’s got really good tension.
1:10:31
The middle part could be, you know, 1015 minutes shaved off.
Like it goes out a little bit too long on the exposition.
But I think it’s like, in spite of its flaws, I think it’s an enjoyable film.
And I think it’s just it is what it is.
1:10:47
It’s just like a really gussied up but Western and exploitation film.
It’s both of them.
And I don’t think then the flaws that you you did point out I think are valid.
But at the same time, I don’t expect at least me as somebody who doesn’t really care for exploitation films to begin with.
1:11:08
Like I don’t, you know, it’s really always like a tertiary, you know, part.
So I, I enjoyed it enough. 7 1/2 I had Kurt Russell looked great in US.
That’s a man.
1:11:24
I think this was his role prior to the Christmas Chronicles where he was getting prepared for being Santa Claus.
This is Santa Claus.
It was a nice roll into that one, which happened in 2018, so just a few years later.
Apple Gigio.
1:11:41
I would give this movie A7 out of 10.
Like I I had a lot of qualms with it that I mentioned.
I do still think it’s pretty enjoyable.
It’s a pretty fun watch pared down just a tad.
I think it would be even better of a watch.
I do wish that it had more of an overarching like point to it at times.
1:12:00
Like something that it really just kind of comes back to at the end.
That’s not just a reiteration of like, good guys go out, stop, bad guys save the day.
I think that, you know, this does take a lot of inspiration from arguably somewhat better exploitative movies like The Hills Have Eyes.
1:12:22
You mentioned Cannibal Holocaust.
I still reiterate, I think I did in that episode as well, that I do think that it is pretty subvertive in a lot of ways.
Despite the fact that, you know, most of what we talked about for that film is, you know, true animal cruelty and the the overall violence and brutality that had to go to court because it looks so realistic.
1:12:46
I think that I wish that this film had a little bit more to it like that.
But at the end of the day, it’s an enjoyable watch.
Has a lot of great violence to it that looks really good.
You know, brutal, mean spirited at times, has a nice like overarching cast that really holds things down as a four person.
1:13:06
And we didn’t even really talk about it.
But the the film’s credit sequence has a really on the nose on purpose theme song for the film.
That’s like 4 doomed men ride out.
And it like literally does the same idea of a western that we’ve talked about before where the the theme song reiterates exactly what’s going to happen in the the movie.
1:13:26
While at this point, normally that happens at the beginning of the movie and it sort of sets the tone for the the film to come.
This one happens at the end and sort of reiterates what happened during the film.
So I think that’s really fun.
Stay for the stay for that that that concluding theme song written also Co written by Zoller, because that does add a nice little comedic air to it, but otherwise enjoyable.
1:13:51
Pretty well written, although at times I could see this being sort of the grading kind of like a Diablo Cody type film or something like that where you’re like really really would they would they really say that sort of thing?
But again, enjoyable enough and and I I did enjoy it for the horror Western, weird western style elements that it that it had so 7 out of 10.
1:14:14
And that leads us into the Halloween season because, you know, we always start early.
We start in September.
I don’t I don’t.
Are we going to announce it?
Are we, are we, do we, do we want to announce the theme yet or we just want to keep it under wraps and we’ll.
1:14:31
We’ll keep it under.
We’ll keep it under wraps.
I think it works best when you keep it under wraps and you sort of don’t, don’t spill the beans until it actually occurs.
Not that I, I think there’s a lot of people out there who are like, boy, I can’t wait to hear what butter butter and podcasts are doing for Halloween.
You know what I mean?
Like they’re they’re.
1:14:47
You know what?
That’s that’s me.
They’re itching at the bit.
That’s me.
Yeah, I get blackout drunk and do that.
But it should be fun.
I think it’s going to be a fun time.
It’s going to kind of tie in too, with some contemporary events that are happening.
1:15:03
We’re doing the first eight weeks of the bill season.
That’s right, it’s.
Week week coverage.
Nice, nice.
No, but it’s going to be fun Halloween season.
We’re going to be doing it all September and October up until Halloween.
1:15:20
And you know, maybe we’ll even find time to throw a few more things in there if something tickles our fancy as it comes out during the Halloween season.
So who knows?
Be be a fun time.
Stalli Parton have a Halloween film?
Maybe a Hannah Montana episode.
1:15:36
I don’t know.
I have to do it.
She and the Hannah Montana episode, Yeah.
Man, wow, yeah, she’s like her aunt or something in Hannah.
I want to say I have entirely too much knowledge of Hannah Montana because of my sister.
1:15:51
So yeah, I wish I knew nothing at all.
I wish I didn’t know if die partners in it, but yeah, she was in it so RIP.
RIP Dolly Parton and RIP Tim Turner who who died as well today and when we’re recording.
1:16:07
So unfortunate.
But yeah, tuning not.
Only God only collects the souls of good people.
He doesn’t take.
It’s not his job to take the souls of the bad.
That’s right.
Well, thanks for listening to our Red hot action Summer Westward Ho.
1:16:24
We hope you enjoyed all of this western coverage.
Who knows what we’ll get into next time for the red hot action summer, but that’s a close on it as the weather is starting to cool down a little bit.
We’re moving into our Halloween season.
We hope you’ll join us for that event starting next week.
1:16:40
We’ll be back again on, you know, every single week up until Halloween to, you know, continue our coverage for the Halloween season.
So you’ll definitely want to stick around and check that out to join like 100 and something I want to say like 100 episodes of Halloween coverage that we’ve done out of our, you know, definitely check it out by subscribing to us on, you know, our, our homepage at Spotify or on Apple podcast, whatever you use, I’m sure we’re on it.
1:17:09
So subscribe, leave us a nice review.
You can find us on Facebook and Blue sky.
Just search for us on their Blood and Black Rum podcast.
We also have an e-mail address where you can write to us.
Let us know what you like, what you don’t like, what movies you want us to watch, and we’ll take that into [email protected].
1:17:26
And you can donate to us at our Patreon page.
Anything you donate goes back towards beer, so we appreciate that in advance.
Again, thanks for listening to Westward Ho hope you enjoyed.
We’ll see you next time for the Halloween season.
Until then, take care.
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