In a Valley of Violence (2016)
Directed by Ti West
The story of a drifter named Paul who arrives in a small town seeking revenge on the thugs who murdered his friend. Sisters Mary Anne and Ellen, who run the town's hotel, help Paul in his quest for vengeance.
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What critics compared In a Valley of Violence to
The ones that will immediately come to mind are those made by Sergio Leone, such as A Fistful of Dollars , or even some Clint Eastwood-directed Westerns, such as High Plains Drifter (both are films which West has stated are amongst his favorites in the genre).
With New Mexico filling in suitably for a pre-metroplex North Texas and the Hill Country before urban sprawl, it would be easy to imagine the Captain and Johanna crossing wagon trails with the pioneering women of Kelly Reichardt's Meek's Cutoff, or sharing quiet communion with Ethan Hawke's PTSD-riddled gunslinger in Ti West's lamentably underseeen In a Valley of Violence.
More, maybe, than any other recent revisionist Westerns, like Bone Tomahawk or The Hateful Eight, In a Valley of Violence is built around interrogating the genre’s tried and true archetypes—its cinematic language even—rather than upholding, modernizing, or (in the case of Tarantino’s take) obliterating them out of existence.
Those expecting Bone Tomahawk , a formidable crossbreed phenom, will find themselves letdown by the absence of a pivot.
There are plenty of hybrids, too, though they usually lean more into one genre than the other, with Bone Tomahawk and the under-appreciated Survival Of The Dead being the rare examples to have an almost equal footing in both.
Check out last year’s sick, remarkable western Bone Tomahawk if you’re looking for a spicier meal.
Less purposeful than last year’s “Bone Tomahawk,” less mannered than “The Hateful Eight,” and less gruesome than either (a bit of a let-down when considering West’s credentials), “In a Valley of Violence” is a tepid pastiche that’s a touch too comfortable with its own lack of vision.
The Pitch: X has a lot on its mind, and the line between exploitation and empowerment is just one of many rich themes mined by Ti West in his first feature film since the 2016 John Travolta and Ethan Hawke-starring Western In A Valley of Violence.
Back on the feature film train since 2016’s “In a Valley of Violence” and first horror outing since minor stints in anthology flicks “V/H/S” and “The ABCs of Death,” director Ti West’s entrance into the realm of retro slashers with his latest slam dunk “X” proves refreshing and, oddly enough, comforting.
For his first feature film since 2016’s “In a Valley of Violence,” director Ti West makes rousing choices that lift it above the average screamer.
X is Ti West's first film since 2016's In a Valley of Violence , and he's made quite the impression as he takes on the much-loved slasher genre in front of a modern audience.
The aptly titled X marks the return of writer-director Ti West, whose last theatrical offering was 2016’s entertaining revenge western In a Valley of Violence starring Ethan Hawke and John Travolta.