This has got to be one of the most impressive debut films in recent years.

It's easy to dismiss this film as a horror western drenched in all the tropes that go along with that. Had this been a film that's sole intention would be to shock or to relish in its cowboy roots (or boots) then it would be a fine film. Not special, just good.

But this is so much more than that.

Let's start with the ridiculously brilliant dialogue. Zahler proves he's not only a great director but a gifted scribe as well. The authenticity of the idiomatic choices he makes are spot on, imbuing his film with a sense of realism that accompanies the already absurd…