STORY STUDY (HORROR MONTH) - MEDIUM: FILM - “The Hateful Eight”
Happy Halloween, everyone!
And what better way to finish off Horror Month with a film filled with distrust, suspense, and dread: The Hateful Eight.
What’s that? The Hateful Eight isn’t a horror film? Well, no, not in a traditional sense, but you still feel all the emotions you would get from a horror film. It even has its own versions of jump scares. Body count is pretty high too, but I shouldn’t explain any further.
Directed and written by Quentin Tarantino, the film is about eight people who have to survive a blizzard at “Minnie’s Haberdashery,” which is really a big cabin with a fireplace and food shop. Basically, it’s a rest stop to go to after driving long miles, and had to exit off the freeway to get gas or food.
The film specifically focuses on Major Marquis Warren, an African American bounty hunter who is need of a ride after his horse got too old.
He is rescued by a carriage occupied by another bounty hunter, John Ruth.
Ruth is shackled to his latest bounty, Daisy Domergue (Da-mer-goo). Once at Minnie’s, Ruth secretly tells Warren that “someone who’s not what he says he is.” He thinks one of them is working with Domergue, and the plan is to kill everyone and free her.
I’ve heard critics and fans of Tarantino say that this is his weakest film. While I personally think Death Proof is his weakest, it’s hard not to see where they are coming from. After all, the guy had just done Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, two revenge flicks that is his masterpiece and his highest grossing film, respectively. They also helped Christoph Waltz gain an Oscar.
And now, all of a sudden, he makes a movie where he is boasting about filming on 70mm film (the standard is 35mm) which he uses to frame beautiful environmental shots…
… but uses it to film the majority of the movie in a cabin.
In other words, after making a martial arts epic, rewriting WWII history AND pre-civil war Deep South history, all of a sudden, he decides to… make a Western version of Reservoir Dogs.
I get it: it’s underwhelming.
That being said, a Quentin Tarantino film is still a Quentin Tarantino film, and The Hateful Eight is filled with scenes, characters, and especially dialogue that we know and love from him.
Over-the-top yelling, “jump scare” gunshots, practical effect blood sprays, memorable monologues, tense scenes, and casual N-word spouting are all a plenty in The Hateful Eight.
Really, the only Tarantino trope you DON’T see is a close-up of someone’s bare feet!
Like with everyone else, I went into watching this because I, pretty much, like Quentin Tarantino films, and I couldn’t wait to see his latest work. The traditional movie screening wouldn’t have been released until after New Year’s Day 2016, so I went to a 70mm screening that was released on Christmas Day. This version had extra scenes not seen in the traditional format, or the home video release.
I went to the AMC Del Amo Theater in Torrance, CA. It was a packed screening, and something tells me the presence of this guy was the reason why.
Honestly, I didn’t mind the scaled-back storytelling he decided to employ. After three revenge epics in a row (not counting Death Proof because that’s not a stand-alone movie that was released in theaters), it’s nice to see something claustrophobic and intimate; a greatest hits of typical Tarantino characters locked in a room together just interacting with each other and doing exactly what we expect them to do in a Tarantino film.
I don’t know what else to say, except to hurry out and see it.
Always to be sure to check under the basement for unneeded surprises, and have a Happy Halloween!
