The Hateful Eight (2016)

The Hateful Eight is the latest film from famous director Quieten Tarantino, a director known for his excessive gore, violence, foul language and making brilliant film after brilliant film. Ever since his debut with Reservoir Dogs in 1992, a crime drama set in almost entirely in one room that displayed superb writing and directing abilities for the first time director. When it came to Pulp Fiction, Tarantino had proven he was one of the best up and coming directors in the business, over 20 years later and he has given us a plethora of fun, exciting, and unique films, taking us back to the golden age of cinema which heavily influenced him with the kind of violence that would only get shown today. After much turmoil and trouble with script leaks his eighth film, titled The Hateful Eight has finally been released to a much quieter response than what he received for most of his other films, this could come down to it being released next to the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Revenant. Alongside some underwhelming reviews H8 has emerged quietly despite its all-star cast, extremely popular director and promotional material showing a film with potential to be a new Tarantino classic. Did it deliver or was its underwhelming response deserved?

In my opinion The Hateful Eight is a masterful film, its resemblance to classic cinema make it feel like it could’ve actually came out over fifty years ago if it wasn’t for the excessive Tarantino gore that would’ve never got past the censors. It’s a very simple premise, like many films of the era it pays homage to, but it slowly becomes more complex and interesting, by the time you reach the climax you are completely drawn into the plot. This makes the final half an hour even more thrilling and entertaining.

As usual the dialogue and characters in this film are fantastic, which was something that really needed to be perfect in a film where eight people are trapped in a cabin for a couple of days and you are trapped with them. All eight felt distinct, some more than others, but the less developed ones were eventually ‘removed’ (it’s a spoiler free review after all). It was a joy to watch these people interact and clash, the time setting of just a couple of years after the Civil War was perfect as they all had their own stance on the entire conflict which drove them even further apart making tensions higher and arguments even more enthralling.

All the characters were performed excellently with a brilliant cast, some could say they were slightly over exaggerated but I think that that was a good thing, most things in Tarantino films are over the top and that’s what makes them so fun and unique. In this film especially, gore reaches a whole new level, I never felt it was too much though.

The score by one of the greatest film composers of all time, Ennio Morricone, was absolutely fantastic. It was stylish, it was dark, and it made tense scenes significantly more nail biting. Since a lot of the film goes purely with ambience, the score stood out even more, you knew that when it started playing everything was about to explode into chaos. The cinematography was also excellent at building tension, big wide shots of the snowy landscape with not a soul in sight sold the feeling of isolation and seclusion. Later on the tight, extreme close ups gave a claustrophobic feel and amplified conflicts to a whole new level.

In conclusion, The Hateful Eight is one hell of a ride that I enjoyed every minute of, Tarantino delivers yet another stunning tribute to the days of true, classic cinema with beautiful cinematography, brilliant score, diverse characters and the stunning dialogue and violence that has made his films so memorable and classic. I would recommend this to fans of the genre, fans of Tarantino and fans of cinema in general.

8/10