Even if you don’t do a whole lot of reading, there’s a good chance you’ve at least heard of Blood Meridian. It’s the most well-known Cormac McCarthy novel that’s yet to have a movie adaptation, partly because it’s especially harrowing, violent, grim, nightmarish, and abstract. There have been attempts at making a movie, but as of 2025 (the year the book itself turns 40), nothing’s come to fruition.
But there are already existing movies you can watch if you really want something visual that scratches the same nightmarish itch Blood Meridian does. The following movies (most, though not all, being Westerns) aren’t afraid to get dark, surreal, and violent. All make for disquieting, challenging, and compelling viewing experiences, should one be willing – and sufficiently prepared – to watch such things.
1
‘Bone Tomahawk’ (2015)
Directed by S. Craig Zahler
While Blood Meridian is most prominently classifiable as a Western novel, it is also horrific (and violent) enough to qualify, at least in part, as a work of horror. Therefore, it’s not hard to make certain connections between it and Bone Tomahawk, which is a Western that doubles as a horror movie, containing some of the grisliest and most sickening sequences in recent memory.
It’s a story about a group of men setting out on a rescue mission, but they get a bit more than they bargained for when it becomes clear just who was responsible for the kidnappings that get the plot in motion. Bone Tomahawk has a reputation, as a film, comparable to the reputation Blood Meridian has, as a novel, and both make for extremely gnarly and nightmarish experiences.
Bone Tomahawk
- Release Date
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October 23, 2015
- Runtime
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132 minutes
- Director
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S. Craig Zahler
- Writers
-
S. Craig Zahler
2
‘The Great Silence’ (1968)
Directed by Sergio Corbucci
Though it might not be as extreme when it comes to content as Blood Meridian, The Great Silence is comparable tonally speaking. Without going into too much detail, it’s one of the bleakest movies not just of its decade or genre, but maybe even of all time and any genre, feeling progressively more nihilistic from its first frame to its last.
The Great Silence is about one man trying to stand up against a group of bounty hunters to protect the people of a small town, which might sound like a familiar Western sort of premise, but the way things play out makes the film anything but traditional or conventional. It drives home the idea of the Old West being brutal, nasty, and unfair, and it’s also one of the coldest-looking and feeling films of all time.
3
‘The Wild Bunch’ (1969)
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
It’s fitting to also include The Wild Bunch alongside The Great Silence as far as classic nihilistic Westerns go. This one also came out toward the end of the 1960s, and its narrative is concerned with a bunch of aging outlaws looking to pull off one last big score… or, failing that, maybe just going out on their own terms in some kind of grand way will suffice.
It’s not exactly a pleasant or traditionally fun movie, but The Wild Bunch does have a certain amount of spectacle, and that can be compelling in its own way. Also, the level of violence here isn’t as shocking when viewed today, but if you try to put yourself in the shoes of someone seeing this way back in 1969, it’s easier to imagine why it would’ve caused such a stir and felt so provocative upon release.
The Wild Bunch
- Release Date
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June 19, 1969
- Runtime
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135 Minutes
- Director
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Sam Peckinpah
- Writers
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Sam Peckinpah, Walon Green, Roy N. Sickner
4
‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007)
Directed by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
It probably goes without saying, given the Cormac McCarthy connection, but No Country for Old Men is also comparable to Blood Meridian thanks to both being bloody, intense, and unapologetically dark. It’s also kind of a Western, but not one set during Old West times, instead taking place in the 1980s and revolving around one man finding a great deal of cash in the desert, and a hitman stopping at nothing to retrieve such a fortune.
It’s grim and gritty stuff throughout, largely thanks to having an iconic villain (Anton Chigurh) at the center of it all. No Country for Old Men is the best way to experience what Cormac McCarthy was capable of without reading… so, like, you should read his stuff, but if you don’t like doing that for whatever reason, this Best Picture winner is undoubtedly the next best thing.
No Country for Old Men
- Release Date
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November 21, 2007
- Runtime
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122 minutes
- Director
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Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
- Writers
-
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
5
‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
While it’s certainly not a Western, the fever dream-like quality of Apocalypse Now creates a similar experience, cinematically speaking, to reading Blood Meridian. Also, both tell stories about perilous journeys filled with increasingly unfathomable sights and escalating acts of violence; both intend to leave you feeling shaken, not stirred.
As a war movie, Apocalypse Now is striking and undeniably distinctive, showcasing some brutal truths about the Vietnam War while also being more than just a movie about the conflict in Vietnam. It capped off an impressive decade for Francis Ford Coppola, and is justifiably held up as one of the greatest films of all time. Within that canon of essential cinematic works, though, there’s an argument to be made that Apocalypse Now is one of the most challenging and haunting.
Apocalypse Now
- Release Date
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August 15, 1979
- Runtime
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147 minutes
- Director
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Francis Ford Coppola
- Writers
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Joseph Conrad, John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Herr
6
‘The Proposition’ (2005)
Directed by John Hillcoat
While a good many Westerns take place in America during the 19th century, a film like The Proposition makes it pretty plain to see that America wasn’t the only place in the world where Old West-style questions of justice and morality were raised. This film takes place in Australia during the 1880s, and is about a grim journey one man is forced to undertake; one that challenges his loyalty to his family.
The Proposition doesn’t waste too much time in establishing itself as violent and bleak, and things just get more intense as it goes along. You always roughly know it’s headed somewhere downbeat, owing to how the story is initially set up, but The Proposition surprises when it comes to the extent of its emotional intensity and willingness to depict acts of graphic violence.
The Proposition
- Release Date
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September 12, 2005
- Runtime
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104 Minutes
7
‘El Topo’ (1970)
Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky
El Topo isn’t technically a horror movie, at least in the traditional sense, but it is a Western that has the feel of a nightmare for a good chunk of its runtime. It follows a man and his young son journeying across a vast desert, continually coming into contact with strange individuals and finding themselves in persistently escalating danger.
To label it one of the strangest Western movies of all time would be an understatement. While you’re at it, you can probably call it one of the more disturbing and violent, too. So, if you appreciate how uncomfortable Blood Meridian (probably) made you feel at points, and are curious whether a film could have a similar sort of impact, then El Topo is probably what you’re looking for (good luck comprehending it).
El Topo
- Release Date
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December 18, 1970
- Runtime
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124 Minutes
8
‘Dead Man’ (1995)
Directed by Jim Jarmusch
Make no mistake: though Dead Man is a very slow-paced movie, by no means is it a relaxing one. It follows a man on the run, tracking his somewhat episodic misadventures that get increasingly surreal. Sometimes, the interactions he has while traversing a trippy landscape get graphically violent, and it’s in those moments where the movie really earns the title Dead Man.
It’s otherwise a little difficult to put into words, but maybe that’s to be expected when you have a director like Jim Jarmusch at the helm. Other movies of his (notably Paterson) are more chilled out, ensuring Dead Man stands out because of how oddly and abruptly hectic it can be… and because it’s a Western, too, since Jarmusch hasn’t otherwise directed films that could be classified as such.
Dead Man
- Release Date
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May 26, 1995
- Runtime
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121 Minutes
- Director
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Jim Jarmusch
- Writers
-
Jim Jarmusch
9
‘Aguirre, the Wrath of God’ (1972)
Directed by Werner Herzog
Another non-Western that might be easy to appreciate for fans of Blood Meridian is Aguirre, the Wrath of God, which is easily one of the greatest films Werner Herzog has ever directed. He makes perfect use of Klaus Kinski (who was also in the aforementioned The Great Silence) here, with the distinctive actor playing an unstable adventurer who leads a group of people on a doomed search to find El Dorado.
Unsurprisingly, the search for a lost city gets them lost, and that’s when the nightmarish stuff really kicks into high gear. Aguirre, the Wrath of God is unfathomably good at capturing a sense of pure madness, all of it escalating uneasily throughout. It’s certainly classifiable as an arthouse film, and is probably one of the more approachable ones of its era (so long as you’re okay with feeling, at the very least, vaguely unsettled for about 90 minutes).
10
‘The Revenant’ (2015)
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
While The Revenant is complex both morally and technically, it is a relatively straightforward one narratively, so that all makes for an interesting contrast. It’s about one man trying to survive the elements after being left for dead, and that same man also has reasons for tracking down – and getting revenge on – those same people who left him for dead, given they also killed someone who meant a lot to him.
It opens with some harrowing brutality, has that infamous bear scene, and then makes you feel every step of its protagonist’s desperate struggle to survive long enough to kill those responsible for taking everything from him. If Blood Meridian were ever adapted to film, it would surely be at least as violent as The Revenant; both are admirable for how uncompromising they are, too.
The Revenant
- Release Date
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December 25, 2015
- Runtime
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156 minutes
- Director
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Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Writers
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Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mark L. Smith
