The Hateful Eight

As with so many other things, I was late getting into Quentin Tarantino. I tried to watch Pulp Fiction in the 90s as a teeanger, but I quickly got bored. I did see from Dusk Till Dawn as a teenager too, loved it, but didn’t realise at the time it was Tarantino. Many years later, I don’t remember how, I came to be watching Kill Bill and wow! It blew me away. I’ve been a fan since and even rewatched Pulp Fiction. Kill Bill remains his best work but I loved Inglorious Bastards too (despite the subtitles).

The Hateful Eight is different. Very different and very good. In the middle it’s slow and I went to a late showing after a long day, which made it a bit more difficult. It has one of the most engaging character building opening parts of any film I’ve seen. Often the character building in films is slow and boring, especially if it’s the first part of a trilogy, but not the Hateful Eight.

About half way through it feels like it’s nearly over. Then it goes back to a different thread of events early that day, which put the later events in context. Then as the main thread is picked up again it turns into a typically Tarantino blood bath.

I find stories where everyone dies at the end disappointing (and I love Blake's 7!) and a lot like stories where someone wakes up and it was all a dream. It would have been a much better ending if Mannix had somehow walked away.

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Paul Grenyer

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