The Overlooked Kurt Russell Western That Stephen King Recommends

Stephen King might not typically be the person folks look to for Western movie recommendations, but the horror legend took to Twitter/X recently to recommend an overlooked Western starring the always-great Kurt Russell. King has written some stories that are Western-adjacent, especially his "The Dark Tower" series, but generally his work is in a very different genre. The movie he recommended, however, totally makes sense, because it's probably the most horrific Western ever made.

The Western King recommended was "Bone Tomahawk," S. Craig Zahler's 2015 film that stars Patrick Wilson as Arthur O'Dwyer, whose wife Samantha (Lili Simmons) has been kidnapped by the terrifying "Troglodytes," a group of cannibalistic cave people. Russell plays Sheriff Franklin Hunt, who gets drawn into helping O'Dwyer with a ragtag group of townsfolk, including bloodthirsty lawman John Brooder (Matthew Fox) and the town's doctor, Deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins). They head out to find Samantha and get more than they bargained for, turning the tense Western into a full-blown horror film by the time the end credits roll. It's one of the best westerns of the past decade, but even though it stars Kurt Russell, this isn't your dad's kind of Western.

In his post, King names the film and then reveals his praise in a mini-review:

"I was expecting nothing but a time-passer on a rainy Wednesday morning, and got a low-budget Western epic. The dialogue alone makes it well worth watching. Beware the last act, when a man is literally torn apart."

"Bone Tomahawk" is an intense, stylish ride with dialogue that rivals even the Russell-starring "Tombstone," and the actor praised the movie for its period-accurate dialogue. Both "Tombstone" and "Bone Tomahawk" have big, operatic moments, memorable characters, and gorgeous cinematography, but "Tombstone" definitely doesn't have a man literally being torn apart. There's nothing that can fully prepare you for that scene, even if you know it's coming, because Zahler has built the tension to such an excruciating point that by the time it explodes in violence, it's almost painful to watch. The rescue team go from searching for Samantha and perhaps getting vengeance to just trying to survive and escape the brutality of the cannibals. It's definitely the kind of film one could picture King writing, complete with complex, world-weary characters who become entangled in unimaginable horrors. 

Seriously, the climax of "Bone Tomahawk" is incredibly gruesome. Human beings are reduced to chunks of meat, and it all happens in front of people who are potentially going to be dinner next. The rescuing party end up needing rescuing themselves, and one of the main characters ends up a captive himself, locked in a cage as he watches the cannibals rip a man right down the middle. It's unforgettable, and only one part of a truly great horror-Western. 

"Bone Tomahawk" is one of many fantastic overlooked, underrated Westerns that deserve more love. Other films, like the Australian Westerns "The Proposition" and "The Nightingale," have shown that Westerns can be just as brutal as horror movies, all while staying true to what makes the genre great. These might not be traditional old-school Westerns, but they're phenomenal all the same.