Stephen King Recommends Watching Kurt Russell’s Brutal Horror Western BONE TOMAHAWK
When Stephen King recommends a movie, his fans listen. The legendary author recently took to X to shine a spotlight on a film that many people have overlooked. The movie is S. Craig Zahler’s 2015 Western-horror film Bone Tomahawk, a film that pushes the boundaries of both genres in wild and unforgettable ways.
Bone Tomahawk isn’t your typical Western. It’s a gritty, slow-burn character piece that explodes into one of the most horrific finales you’ll ever see in the genre.
The story follows Arthur O’Dwyer, played by Patrick Wilson, whose wife Samantha (Lili Simmons) is kidnapped by a terrifying tribe of cannibalistic cave dwellers known as the “Troglodytes.”
Kurt Russell steps in as Sheriff Franklin Hunt, leading a small rescue party made up of a few townsfolk: the dangerous gunslinger John Brooder (Matthew Fox) and the loyal but weary Deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins).
What starts as a desperate rescue mission across the frontier turns into a nightmarish fight for survival. By the time the credits roll, Bone Tomahawk has transformed from tense Western into pure horror, and when I say horror, I mean it.
The film’s climax is absolutely bloody savage. One of the most infamous scenes sees a character torn apart in gruesome detail while others are forced to watch helplessly. It’s shocking, disturbing, and impossible to forget. The movie dives headfirst into horror and delivers one of the most grisly sequences of the last decade.
Even with Russell leading the cast, this isn’t a traditional “cowboy movie.” It’s raw, grim, and unflinching. If you’re expecting a John Wayne shootout, you’re in for a surprise. What Zahler crafted is a horror-Western hybrid that stands shoulder to shoulder with the most intense films in either genre.
Bone Tomahawk isn’t the only underappreciated Western out there, but it’s one of the best. Like The Proposition and The Nightingale, it proves that Westerns can be just as brutal and unrelenting as horror movies while still holding onto the genre’s classic DNA. These films show that the Western is far from dead, it’s just evolved into something far darker and far more daring.
So if you still haven’t seen Bone Tomahawk, now is the time. Stephen King wants you too.