Fantasia 2016: In A Valley Of Violence Review

We are back with another review from Fantasia, but this time bringing you our thoughts on Ti West’s fantastic new film, In a Valley of Violence starring Ethan Hawke, John Travolta, and Karen Gillan, just to name a small few.

The film is a Western-revenge with a nice Zen of comedy at times from the horror maestro, who is best-known for dread-dripping horrors such as The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers, and a segment in V/H/S. If you’re expecting anything similar, I highly suggest you walk away from this review and the film entirely because it will be pretty painful for you.

However, if you’re generally a fan of West’s work, then you will be a happy camper with In a Valley of Violence because most of the directors trademarks are still very presents. In particularly, the pace, tension gripping moments, and character development. After you’re through with the film, I promise you will be applauding Hawke for his performance, talking about Travolta’s part as The Marshal, and you will most definitely fall in love with the spectacular dog named Abbie featured in the film. Paul’s (Hawke) partner in crime and best friend, who makes Mad Max’s pet dog look extremely dull in comparison.

Karen Gillan and Taissa Farmiga, the only two lead female characters in bring out some of the most hilarious moments too. Lastly, Burn Gorman (Pacific Rim) as the wondering drunk Priest is highly memorable as well.

As for the film itself, the story focuses on Paul, a mysterious drifter with a pet dog and a history of violence decides to cross a town called Danton for a chance to clean up and take a drink before heading to Mexico. But his journey across Texas gets delayed for a short while to take revenge on a band of misfits and nitwits, who make the mistake to mess with the wrong man, and his beloved dog.

The Verdict

If you’re looking for something a little different in West’s horror library, then I highly recommend checking out In a Valley of Violence since it’s an excellent tribute to Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci classic “spaghetti western” films. There’s also enough violence in the film to keep most horror hounds satisfied too.

Go check it out if you have the chance!