In a Valley of Violence

With the barest of releases in America and straight to DVD elsewhere, noted horror writer/director Ti West (The Innkeepers, V/H/S) might have hoped for more attention for his first legitimate western, especially considering its distinguished cast. Ethan Hawke plays the ex-army drifter who takes a wrong turn through a sleepy town run by a father/son marshal and deputy, John Travolta and James Ransone (The Wire), the latter dangerously vain and unhinged. Hawke finds himself reluctantly dragged into an escalating feud after harm befalls his faithful dog. The cast, which also includes Taissa Farmiga as an innkeeper looking for escape and Doctor Who alumnus Karen Gillan as her self-absorbed sister, give authentic, archetypal turns in the dusty New Mexico setting, and West composes his shots with care and attention. The story is slight and schematic but shot with sincerity - at times bloody enough to capitalise on West's skills in horror - and Travolta gives it his all in his first Stetsoned role since Urban Cowboy.