Diablo (2015)

Dir: Lawrence Roeck

Colorado Territory. 1872.

The film opens with Civil War vet Jackson (Scott Eastwood, yes he is the son of Clint) escaping from his engulfed in flames house desperately trying to rescue his horse and saddle before fire completely destroys the barn. Overcome by smoke, Jackson collapses to the ground. Neighbours, attracted by the brightly burning fire, pull his unconscious body to safety. The next morning his rescuers provide him with what he needs to set after the Mexicans who kidnapped his wife and set the homestead ablaze.

Jackson sets off following the well worn trail traveled by many to save his wife. A trail that has been plagued by a murderer these last few years. And on that trail he meets up with the murderous Ezra (Walton Goggins HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES), an elusive gunslinger with a thirst for killing.

IMDB states that Eastwood is sent over 50 Western scripts a month and that he chose this script, his first Western, due to it being unique. DIABLO is a TWILIGHT ZONE / O. Henry 'twist' film about a soldier suffering from PTSD and battling his inner demons. It ain't unique. Unless this is one's very first film, viewers will pick up early what is going on. The so-called 'twist' is expected; it's only a matter of waiting for it to happen.

Lawrence Roeck's direction is fine. He even employs drones to get a few shots from overhead of the breathtaking scenery (the film was shot in Canada). But scenery does not a film make. Eastwood looks and talks very much like his father and it could be that I'm expecting more from a Western starring an Eastwood than DIABLO could possibly offer but I didn't like much other than the scenery. The script is obvious and relies too much on the surprise ending. Walton Goggins' ethereal gunslinger pops up without a hint of explanation and all but plants a neon sign proclaiming what the script has in store for us. Like Goggins, Danny Glover's appearance as a former soldier who served alongside Jackson is wasted due to the constraints of the script. The action scene climax works well but I'd long given up caring what happened to any of the characters.

*1/2 out of ****

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Dir: S. Craig Zahler

A couple of drifters, Buddy (Sid Haig) and Purvis (David Arquette SCREAM), stumble onto sacred Indian ground while fleeing the camp site where they butchered people as part of a robbery. Buddy is brutally attacked by Indians and Purvis makes his escape. Eleven days later, Purvis enters the small town of Bright Oak. Doddering backup Deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins THE CABIN IN THE WOODS) spots the suspicious Purvis and alerts Sheriff Hunt (Kurt Russell). Confronting Purvis at the drinking establishment The Learned Goat, the Sheriff isn't buying any of Purvis' lies and shoots him in the leg. Wanting Purvis to be as healthy as possible when he's hanged, the Sheriff sends the sharply dressed gunslinger Brooder (Matthew Fox EXTINCTION) to collect the doctor and meet up at the jail. Finding the doctor in his cups, Brooder instead brings the assistant Samantha (Lili Simmons) who was tending to her husband Arthur's (Patrick Wilson THE CONJURING) broken leg in their home. As Purvis needs constant attention, a Deputy is left with Samantha at the jail for her overnight vigil, as the other retire.

In the morning the Sheriff learns that a man has been murdered and horses stolen from the stables. Entering the jail no one is to be found. No Deputy, no Samantha, no Purvis. The only sign of what happened is an arrow. An arrow that the Indian The Professor (Zahn McClarnon who co-stars with Wilson in the second season of FARGO) identifies as belonging to a troglodyte tribe of cannibals. They live in an area avoided by the other Indian tribes. Determined to retrieve the three kidnapping victims the Sheriff puts together a posse consisting of Chicory, Brooder, Arthur and himself. Despite his broken leg, Arthur is hell bent on joining the posse and saving his wife.

On the trail to the lands of the cannibal Indians, each member learns much about each other.

Writer / director S. Craig Zahler has crafted a western film that balances the sharp comedic wit of the Sheriff's conversations with his absent minded back up Deputy and the bloody violence that erupts without warning. The script is wonderful and allows for all the leads to inhabit their characters and deliver fantastic performances. The film is bleak but the comedy helps to take the edge off. We are invested in characters and we want to see them succeed.

BONE TOMAHAWK is one of the best films released in 2015.

*** 1/2 out of ****