SILVER TONGUED SILVER SCREEN: THE HATEFUL EIGHT (2015)

With Quentin Tarantino films one is always treated to an interesting experience. The eighth film (technically ninth because Kill Bill was separated into two films) was released last December under the apt title of THE HATEFUL EIGHT. This time Tarantino gives audiences a full blown western as opposed to Django Unchained which was a period drama. Tarantino is a big fan of the western genre of film and more specifically he enjoys Spaghetti Westerns.

I too enjoy the western films to have come from Italy during the 1960's and 70's, not all mind you but a select group. Some of these select films on my list came from a list of Tarantino's Top 20 favorite Spaghetti Westerns. The more I watch Tarantino's movies the more interested I become in the films that inspired his films. The man is a passionate film aficionado. Tarantino's films are more than just another movie in the world of cinema, but also his personal tributes and homages to the films, genres, and filmmakers he loves so dearly. Not only does Tarantino get to shout his love for these films from the mountaintops but he also is given the means to make his own films his own way.

Delving deeper into Tarantino's world, not simply viewing his films but viewing the films that inspire him, enriches the whole experience. It also provides a bit of a game when viewing his films, that of trying to discover which movies he has drawn from. With The Hateful Eight there are obvious ties to the western genre, Delmer Daves' 3:10 TO YUMA  and Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST come to mind, but nothing I could pin down as being the whole inspiration. What ultimately came to mind wasn't a western film at all, but rather a science fiction horror film from 1982: John Carpenter's THE THING. The Hateful Eight is very much an Agatha Christie murder mystery in the vein of TEN LITTLE INDIANS.

THE PLOT

Eight strangers are trapped in an outpost along a mountain pass as a blizzard besets them. Bounty hunter John "the Hangman" Ruth and his bounty, Daisy Domergue worth $10,000, find themselves the subject of a deadly plot. One or more of the strangers are not who they say they are, in league with Domergue, and dead set on freeing her. One by one the strangers drop like flies, the survivors desperately trying to ferret out the killer or killers. As the night continues the true characters of these strangers come to light, each one of them cruel evil bastards, all deserving of death.

THE GOOD

The Dialog. This is a trademark of Tarantino's films. He engages the audience with clever and interesting verbal exchanges rather than explosions and rip-roaring action (although he does enjoy that too). Not all his films contain the same caliber of voice but The Hateful Eight has some of the most interesting dialog I've heard from Tarantino in a long time. And he maintains this level of dialog throughout the duration. And in his usual flare these conversations end in bloody conflict, courtesy of the amazing gore effects of KNB.

Kurt Russell. Another parallel to The Thing. Kurt Russell plays one of the eight, a bounty hunter by the name of John Ruth also known as "the Hangman" as he has an affinity for bringing his bounties in alive just to watch them hang. Russell brings his own distinct flavor to the role calling to mind his character Jack Burton from the movie BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (also directed by John Carpenter). As Jack Burton, Kurt Russell gives his own rendition of a rather inept JOHN WAYNE. His character John Ruth is very similar albeit without the Jack Burton smile.

Tarantino is a fan of director John Carpenter and Carpenter, like Tarantino, is a fan of westerns. Tarantino is also a fan of Kurt Russell (who isn't?) and a fan of legendary Spaghetti Western badass LEE VAN CLEEF. Russell has had the privilege of working with Lee Van Cleef in John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. Why am I telling you all of this? Because I too love Lee Van Cleef and Russell channels some of Mr. Van Cleef's essence here, no doubt by Tarantino's direction. Out of all the characters in the film the only likable character is John Ruth. !SPOILER ALERT! After he dies the film looses a bit of its appeal.

Also worthy of note is legendary film composer, Ennio Morricone. Tarantino yet again works with one of his film heroes and can be linked to Sergio Leone and the spaghetti western genre directly. Morricone earned an Academy Award for his work in The Hateful Eight and it is his incredible score that sets the tone for the film immediately. Tarantino has sampled much of Morricone's work in his previous films, Morricone's scores for the films THE BIG GUNDOWN and DEATH RIDES A HORSE appearing in Inglorious Basterds and Kill Bill vol. 1. Now Tarantino is given another Morricone score all for himself.

THE BAD

It's my personal taste when watching films to have characters to root for. When a film doesn't possess such characters I tend to lose interest. Such is the case here. After (SPOILER ALERT) John Ruth dies along with the only truly innocent person among the group, O.B. Jackson, we move to actor Samuel L. Jackson as our hero. But his character, we discover after his tale of Chester Charles Smithers, is one sick evil man. Jackson's character is set to oppose our antagonist(s) but I'd be lying if I didn't want him dead too after his story. Don't take this as a fault of the film because the scene is extremely effective, but it is also a scene of such pure evil that I never care to see or hear it again. Kudos to the director for effecting me so powerfully.

A victim of his own undoing. Tarantino appears to be his own enemy in this film. While there are no other films like Tarantino's out there, here he seems to fall into his usual patterns. The movie is broke apart into chapters similarly to Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. The story is told out of sequential order as well, again another classic Tarantino move. And the director makes his cameo as a narrator in one scene which was rather groan worthy. Tarantino is a master story-teller yet this one scene is rather obnoxious and off-putting, and nearly takes the viewer out of the film. He titles his eighth film The Hateful Eight and inserting himself as the narrator wreaks of pretension, a characteristic in nearly every of his films but somehow seems punctuated here.

THE VERDICT

I have very mixed emotions about this film. All the films he draws upon for inspiration I enjoy. Most of the actors are amazing, charismatic, and memorable (with the exception of Michael Madsen). The dialog is some of Tarantino's best. Yet Tarantino's own ego gets in the way more than usual. Then there is elimination of the only likable characters early on and the incredible level of evil shown by Samuel L. Jackson that renders the remainder of the film a painful experience to finish. To be fair, I personally need characters that I enjoy watching in my films. This is a good movie, and Sam Jackson does get his comeuppance for being an evil bastard, as they all do. But dammit, why did Tarantino have to kill Kurt Russell off so early?

Tarantino used to strive for a purity of experience. He recreated the feelings attached to those 1960's and 70's films that he loves and a perfect genre experience. With his last three films however he seems to have lost sight of this purity of spirit, striving for academy acclaim rather than a unique film experience and love letters to the genres, directors, and films he loves so much. In this respect I feel Robert Rodriguez, Tarantino's "Brother in Arms," has continued to succeed where Tarantino seems to have forgotten.

Overall Ranking: 6 out of 10

Nude-O-Meter: 3 out of 10

(nothing anybody ever wanted to see)