The Hateful Eight Movie Review (Spoiler Free)

Blood, long talks, a suspenseful mystery and a magnificent Samuel L. Jackson. All of this is featured in the eighth film by Quentin Tarantino: The Hateful Eight.

Genre: Comedy / Drama / Mystery / Thriller / Western

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Demián Bichir, Bruce Dern, Zoe Belle & James Parks. 

Run Time: 167 min.

US Release: 30 December 2015

UK Release:  08 January 2016

German Release: 28 January 2016

This might be an incredibly violent and gory motion picture, even by Tarantino standards, but underneath all the blood and guts is a masterfully directed piece of art that nudges at the difficult subject of racial and sexual inequality in American society. All of this was wrapped around in a heavy, dialogue-driven murder-mystery theme that resembled the director's first film - Reservoir Dogs - heavily.

Quentin Tarantino did influence the way I perceive movies early in my teens. My first movie of his was Pulp Fiction, which was given to me on DVD by my brother as a gift for my 14th birthday. I was confused at first by the non-linear storytelling and all the dialogue, but after watching it a second and third time, I became a huge fan of this man’s genius. In fact, I do believe that Pulp Fiction is the most viewed DVD I possess; it has several scratches and the case has gone through hell, but it still works. Following Pulp Fiction, I viewed Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown, and what I cherished about The Hateful Eight is that Tarantino reverted back to his classic formula. 

The story takes place sometime after the Civil War and revolves around the two bounty hunters John Ruth (Russell) and Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), who are racing to the town of Red Rock where they will bring their captive fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh) to justice. Along the road, caught in a blizzard, the three stumble upon Chris Mannix (Goggins), a man who claims to be Red Rock’s new sheriff. When the blizzard gets stronger, the quartet need to seek refuge in a recluse cabin, named Minnie’s Haberdashery. There they are greeted by four unfamiliar faces.

The Hateful Eight is a very old-fashioned western-mystery that incorporates a lot of aspects from a 1960s movie, including a beautiful-looking overture that sets the mood for what to expect. But what truly makes this movie fantastic is the typical subtle style that Tarantino uses to make his point on a socio-political subject, masked in comedy, irony and brutality. In this case, he takes the subject of female and immigrant treatment in the United States and turns it into an allegorical stage piece, with the usual chapters breaking up the movie. It felt like sitting in an actual theatre and watching a play.

I always was a fan of this director’s unconventional way of storytelling, which is also present in his newest masterpiece. It follows a linear plot at first, up to the first half of the film; however, after the intermission, the second act of the movie begins with a voiceover and the typical flashback scene that breaks the linear storytelling to explain something that happened in the past.

The dialogue is a fantastic example of Tarantino's writing talent, which is extremely suspenseful and full of analogies on subjects that concern the post-Civil War era of the US and can be transferred into today’s society. The back-and-forth between the characters is so intense; the movie easily manages to build tension just with conversations during the first half.

Everybody in this ensemble is brilliant, but the actor who stood out the most was Samuel L. Jackson. This guy steals every scene he is in and delivers each monologue with such coldness and passive aggressiveness; I truly believed him to be the former Union soldier turned bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren. It is a shame he didn’t get nominated for an Oscar because this is one of his best performances in years! Kurt Russell gives another terrific performance as bounty hunter John “The Hangman” Ruth. He is funny, uncompromising and brutal.

Jennifer Jason Leigh is the perfect choice for Daisy Domergue; she is a nasty and vile human being and extremely funny as well, which is ironic because a lot about her nature should not make you laugh, but rather shudder in terror. I was so happy to see Walton Goggins having been cast in this western, as he is one of my favourite actors in the TV series Justified, where he proved his worth. Finally, it was great seeing Tim Roth and Michael Madsen back in a Tarantino film and, especially Roth, delivering an impeccable rendition. 

Tarantino shot this movie with an Ultra Panavision 70 that creates beautiful-looking, super wide-screen scenes of the snowed-in prairies of Colorado and further enhances the feeling of watching a 60s spaghetti flick. The combination of location and cinematography gives this motion picture a “cabin feverish” feeling that transcends from the film onto the audience, causing paranoia and distrust. 

Ennio Morricone, who previously worked with Quentin Tarantino on Django Unchained, composed the music for The Hateful Eight, plus it is his first western score in 34 years. This also makes The Hateful Eight the first Tarantino film with an original composition to date. The film also used several other of Morricone’s scores, most prominently songs he created for John Carpenter’s The Thing. One issue I do have is that although the musical choice was once again fantastic, none of it really stuck. It wasn’t something I noticed at first but rather something I became aware of when a friend of mine commented on the subject. 

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Verdict: I loved everything about The Hateful Eight; it is an old-school Tarantino that makes perfect use of plot-driving dialogue, includes mind-blowing performances by its terrific cast and has a message that, even though it makes you laugh at first, shocks you by the end due to the impactfulness of the director's statement. The beautiful super widescreen transports the audience into the snowy hills of Colorado, into the close-quartered cabin with the rest of the characters, creating a more personal movie experience. The only thing that let me down was the score, even if it was fantastic. I will give The Hateful Eight a 9.5 out of 10 and implore anyone who hasn’t seen it yet to go to the cinema and watch it!

Do you agree with my opinion of The Hateful Eight? Leave a comment in the section below and let me know what you thought of Tarantino’s eighth flick. Thank you very much for reading my review & if you found it useful, please share and like it.