Not Hateful At All.

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2016)

The Hateful Eight (2015): Dir: Quentin Tarantino / Cast: Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Bruce Dern: Quentin Tarantino's eighth film plays like Reservoir Dogs in a blizzard cabin. It is an ugly picture of corruption and blood with nobody being who they say. Kurt Russell plays John "the Hangman" Ruth who is riding a stagecoach chain cuffed to his prisoner Daisy Domergue, played with fierce intensity by Jennifer Jason Leigh. Ruth has a reputation of bringing his bounties in alive so to watch them hang. Samuel L. Jackson plays Major Marguis Warren, another bounty hunter who hitches a ride with Ruth when his horse died. He has three bodies to deliver, which he ties to the roof. Soon they are joined by a forth person in Sheriff Chris Mannix, played by Walton Goggins. He is also headed to Red Rock but his story of being the new Sheriff draws questions. They arrive at a lodge where they shelter their horses from the blizzard but there are others settled in the lodge. Amongst them is General Sandy Smithers, played by Bruce Dern whose methods of dealing with African Americans during the Civil War draw a conflicting story from Warren. Tarantino presents the tension where nobody can be trusted and motive are questioned. There is extreme violence with blood splattering everywhere including Domergue's face, which is masked in crimson. It presents a small space where personalities clash and trust is scarce. Even more so is the absence of love, which none of these souls have known for a very long time. And it is set to be a very long winter for getting cozy with despair. Score: 9 / 10