The Hateful Eight

I'd expect that when Quentin Tarantino strolls into a Hollywood movie prop distributor and orders 50 gallons of fake blood; the owners would be smiling from ear to ear. This post-modern western has all the qualities of the Tarantino "touch". The cinematography by Robert Richardson is peerless, Ennio Morricone's Golden Globe winning score is scintillating and really sets the stage for the film's events and of course Tarantino directs with the sure hand of the consummate craftsman. The movie appears to start out as an homage to John Ford's Stagecoach, with hints of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns thrown in and then morphs into a sorta cross between The Petrified Forest and Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. The movie's setting is mainly found in a way station tucked away in the mountains where the main characters hunker down while a storm rages outside. Distrust emerges followed by confrontations of a violent nature plus of Tarantino's excellent dialogue is interspersed with dollops of the usual black humor. The way station is named Minnie's Haberdashery?! I always thought a haberdashery was a retail outlet which sold men's clothing. Anyways any further discussion of the twists and turns would spoil the experience. I will say that the movie is exceedingly violent and the audience's enjoyment of the film will depend upon their tolerance of Tarantino's staging of same.