Many Westerns, particularly those made during the genre’s golden age, follow a specific formula. A young, skilled gunslinger/lawman (or a group of them) defeats an outlaw or tycoon that has been terrorizing a small town. Somewhere in the movie is a corrupt or cowardly sheriff. At times, the sheriff gets to be the hero. Throw in a salon, and you have the complete package.

As they say, if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. Such a formula works most of the time. However, some directors and screenwriters have dared to dream, blessing us Westerns with stories that aren’t so easy to predict. The wild turns that these films take make them extremely engrossing. Some don’t necessarily rely on twists but have plots built around unique characters and borrow a few elements from other genres.

8 ‘Bone Tomahawk’ (2015)

RLJ Entertainment

Often described as the scariest Western ever made, ***Bone Tomahawk ***takes us back to the late 1800s, where Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell) is assembling a posse to rescue kidnapped townsfolk from a group of inbred, vicious cannibals known as Troglodytes. The mission starts smoothly until some members of the posse attempt to wrest control from Hunt and alter the strategy. That’s not good when you are up against lovers of human flesh.

Director Craig Zahler Tavernier helms this excellent horror fan’s Western, about a sheriff whose quiet, routinized, and orderly life is violently jarred by scenarios he never expected. Russell is subtly affecting as the titular protagonist, and Patrick Wilson offers fine support as a determined husband with a wounded leg.

All audiences are likely to appreciate the one-of-a-kind scenario here. Cannibals aren’t the kinds of villains you’d expect to find in any Western, so Bone Tomahawk truly sets itself apart with its approach to the eradication of evil. And in most cases, the posse or protagonist group tends to work in unison. No unnecessary infighting. Think The Magnificent Seven or Tombstone.

7 ‘The Harder They Fall’ (2021)

Netflix

Gunslinger Nat Love (Jonathan Majors) is finally getting the opportunity he always wanted. Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), the Outlaw who killed his parents years ago, has just been freed from prison. As Nat reunites his gang to take revenge, Rufus seizes control of the tiny town of Redwood, aided by his loyal lackeys, Trudy Smith (Regina King) and Cherokee Bill (LaKeith Stanfield). Does our protagonist stand a chance in The Harder They Fall?

First-time director Jeymes Samuel tapped into the stories of actual historical figures like Cherokee Bill and Jim Beckwourth to create the plot, and the end product was beautiful. He works in sly critiques of bullying, political incompetence, and corruption, all while making great use of the actors. Majors is badass, and Elba forces you to loathe him, even though you know he might be the nicest man in real life.

Westerns with black heroes and villains are hard to find, so* The Harder They Fall* truly feels like a once-in-a-season event that no one should miss. Most films in the genre hardly feature any black characters, and if they do, they tend to be relegated to comic relief or helping hand spaces. Additionally, we have a woman as a lackey. Beyond that, the movie has a wild twist that ties Nat and Rufus together.

6 ‘El Topo’ (1970)

ABKCO

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s El Topo is often praised for helping to lay the foundation for the acid western subgenre. In the film’s first half, El Topo (portrayed by the director himself) embarks on a quest to become the nation’s top gunslinger, and as he’s riding through the desert, he befriends a mysterious woman who happens to lead a tribe of deformed people. In the second half, El Topo abandons the life of violence to become a monk.

Jodorowsky’s stunning, melancholy Western masterpiece has only recently become available again, thanks to Amazon. This weird classic endures as a powerful contemplation of ambition and social interaction, as we witness Topo trying to make sense of his life. What elevates El Topo is how subtly the filmmaker unfolds the complex narrative, which never descends into pandering or excess melodrama. Instead, there are surreal occurrences, and the incorporation of Judeo-Christian symbolism and Eastern philosophy.

Most importantly, this Mexican-made Western is bonkers, with Jodorowsky subverting every genre trope that ever existed. There is no sheriff in sight and no… ummm… Mexican standoff. Instead, we see wild moments like a man riding on a horse with his naked son, bees swarming over a dead body, and a stunning biblical Moses sequence where water begins flowing out of a rock after the protagonist prays and shoots at it. No wonder David Lynch cited the film as a major source of inspiration.

5 ‘Dead Man’ (1995)

Miramax Films

Fate won’t stop throwing curveballs at accountant William Blake (Johnny Depp) in Dead Man. When he heads to a tiny Ohio town to take up a job he was recently offered, the CEO chases him away with a rifle. Worse still, the locals treat him with extreme hostility. What’s going on? Over time, as his fortunes keep taking a turn for the worse and his hopes for a brighter professional future recede, he starts losing his mind.

Undeniably heartbreaking but immensely satisfying, Deadman represents filmmaking at its finest. The talented Johnny Depp is amazing in the lead, and the rest of the actors are equally industrious. Robby Müller’s gorgeous, striking monochrome cinematography further adds to the film’s impact.

A lawyer isn’t the kind of hero we’d expect in a Western. But is Blake even a hero? He’s more of a tragic character. At some point, a crime gets pinned on him. Things get fascinating. Blake meets a mysterious man who pulls him onto a spiritual journey. Rather than taking charge, the central character is being guided. Alarming but great surprises await.

4 ‘Tepepa’ (1969)

Magna

Captured and facing execution by Colonel Cascorro (Orson Welles), revolutionary leader Tepepa (Tomás Milián) is dramatically rescued by Dr. Henry Price (John Steiner), an English physician. ***Tepepa ***later reveals that Price is actually seeking revenge against the hero for the death of his fiancée. He soon finds himself torn between his Hippocratic Oath and his desire for vengeance.

An examination of professionalism, political squabbling, and unfulfilled longing, Tetepa puts a whole new spin on obsession. Instead of shocks, director Giulio Petroni coaxes a restrained, haunting psychological intimacy between Tomás Milián and John Steiner, who received much commendation for his turn as the wide-eyed doctor.

A classic Zapata western, *Tetepa *is one of the few movies in the larger genre where the villain is the one who was wronged by the hero, forcing him to seek revenge. The hero isn’t exactly remorseful either. As a revolutionary, he believes that every kill was for the bigger picture. But not everyone shares his opinion, so he ends up being subjected to quite the gruesome death by Price.

3 ‘Django Unchained’ (2012)

Sony Pictures Releasing

Set in the Old West and the Antebellum South at the height of racial prejudice, Quentin Tarantino’s*** Django Unchained*** follows Django (Jamie Foxx), a freed slave who teams up with skilled German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) to hunt outlaws and find Django’s wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), who is under the ownership of the ruthless plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).

This quietly features cunning performances from Waltz and DiCaprio. Unsurprisingly, the Oscar nominations and wins came. Samuel L. Jackson angers you, too, in his portrayal of a scary, twisted, Uncle Ruckus-type of character. And Kerry Washington doesn’t hide her talents either.

By avoiding the usual frontier justice and dwelling on racism and slavery, Django Unchained carves its own space, far away from the works of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. At first, it’s impossible to tell whether the alliance between Django and Schultz will hold, and whether the heroes will be successful at all, considering how formidable the other side is. But Tarantino surprises us.

2 ‘Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid’ (1969)

20th Century Studios

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid covers the tribulations of Hole-in-the-Wall Gang leader Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman), and his vivacious sidekick, the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford), after they decide to relocate to Bolivia. Butch figures the Latin-American country he claims is “an outlaw’s paradise,” where lawmen don’t keep interfering. How wrong he is.

George Roy Hill strikes just the right balance between naturalist action Western and conventional tearjerker with this heartrending film about two confused criminals. Here, you will also find numerous iconic moments, including the iconic freeze-frame ending where the two outlaws step out of hiding and fire aimlessly at the Bolivian Army after being cornered. No one knows what happens to them after that because the film ends.

Ordinarily, there are clear outlaws and gunslingers/lawmen in Westerns about crime. And the outlaws always get killed by the heroes. Things don’t play out that way in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Instead, we get to see most of the events from the villains’ perspective.

1 ‘Unforgiven’ (1992)

Warner Bros.

Named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest Westerns of all time, ***Unforgiven ***stars Clint Eastwood as the aging gunslinger William Munny, who gets pulled out of retirement to help a tight-knit group of escorts in avenging one of their own who was disfigured by an unruly outlaw. Assisting Munny is his old partner, Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman).

In the ‘90s, no one could have asked for a better cast than what we got here. Apart from Eastwood and Freeman, this bleak, jumpy, slow-burning, revisionist Old Man Western features the great Gene Hackman in one of his best roles, playing a tough sheriff who wants no bounty hunters in his town. And the story has little to no implausibilities in it. No surprise when a Best Picture win came at the Oscars.

Older people don’t get to do this kind of job in Westerns. They are father figures or advisors. But it’s Clint Eastwood, so he had to be the star. There is no excessive action, but the entertainment value remains high. Some of the film’s best scenes show Munny communing with nature, clutching at little things, or merely having conversations. With its gigantic heart resting in the arms of two old men,* Unforgiven* is a touching ode to the realm of simplicity.