Review: The Hateful Eight

The first Quentin Tarantino movie I was exposed to was his first major film, Reservoir Dogs. A friend had written a toned-down version of the script for our theater class with all swearing removed and cigarettes turned into lollipops. I was cast as Tarantino himself. When I "obtained" a copy of the movie for "research," I was completely blown away with the film's style and tense atmosphere, and it definitely shaped part of my taste in film. Needless to say the project failed almost immediately, but I'm forever grateful for that experience. So maybe I'm a bit biased when I say that The Hateful Eight is now among my favorite Tarantino films, not in the least due to the fact that the film is quite literally Reservoir Dogs in a cabin with an even more reprehensible cast of characters.

The Premise

Major Marquis Warren, a former US Marshal-turned-bounty-hunter, comes across a fellow bounty hunter John Ruth as he transports high-bounty target Daisy Domergue to Red Rock, Wyoming to hang; he convinces Ruth and the coach driver, O.B., to help him carry his bounty with them. Barely a step ahead of a massive blizzard, the group reluctantly allows Chris Mannix, son of a Lost Cause Confederate gang leader, to join them after he threatens them with the revelation that he is the new sheriff of Red Rock and will have them hanged if he is left behind. Warren's group takes shelter from the storm in a small cabin called Minnie's Haberdashery, which is being taken care of by strangers while the owner is away. Tensions grow and the lodgers become suspicious of one another, unsure of each other's motives as they reveal their questionable morals.

H8FUL

In true Tarantino style, The Hateful Eight is at its best when characters interact. As in most of his movies, Tarantino has created a cast so morbidly repugnant it's hard to really root for anyone, but that's not entirely a negative point and this film gleefully plays with the notion of anti-heroism. Some of the finest parts of the movie come from the conflict between Warren and Mannix, two men with vastly different ideals--Warren's hatred of the white race who tried to kill him and Mannix's Confederate roots drilled into him his entire life--as they're forced to share the small cabin which most of the film takes place. Ruth seems to have a deep-seated hate for Daisy and finds joy in swearing at her and beating her senseless, but at the same time there's a strange, almost paternal attitude he gives her at some points. He helps feed her, cleans her face, and goes out of his way to make sure she stays alive until he can see her ultimate punishment at the hands of the hangman.

As its name implies, the most defining characteristic of the lodgers is that they are, shockingly, hateful people. After arriving at Minnie's Haberdashery Ruth grows suspicious of the lodgers already there, deducing that at least one of them might in fact be attempting to free Daisy. Warren backs up with his own suspicions about Minnie's mysterious absence. The viewer has no reason to side with the lodgers, but at the same time it's very difficult to cheer for Warren's group given Ruth's habit of beating Daisy senseless and the constant back-and-forth between Warren and Mannix, who have no problem one-upping each other in their complete disregard for people. The only person in the entire movie who isn't a complete psychopath is the buggy driver O.B., who serves a role between audience surrogate and quiet narrator, a tired Ishmael who would really rather be somewhere else.

If you've kept in mind my earlier comparisons to Reservoir Dogs then it might seem easy to picture this as a lazy nostalgia trip, but this is Quentin Tarantino we're talking about. Nothing can be taken for granted, and I'd say The Hateful Eight is bolstered by its tonal similarities with his first film. The biggest difference with the presentation is that in Reservoir Dogs, the bulk of the film has already happened. Characters reference the heist gone awry and much of the film is spent with the regrouped gang piecing together who exactly sold them out. The conflict of that movie is mostly the characters being on the lam and they could be caught by the cops at any time, whereas with The Hateful Eight the conflict is less "whodunit" and more "who's going to do it?" The film offers plenty of evidence to make it abundantly clear that something wrong is happening and the entire cabin could go up in a hail of gunfire at any moment. That powderkeg of tension gives The Hateful Eight a very unique atmosphere while taking clear nods to other Tarantino's previous films, and by the time the answer is revealed the suspense is at a breaking point.

Style Over Subtlety

The biggest complaint I can aim at The Hateful Eight is that it feels like Tarantino has an insatiable urge to shower his films with gore and viscera. Don't get me wrong here, I like gore as much as the next person--you couldn't find a less elated person to tell people to go watch last year's grotesque exploitation horror The Green Inferno than yours truly--but The Hateful Eight feels like a much more subtle experience for the majority of its runtime. And just saying "there's a lot of gore and that's it" would really be throwing this film under the bus--Tarantino has had some pretty breathtaking sweeping shots since Inglorious Basterds and this movie is no exception. Gorgeous wildlife shots are peppered throughout and the intimate nature of the cabin is captured in almost its full view in most shots, serving as a reminder of the cramped location by showing much of the entire building at once. And that doesn't even begin to describe how much I loved the lighting of The Hateful Eight: some may be annoyed by the brightly-lit cabin, but the blinding lights pooring into the cabin from seemingly nowhere as well as the omnipresent blue hovering over the cabin in some outdoor shots gives the movie an oppressive atmosphere, as if the cabin itself is being watched from without. It's a monument to Tarantino's distinct visual style as a director that really has to be seen to be appreciated.

If you've seen your share of Tarantino films you probably know that his over-the-top violence didn't really begin until the masterpiece duology Kill Bill, a Samurai-themed spaghetti Western with some anime sprinkled in--literally, I should add. I don't know why I'm speaking to you as if you haven't seen those films, because you, my beloved and well-read reader, have surely seen such a master work of fiction. Right? Anyway, violence has always been part of Tarantino's style, just take a look at the usage of katanas in Pulp Fiction and the bloody aftermath of ears in Reservoir Dogs. Jackie Brown, Tarantino's most subdued (and most contentious) film, was very subdued in its violence--yes, people are murdered with relative nonchalance, but there are no bits and pieces flying across the screen at any moment. It wasn't until Kill Bill when we really got to see Tarantino go all-out with gory dismemberments, executions, and more shots of viscera than you know what to do with. Kill Bill was a turning point in Tarantino's career because it was the moment he firmly committed to being over-the-top.

Like I said, I enjoy gory action and Tarantino's films are always some of the most enjoyable experiences in the years they're released. And with his seeming embrace of historical settings, it's pretty gratifying to be a fan of his films knowing that he can completely nail multiple genres of movies as well as time periods. For a director as established as he is, it's weird to say that I anticipate to see where he plans to go from here but really, there's nowhere to go but up.


I'm going to get into some mild spoilers, so skip ahead if you want to go in blind.


All that aside, when people's heads start exploding I can't help but think the gore could have been toned down just a bit. There brutal face-punches and bloody shoot-outs work well within the tone of the movie, but as soon as chunks begin to fly all I can think is "this is the point when Tarantino realized pieces of human weren't being flung across the room enough." Tone is an important factor in all of fiction, and most of his movies manage to establish tone early on. Django begins with the violent beating of slave runners, Pulp Fiction begins with a weird dialogue about feet and cheeseburgers leading to a violent shooting rampage, Reservoir Dogs opens with its characters arguing followed by the gang's panicked flight from the scene--see where I'm going with this? The Hateful Eight begins with talk of bounty hunting and civil unrest, some fairly pointed racial conflict, and an uncomfortable amount of intimate beating. If you went in expecting hyper-violent insanity, it's because you saw the name attached to the film and just decided that was what was in store. I know Tarantino loves this kind of stuff, but with just a bit of the over-the-top gore toned down this movie would have been elevated higher than without it.

The Verdict

The Hateful Eight is one of Tarantino's best, blending the tense atmosphere of his previous works while overflowing with the style and writing we've come to expect from him. While it does feel at times like a retreat of the themes and claustrophobic nature of his first film, Reservoir Dogs, it feels more like a celebration of his maturation of a director taking on a familiar concept with childlike glee. Some parts feel a bit too over-the-top, which might seem like a very weird complaint from someone like myself, but it's a bit out of place for the type of movie it's going for. Nevertheless, if you don't mind that this is one of the best films I've seen in a while and a great indication of the quality we should expect from 2016 in film.

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