Bone Tomahawk (3 Stars)

This film was released in America last October, but we had to wait four months to see it in England. I'm not sure what the reason for the delay was. Maybe it was deliberately released after "The Hateful Eight" to bask in its glory as the second western starring Kurt Russell in two months? I shall never understand the hidden strategies and intrigues in the film industry.

Unseen savages raid a small frontier town, Bright Hope, population 268, and kidnap three of the townspeople. The only evidence is a strangely carved arrow in the side of a building. A highly cultivated Indian called "The Professor" is summoned to give his opinion. He tells the sheriff that the savages aren't Indians, they are a nameless tribe of cannibals. The sheriff heads off to retrieve the kidnapped townspeople with a highly unusual posse of three other men, which includes an arrogant womanizer, an old man and a cripple.

My attention was attracted by "Bone Tomahawk" when I heard about its high critical acclaim. After seeing it I don't understand why it's been praised so highly. The first 90 minutes are spent on the trail before we finally see the savages. It's all about the relationship between the four men. Call it character development, if you like, but after half an hour I already knew the men and wanted the story to continue. The best part of the film was the battle with the savages, but this came too late in the film and was over too soon.