Tarantino is as skillful as he is sadistic

Rating: 7/10 (1 July 2018)

In the wild west shortly after the U.S. Civil War, an oddball gang of characters end up sharing space in a stagecoach lodge during a wicked Wyoming blizzard. They include bounty hunters, a wanted murderer, an alleged sheriff, an alleged hangman, a former Confederate general, and other mysterious guests who arise suspicion. The movie is written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.
In regard to movie storytelling and execution, I have little doubt that Tarantino is a genius. I also have little doubt that he is a sadist.
His films can end up with different results depending on how much the mean-spirited violence overwhelms his brilliance. When the violence was minimal (that is, in Tarantino terms), the brilliance clearly won out with the creation of such great films as "Pulp Fiction", "Inglorious Basterds", and "Django Unchained".
Then, there were the two movies in the "Kill Bill" series where the violence was often sickening and overwhelming. This situation recurs in "The Hateful Eight".
Firstly, the pluses of which there are many:
With the aid of music by Ennio Morricone and cinematography by Robert Richardson, Tarantino succeeds in evoking a hell-on-earth created by its inhabitants.
Storywise, there are many moments of mystery, plot twists, suspense, and extended moments of tense dialogue. While Tarantino's stories are always filled with violence, they are always engaging. And most of all, compared to many other screenwriters, his stories are always understandable. They can be complex without being confusing.
There are two frequents sources of criticism about this movie but I will actually come to the movie's defense. One is that the movie is too long especially in the middle. I agree that it could have been shortened but the tension was always present in the middle scene leading the viewer to believe (rightly so) that this was only a build-up.
The other criticism was against the inclusion of a scene that is a flashback. I felt this scene added to the film's impact. It helped solve the mystery of the backgrounds of some of the characters. It also allowed us to see other characters who had previously been spoken of only in reference. The best part of the scene is that it provided us with kind and friendly characters who interacted well with others. This was a welcome respite from the uniformly vile characters that infested the movie's first half.
And the acting is great. Standout performances come from Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Bruce Dern.
It's in the end when things get overly brutal and mean-spirited especially the fate of one character who had already been subject to an excess of degradation. The act itself and the image of its aftermath were hard to get out of my mind well after the movie's end. I guess it's now time for a schlocky rom-com to rebalance my senses.