The Hateful Eight

Overview

Bounty hunters seek shelter from a raging blizzard and get caught up in a plot of betrayal and deception.

Rating

9 Reviews

• 

  John Chard

  9 May 15, 2016

  Marmite at Minnie's Haberdashery. Quentin Tarantino writes and directs and it stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Lee, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Micahel Madsen, Demian Bichir and Bruce Dern. Music is scored by Ennio Morricone and cinematography by Robert Richardson. Wyoming, wintertime, and an assortment of suspect characters are holed up at Minnie's Haberdashery while a blizzard rages outside. Soon enough suspicions and ugly human traits come to the fore... Tarrantino is on a Western/Southern/Oater/Civil War kick these days, here following on from Django Unchained, this is set just post the Civil War. Proudly homaging genres he loves, he throws all his trademarks at The Hateful Eight for glorious results - that is on proviso you happen to be a fan of his in the first place. Picture is split into two halves. First half sets up the characters who come to be at Minnie's, the conversations are pungent with Tarrantino's caustic and comedic writing, the characterisations equally so, whilst we have been treated to some absolutely gorgeous Colorado vistas. There's a constant sense of mistrust in the air, while racism, misogyny and political fall outs pulse away in set up scenarios. Then it's the second half, where after a wee bit of narration that had me thinking my Blu-ray player had somehow started playing The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, hell then comes to Minnie's! It quickly becomes evident we have been part of a Tarrantino parlour game, a game of Clue - cum - Ten Little Indians, only in a Wild West setting, and with blood, bones and bile in full effect. The whole thing is wonderfully stylish in the way that Tarrantino is known for. The cartoonish horror mingles with more biting observations on humanity, the violence shocks to get a reaction from the viewer, for better or worse, and always there is humour, where Hateful Eight proves itself to be one damn funny film. Morricone scores it as cartoon horror with Western strains, and it's magnificent, it sounds like the evil twin to his score for The Untouchables. The cast are super (though a couple of them are not given much to do), with Leigh standing out, and Messrs Jackson and Russell hold glorious excessive court. Costuming is most appealing, as is the set-design for Minnie's. And director QT? Well he does his thing, chapters and verse and playful filmic cunning. 9/10

• 

  DanDare

  7 Feb 28, 2017

  The Hateful Eight is Quentin Tarantino's eight film. Inspired by John Carpenter's movie, The Thing. We even have Kurt Russell mentioning going without sleep. However despite all the talking and there is a lot of chatter between some hateful people, it is an Agatha Christie style thriller. In a snowbound post civil war wild west, Kurt Russell is bounty hunter John Ruth better known as the Hangman. He brings his bounty back alive so they can hang. Ruth is taking back Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) a female captive with a big reward on her. He meets Major Warren (Samuel L Jackson) another bounty hunter and they decide to ride together to town and meet the new Sheriff who is due to show up. A blizzard means they have to stop at an inn. Holed up in the inn is Bruce Dern's confederate General Smithers, a bitter racist trying to find out the fate of his son. Also there is Tim Roth's Mobray on his way to the same town as the Sheriff to be their new hangman. There are several other people hanging around the inn. Ruth is convinced that someone is not what he claims to be and is nervous. The film has a lot of talk with suspicious, shifty people rubbing everyone up the wrong way. Tarantino wants the viewer to get complacent and then suddenly bang! He then shows you his hand. The Hateful Eight is a twisted film with Tarantino's dark humour, mean characters and violence. However it is overlong and a mystery that might be too slow before it gets going.

• 

  Wuchak

  7 Jul 17, 2018

  ***Creative Western whodunit is an amusing black comedy, but also profane and repugnant*** RELEASED IN 2015 and directed by Quentin Tarantino, "The Hateful Eight" is a Western about a cruel bounty hunter (Kurt Russell) taking an outlaw woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) in to Red Rock, Wyoming, to hang. Along with a black bounty hunter (Samuel L. Jackson) and the new Sheriff of Red Rock (Walton Goggins), they hold up at a rural haberdashery during a blizzard with several dubious characters (Tim Roth, Demián Bichir, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern and Channing Tatum). Dana Gourrier and Zoe Bell appear in small roles. This was Tarantino’s second Western in a row after 2012’s “Django Unchained,” which ranks with the best Westerns of all time. This one’s not as good, but it certainly has its points of interest, like the great wintery wilderness atmosphere, which is to die for. Moreover, the plot is intriguing. It's basically an Agatha Christie whodunit a la Murder on the Orient Express transferred to the Old West. Roughly 90% of the film takes place in the haberdashery and, less so, a stagecoach. It's basically a theater play masquerading as a movie and I found it a unique setting for a Western. The movie starts out with spectacular Colorado winter cinematography highlighted by an excellent Ennio Morricone score, his first full-length score in over three decades (!). Compelling extended dialogues have always been Tarantino’s strong suit; and so it is here. The amusing melodramatics are entertaining and the story keeps your interest despite the one-dimensional setting. Everything’s SO exaggerated that you can’t take it seriously. The movie’s intentionally offensive and you have to roll WITH the excesses to be entertained; otherwise you’ll hate it. On at least one occasion the overindulgences don’t work, like the disgusting fellatio sequence. I get that Marquis (Jackson) was lying to the other guy to compel him to draw, but we didn't need a visual on his fabricated story. It's sordid excess that has no place in a Western or any other movie, except gay porn, but Tarantino obviously included it in order to be "edgy" or whatever. The excellent opening with the figure of Christ dying for our sins keys off the theme, which is humanity’s fallen condition and dire need of redemption. The title, “The Hateful Eight,” is a perversion of “The Magnificent Seven.” The latter celebrates the noble and heroic whereas this movie parodies the base and odious. Tarantino is poking fun at our petty hostilities that separate us based on race, gender, sectionalism, faction-ism, envy and rivalry. Furthermore, men divided by hatred of culture and race can unite in hatred of something else, in this case misogyny. THE FILM RUNS 2 hours, 47 minutes. GRADE: B

• 

  Nutshell

  6 Aug 3, 2019

  Quentin T is on a downward spiral for sure. The film has it's moments but the endless profanity added to the fact there are no sympathetic characters make this a letdown. Too much gore and excessive violence near the end as well.

• 

  Nathan

  9 Dec 1, 2022

  _The Hateful Eight_ is a fantastic western tale of deception that I loved. Only Quentin Tarantino can fill almost an entire movie with just dialogue while still being captivating and engaging. From start to finish, this film is filled with witty dialogue and dry humor that had me genuinely cracking up. The characters are all stereotypes on a comedic level, but when the writing is this good, they become much more than that. Each character had some level of depth and uniqueness that gave this somewhat dry and slow plot a spark that continually kept the flame of the story burning. Samuel L. Jackson is brilliant, this movie was directly written for him, and he makes use of every second of screen time he is given. His comedic delivery is excellent and towards the end of the movie his slyness and witty detective work are mesmerizing. Kurt Russell is hilariously stupid and his relationship with his captee (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is hilarious, sweet, and sometimes demented. Walton Goggins was so damn funny here; this is my favorite performance by him. He makes this movie, and the ending resolution would not be the same without him. Tim Roth was awesome, and all the other gang members were great too. The only one that kind of stuck out was Channing Tatum. I do not know if it was my bias of his based on his previous work, but I did not buy him in this film. Felt really out of place and unnecessarily cast on his name sack alone. Despite the slow pace and long runtime, this film is an utter masterpiece that keeps the viewer engaged and constantly curious about what the true motivations are behind each of our eight characters. The chapter-like structure is fantastic and there are some Pulp Fiction elements here in terms of storytelling order which I loved. While this may not be Tarantino's best film, it is still an incredible product and another classic added to his filmography. **Score:** _90%_ | **Verdict:** _Excellent_

• 

  daniel_carr

  2 Dec 14, 2025

  Okay, maybe I'm just biased because my genre is "sci-fi and fantasy" but I really thought with such big names like Samuel L Jackson and Kurt Russel that this would be a good one. Sorry, but a western and people lost and trying to get from nowhere to nowhere. I give every movie the 10min test and if it doesn't get better after that, then it's NEXT ...