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If you are a fan of classic Westerns, you'll find yourself glued to the screen enjoying every minute of this film.

Disclosure: I am 62 years old as I write this, so I've seen 'em all. And watching this one, I couldn't help feel like it was 1967, or thereabouts, what with the steady camera-work, the superb cinematography capturing all the dusty glory of New Mexico, U.S.A.

And the soundtrack! Not some canned muzak, not some minimalist guitar scratchings, but a full-blown beauty of a musical composition that took me right back to the Spaghetti classics.

Now, this won't win an Oscar, but dang if it didn't make my Friday night popcorn and beer movie night.

"In A Valley of Violence" is a total winner. p.s....the dog is an unbelievably good actor.

Considering this is basically what Ti West cooked up following a double viewing of John Wick and any given Sergio Corbucci flick, it's... really f***** good! Damn I'll just go ahead and say it: I was more entertained by this than John Wick (some of that I simply chalk up to Hawke being a more emotional and curious presence than Reeves, personal preference, and beyond the premise and some key moments it's not exactly the same as that).

This is no masterpiece or anything, and I don't necessarily think it was trying to be. West clearly loves this genre, and wants to do his own twist on it, which carries some especially graphic violence (if you had trouble with movies like The Thing, don't watch this), and some strong supporting work from Karen Gillan and John Travolta (the guy who plays Travolta's son, the real main bad-guy, is one note but the actor plays him for all his worth).

This kind of well-produced, surprisingly and wildly funny straight-faced homage western (especially near the super intense and, as the title says, violent climax, that threw me for a loop, such as everything with the one guy who protests being called by his nickname by John Travolta and demands to be called 'Lawrence') is something that pleases me. If it's ever on TV I'll stop and watch it. 7.5/10

(The title of this review in honor of the 1995 Sam Raimi flick "The Quick and the Dead," yet another director who decided to take the Italian Western genre out for a spin, wind her up, and see what she can do.)

Now it is Ti West's turn at bat, a director known for "fringe" pictures but, to be fair, this type of film probably qualifies as fringe too.

Although a great many directors (including, believe it or not, the great Tarantino and even Eastwood himself) have taken on the challenge of this genre, the truth is that Sergio Leone -- the man who invented the category -- is the only director in history to have fully mastered it.

(Have seen the Man With No Name trilogy a half-dozen times so far, and I am not done yet.)

Which does not mean -- as the other reviewers have already noted -- that the attempt, even if it falls short a mite, cannot be fun.

And this movie definitely qualifies as fun.

Hawke is a great choice, at the same time skittish, taciturn, and yet also strangely dangerous.

Travolta will always be Travolta. He has been playing the same role since Kotter, and audiences never get bored.

The most fun is watching Taissa Farmiga chew up the furniture. Clearly the young lady wants to show the world that she has her sister's acting chops, so she does not merely enter a scene, she attacks it and wrestles it to the ground.

In different circumstances, this strange brew might have missed the mark. But it didn't. Clearly West's main goal was to entertain.

And that is exactly what he did.

In a Valley of Violence stars Ethan Hawke as a wandering deserter, Paul, who happens upon the town of Denton. Run by a tough but fair Marshall, and his psychotic son and cronies, the town has seen better days. Paul is just looking to pick up some supplies for his journey to Mexico, but runs afoul of the Marshall's son. He tries his best not to become involved, but soon finds himself gunning for revenge in a town that needs saving.

This was a well made Western heavily stylized after many classic Spaghetti Westerns. It had many campy elements, and presented a lower budget sheen that really nails the Spaghetti Western feel. The acting was competently done, with some moments feeling cheesy and slightly comical, and others offering some heart. The direction was solid, with scenes, close ups, vistas and so on handled with care. The story itself was predictable, but far from bland. The relationship between Paul and his dog, Abbey, was especially well done. All in all, this was a fun and campy Western very much paying homage to the Spaghetti Westerns of the '60's and '70's. It is worthy of a watch for those interested in Western films, and certainly for fans of the more campy Spaghetti films.

Paul (Ethan Hawke) is a cowboy who travels with the only company of his dog Abbie. In an attempt to shorten the path that will take them to Mexico, the gunslinger and his dog make a stop in a small, apparently quiet town, where they meet some outlaws and the son -Gilly (James Ransone)- of the sheriff (John Travolta) with whom he has a turbulent conflict. Taking place a threatening confrontation, and in order to avoid greater evils, they decide to leave the place immediately. Keep Your Finger on the Trigger !.

Ti West directs this peculiar western that includes: vengeance, shootings, desert dust, corruption and bloody showdown. The film is made in somewhat similar style to typical spaghetti Westerns with usual theme: a merciless vendetta. Dealing with a mysterious stranger and a random act of violence drag a town of misfits and nitwits into the lethal crosshairs of revenge. Well crafted Western with interesting screenplay; though we had already seen the main issue of the film before and better in other movies. The story is almost terrific as the drifter comes to strange town just in time to reckoning villagers and bandits. Although atmospheric, it's also downbeat and sometimes just downright nasty. This violent picture contains a powerful examination of morality and hypocrisy on people of a little town. The film owes a considerable debt to ¨Clint Eastwood's High Plain Drifter¨ (which was a kind of remake to ¨Sergio Garrone's The Strangers Gundown¨) taking several elements from this film, as well as Sergio Leone's others.

And a good cast of actors led by Ethan Hawke and John Travolta, who play the stranger with a tragic past and the villainous marshall who becomes a peacekeeper. As the story progresses, providing its characters with all the characteristic elements of the genre. They are accompanied by two beautiful women, previously promising figures and today sufficiently established: Taissa Farmiga and Karen Gillan.

Director Ti West frecuently uses focus on the faces and bodies of our protagonists to show the despair and unsettling happenings, adding brilliant cinematography by cameraman Eric Robbins , suspenseful musical score by Jeff Grace and eliptical edition. The film could be described as a figurative immersion into the meanderings of the starring's vengeful psyche. The motion picture was well written/produced/directed by Ti West. He is a notorious writer and director known for "Pearl" (2022), "X" (2022) and "The Innkeepers" (2011). And also directed "Cabin fever 2: The spring fever" (2009) but after extensive re-editing and re-shooting of by the producers of this film, West requested to have his name removed from the movie and replaced with the popular pseudonym Alan Smithee; since he was not a member of the DGA his request was denied by the producers and he remains credited as the film's director. And he has directed several episodes of notorious television series, such as: ¨Wayward Pines¨, ¨Scream¨,¨Soundtrack¨, The Resident¨, ¨Chambers¨, ¨The passage¨, ¨The Exorcist¨, ¨Outcast¨, ¨South of Hell¨. ¨In a Valley of Violence¨rating : 6/10. The flick will appeal Western genre enthusiasts and Ethan Hawke fans.

Paul (Ethan Hawke) is riding to Mexico with his dog Abbie. He's a former soldier who has had enough of violence after killing Indian civilians. In the town of Denton, he is challenged to a fight by braggard Deputy Gilly Martin (James Ransone). Only after Abbie is threatened, Paul decides to knock out Gilly with one punch. Ellen (Karen Gillan) is Gilly's equally annoying girlfriend. The only friendly face is Mary-Anne (Taissa Farmiga). Gilly's father Marshal Clyde Martin (John Travolta) pushes him to leave the town and he's happy to do so. Gilly and his friends catch up to Paul and kill his dog.

From the opening credits, this is trying to be a spaghetti western. The outlines of the genre is absolutely there. The problem is that everybody seems to be a bit off. Ethan Hawke is being too modern in his performance. He should really be the man with no name. As an actor, he's not great at being quiet. He's too fidgety. Compare this to Keanu Reeves in John Wick and that's what this needs. Ransone is too weak and doesn't pose a real threat. Karen Gillan is too silly. Taissa Farmiga is at least trying to do good work. Travolta is completely wrong. As I'm watching this, I keep thinking of how it could have been done right. The movie in my head is vastly better than the one on the screen.

At least "In a Valley of Violence" is not as agonizingly predictable as the director's previous waste of time. I am someone who believes that a movie without one single moment you can't see coming after reading a one sentence, or even one word, description of the plot, is a movie you have no reason to watch.

How is it that you know the name Ti West? A guy whose movies are as formulaic as these should be directing episodes of Big Bang Theory. But he does do them well, and gives his superior actors room to breathe. The problem is that he "writes" these movies himself - if you can call stringing a bunch of clichés together "writing".

This is a movie that is so predictable that you don't notice the genre clichés that would have rubbed you wrong in a better movie, i.e.. the main character being the typical hard-bitten and reluctant hero type who doesn't say much, who never intended to draw steel but ended up being forced to. And how about the town being basically just two rows of houses with a "main street" running down the middle? Is there a "saloon" with rooms to rent upstairs? How about a plucky young heroine who dreams of escape and thinks the hero might be her ticket out? He doesn't take her at first. Of course.

No, it was the smaller details that rubbed me wrong. For example: before killing his first victim, why does the typically terse hero suddenly become insanely verbose, rabbiting on like someone who has truly lost control of himself? What was the point of the speech where he outlines exactly what he's doing as if it wasn't already completely obvious, not only to the audience, but also the victim? A less trite storyline might have needed an exposition dump here. Here it's just distracting and unnecessary. And when the bad guy has the plucky heroine up against the wall with a gun to her throat, and he begins threatening her, what does she do next? Her response is engraved in stone, alongside the "all towns in Westerns are just two rows of houses with a street down the middle" rule, in a tablet enshrined in the Screenwriters' Guild bathroom.

When the camera focused on the heroine's determined eyes in the climax, I cringed. This is West relying not only on cliché, but on the trend of the day: girl power.

Having read this far, you might wonder why I didn't give the film a lower rating. The answer is that for all the predictability, "In a Valley of Violence" has actors who you can't help watching and rooting for, especially Taissa Farmiga, one of the best young actors in the world, who gives this tired material more energy than it deserves.

I like Hawke in this role. He does a good job. In fact the whole cast does a good job.

This movie however is just written on napkin. It's like a class for writing where the teacher asks what are the main elements of western and then you tie a thin red string through that.

I do not understand why big names are in this movie at all. I thought perhaps maybe there was a national competition and that fresh out of school kids won and that the actors joined up for charity's sake.

There is however some humor in this movie. They sort of managed to make traditional western dialogue a bit cheeky. I managed to get through it, but I was questioning why the whole time. 3:10 to Yuma or True Grit are great movies. This does not make the cut.

In a Valley of Violence follows a travelling cowboy who, after stopping by a small town, unintentionally starts conflict among the more powerful members there.

Let's start with the obvious part: Ethan Hawke. He's fantastic, as per usual. I don't think I've ever not been impressed by this guy, and that trend continues here. John Travolta pulls off a solid performance as well, playing one of the most interesting characters in the movie. And James Ransone does the same, pulling off a good ol' western hothead. Personally I don't think that Taissa Farmiga was very fit for this role, but she did her best and thankfully fails to take anything of significance away from the movie.

The writing is good as well. The movie builds the characters and conflict for a while before anything of real significance happens, and it makes it all the more effective. It excels at building tension, making the last 40 minutes of this movie just that much better.

Speaking of the last 40 minutes, they're awesome. After an hour of solid build up, we are treated with some great western action. It's tense and exciting, yet not over-the-top. It's just right.

Overall I really enjoyed In a Valley of Violence. The acting, writing, and action are all great, and in the end I would definitely recommend it.

Haters giving it a 1 rating Is absolute nonsense Good western.

Good acting' Would recommend it.

A solid 7 I gave it.

It's not amazing but it's a good watch.

What a lousy B movie. The screenplay could never be worse. The scenario and the plot both failed miserably. The dialog also felt wooden and unnatural. The characters in it all looked funny and out of place. There's nothing you could help making this movie even worth paying more attention. Two young women wearing nicely custom made dresses in a middle of nowhere deserted town, running a hotel without any help? The whole on-going of the story simply felt hollow and awkward to watch, panned out to nowhere. The gunfight in the street looked even more funny than you'd have usually seen. A cartoon-like preacher is totally unnecessary. A run-down dead town with population under 20 still got a grocery store, a bar, a hotel, and the males were all white trash thugs reigned by a crippled Marshall...blah, blah and blah.

I have to tell you guys that this movie still worth watching. The only reason is that GREAT DOG. It's a SHE if you buy those guys in the movie called it. Her acting was so great and would even make a not-a-dog-loving guy like me fall in love with her. The dog's I.Q. obviously is higher than 60% of the human population on this planet. What a great dog!!!! Other than the dog, there's nothing worth watching in this movie. This dog was the only shinning and bright spot in it.

In a Valley of Violence is written and directed by Ti West. It stars Ethan Hawke, Taissa Farmiga, James Ransome, Karen Gillan and John Travolta. Music is by Jeff Grace and cinematography by Eric Robbins.

Ethan Hawke plays Paul, an ex soldier accompanied only by his dog, Abbie, who is drifting across the desert towards Mexico. Stopping off in the dying town of Denton, Paul finds trouble that will have consequences for himself and town alike.

Ti West is more well known for his horror ventures, where although divisive in that genre sphere, he can be proud of his success rate. Here he tackles the Western, and true to form, he homages past genre masters whilst unmistakably putting his own stamp on things. Opening with credits straight out of Spaghetti Western land, and introducing us to a musical score that will accompany the story that is wonderfully feverish, West is in no hurry for blood and bone shenanigans. He always favours the slow burn and so it proves here.

There's nothing remotely new here, it's a standard tale of a gunman - one damaged by his war efforts - who through circumstance is forced to abandon his hope of a quiet life. He's a loner man of few words, thus giving viewers a classic Western character staple, an anti-hero to root for and for us to yearn for him to find peace. When the violence comes, it's sharp and bloody, but often there is humour as well, deftly inserted into proceedings, whilst the canine is skillful and a key character to all and sundry.

Perfs are more than adequate. Hawke sifts seamlessly into being a believable drifter type of complexity, Ransome is annoyingly brattish, but that's actually job well done, and Travolta - sporting a wooden leg - gets better once (and if) you buy into him in this setting. Gillan isn't given much to do, but lands some decent emotive punches, but it's Farmiga who stands out as Mary-Anne. She's utterly infectious and thankfully she gets a well written part, that of a young woman trying to hold her own in the most trying of township circumstance.

The purpose built town of Denton looks just that!, but this is off- set a touch by the nice location landscapes (Santa Fe, New Mexico), and with the story working from solid genre foundations then this is a pleasure - without pulling up any trees - for fans of such. 7/10

I find it so frustrating to read review after review hailing these fringe movies and leading the movie goers astray. I've no financial interest in any of the movies I review, I tell it like it is for the typical movie goer with hope that my honest appraisal is what you are seeking.

Now to this movie.....Ti West wrote & directed this movie, so what! Who's he? My 11 year old grandson could of written as good a script as this want-a-be spaghetti western. If for any reason you are going to watch this movie because Ti West is involved just forget it, if this is an example of his movie making, maybe he should try another profession because good film making is NOT his thing.

Well what about the acting you ask? Terrible comes to mind, pathetic also fits in nicely. Whatever possessed John Travolta & Ethan Hawke to tie their wagon to this is beyond me. Both of those guys were better before, obviously they've either fallen on hard times and good roles don't come their way anymore or else they are broke and sold their acting soul for the almighty dollar. The entire cast over acts, maybe it's the writing, I think it's that deadly combination of terrible acting and even worst writing.

I love western movies, I'm always looking for good ones to watch. While the story was corny, the acting horrid, the dialog was stupid, and the out-come predictable, the movie was watchable. I did not fast forward any part of this one, I sat through it all right to the bitter end. I think the reason why I was able to endure this movie is only because I do like western movies and this one kind of fits the bill.

When you are deciding if you should watch this movie or not, I'm hopeful my review at least sets the table for you. Unless you are a die-hard western fan, I'd say take a serious pass on this want-to-be movie.

I can sympathize with Ethan Hawke in Valley Of Violence. As far as I'm concerned what he did was perfectly justified when someone tries to kill a pet. The key scenes in this film are Hawke just talking to his dog. It's clear that the animal is more to him than a stray he's taken in. It looks like Hawke's been devoid of human contact for some time while he's on the trail. And it could be he's not in the ordinary sense of the word, a good guy.

Neither however is Marshal John Travolta whose town Hawke has stopped in. He considers himself ruler of the place where he brought law and order emphasis on the latter. He's also got a son in James Ransone who is the Qusay Hussen to his Saddam.

Hawke who is just there to stop for an overnight rest before moving on is someone that Ransone decides to pick a fight with. After Ransone and his friends kill the dog and leave Hawke for dead, Hawke's taking names and numbers.

Elements of a lot of good westerns are present in Valley Of Violence. Two Clint Eastwood classics High Plains Drifter and The Unforgiven, the Burt Lancaster western Valdez Is Coming. You might also include the two John Wayne westerns Hondo and Big Jake since both involve the Duke and a dog. But the Duke was never as attached to his dog as Hawke is here.

Western fans should like Valley Of Violence. It sure is something different for John Travolta.

This film looked promising until about halfway through, when it descended into mediocrity. The dialogue is poorly written, characters clichéd and action scenes predictable. If Tarantino had made it, it would at least have had good dialogue, but without that it is just a chore to watch.

Ethan Hawke plays a mystery man travelling with his dog through Texas to Mexico for some reason. Along the way he meets an array of unsavoury characters who insist on popping up again and again. You can predict their appearance well ahead of their arrival on screen every time. The dog is cute but performs so many cute tricks I wondered aloud if this was actually a kid's film. Nope, rated R. Shame really, since kids might not have seen all the various clichés 1000 times already and find this film more entertaining than I did.

If originality and creativity are not your thing, you might enjoy this film. Otherwise, proceed with lowered expectations.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"In a Valley of Violence" (2016) made with by ~ 8 actors and on a budget ~20 times smaller then "The Magnificent Seven" (2016) which i saw recently, is like ~4 times more involving and better then "The Magnificent". And basically they both have very similar premises, but boy oh boy what do more compelling writing and directing can make for a final result - film itself. Its not that "In a Valley of Violence" is a perfect film, its not, but loved its ~45 min. highly and after i understood where everything is moving to and i didn't get any surprises from that point, i still was involved into this simple and many times already seen story. This is what good movie making is all about.

Overall, "In a Valley of Violence" isn't original, nor it is highly superbly made, but it gives to you exactly what it promises - a good old fashion western with some blood and etc. Its far from great, but it is a pretty good one.

In a Valley of Violence is a Western with some major inspiration from Sergio Leone's spaghetti western films. This film is written and directed by Ti West, with Jason Blum serving as producer. It can be a slow burn at times but I find the pacing to be perfectly blended together but non the less, a great addition to the genre and to Ti West filmography. His direction is absolutely fantastic and I'm glad he managed to get Ethan Hawke who wanted to do a western, together they made a great western that you're able to come back to. The writing is also really good, there are some cliches in there but it's easy to look past it as the rest of the writing is good. Dialogue could have been a little bit better though, the same with the giving the characters more depth ans more character development. Ti West manages to establish the story, characters and town of Denton almost immediately which makes it easy to follow.

The film stars Ethan Hawke in the main role with actors like Taissa Farmiga, James Ransone, Karen Gillan and John Travolta who are joining him in this western. The story has a mysterious stranger and a random act of violence drag a town of misfits and nitwits into the bloody crosshairs of revenge.

With a great set of cast often comes great performances and that is the case with In a Valley of Violence. Ethan Hawke is great as Paul or the mysterious stranger, but I thought Taissa Farmiga's performance was the best as hotel owner Mary-Anne. But the canine makes Ethan Hawke's performance and character whole, Paul wouldn't work with man's best friend. James Ransone portrays the villain, Gilly, and he does a terrific job.

Ti West also edited the film, there's no bad editing in the film but nothing special. Eric Robbins served as the cinematographer and his work is felt, I also loved the camera work and the way they shot the dialogue. Often keeping the camera on the faces, like Sergio Leone did. The characters all have memorable faces, the well known cast is a big contribution to that but it's the makeup and costume departments that makes them extra memorable. I also really liked the musical score, it's more like Sergio Leone's films. In a Valley of Violence has lots of things fans of the western genre will like, but I found the second half of the film to be quite worse than the first as it becomes a revenge story that adds nothing new and gets uninteresting quite quickly. But the actors and director makes it worth sticking around to the end. Would I recommend this to someone who isn't a fan of westerns? Sadly not.

This movie is terrible. The dialogue is completely incongruous with the 'characters '. Completely predictable, lacking any suspense or interest. The only redeeming feature except to laugh at is some decent music. I can't believe Ethan Hawke and John Travolta made this movie. It is almost as bad as Battlefield Earth.