- Directed by S. Craig Zahler
- Written by S. Craig Zahler
- Stars Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins
- Run Time: 2 Hours, 12 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZbwtHi-KSE
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It starts out as an easy-flowing western with interesting and likable characters that gradually flows into a horrifying scenario. It’s realistic, with a great cast and excellent script. We liked it a lot.
Synopsis
We open on Purvis and Buddy holding down a man and cutting his throat. “You didn’t cut him deep enough,” nags Buddy. They hear horses and make a run for the hills, where they find a bunch of skulls and an Indian burial ground. Indians kill Buddy as credits roll.
Eleven days later, Arthur has a broken leg, and he whines that he’s going to be laid up for twelve weeks. Wife Samantha is just glad to have him home for a while. Outside, Purvis buries something in the dark. Mr. Brooder goes to the saloon and complains how slow it is there.
Chicory comes to see Sheriff Hunt. Chicory tells the story about his recent trip to the hills and saw Purvis burying his bag. They go over to the saloon to check out Purvis. Hunt shoots Pruvis in the leg as Brooder watches from the corner.
Brooder comes to see Samantha about fixing up the bullet in Purvis’s leg. Deputy Nick helps her with the unconscious man. She digs in, looking for the bullet in the leg, and it’s messy. Elsewhere, a man is killed by Indians in his barn.
Clarence goes to see Sheriff Hunt about finding the dead man’s body. Clarence says he went to the jail to tell the deputy on duty, but no one was there. Hunt and Chicory go to investigate the barn and the jail; they find evidence of Indians. Purvis, Samantha, and Deputy Nick are all missing.
Hunt goes to tell Arthur about Samantha. “The Professor,” an Indian in town, looks at the arrow and says those weren’t Indians, they were Troglodytes. The Professor warns that there’s no beating those people, they’re monsters. Many of the characters decide to ride out to the Troglodytes location. Hunt, Chicory, Arthur, and Brooder ride out on a five-day journey through unknown land to the Trog’s camp.
They all camp for the night. Arthur’s leg isn’t doing well, and they all know he’s going to slow them down. Chicory’s done amputations in the war, but Arthur’s not that bad– yet. A couple of Mexicans sneak up on the camp, but Brooder shoots them both. They move camp, but more bandits come and steal the horses.
On foot, Arthur soon falls behind. Chicory looks at it and says it’s gangrene and should come off, but Arthur refuses. Arthur can’t travel like he is, so the others leave him behind with the leg set but not removed.
The three men come to the hills where we saw Buddy and Purvis earlier, with the skulls on the hill walls. They spot a cave way up on the hill, and suddenly, Troglodytes come out of nowhere and attack. Brooder is mortally wounded and insists on staying there with a pile of dynamite, and Hunt and Chicory move on. They are soon attacked and dragged off to the cave.
Inside the cave, they find Samantha alive, in a cage. She says they ate Purvis, and the men watch as the cavemen drag Deputy Nick out; he’s next. They scalp him, and much worse, as Hunt watches.
Meanwhile, Arthur wakes up and makes his way toward the Troglodyte cave. He shoots two of the creatures and cuts something strange out of the neck of one of them; it’s a kind of whistle that they use to call each other.
Hunt tricks three of their captors into drinking opium, so at least a couple of them won’t be a problem. Chicory talks about “flea circuses” as they wait.
Arthur figures out the whistle and uses it to kill another Troglodyte when they come running.
The Troglodytes figure out that Hunt poisoned some of them, so they pull him out of the cage to torture and mortally wound him. Hunt kills the Troglodyte with a bone tomahawk, and Arthur kills the others and comes inside. As the sheriff waits to die, he tells Chicory to lead Arthur and Samantha back to town.
Arthur blows his whistle, and this time, no one comes. Did they get them all? The three survivors start the slow walk back to town…
Commentary
The dialog is very formal and precise; they all sound like characters in “Deadwood.” Even with that, the performances here are all really well done. Richard Jenkins, as Chicory, really stands out.
It’s got a lot of recognizable faces, and it moves at a comfortable pace without rushing things. The first hour-and-a-half or so is pure Western, but the horror elements come into it much later. When we finally get to the Troglodytes, they are excessively brutal and animalistic.
It’s good!