KNOB GOBLINS

THE SETUP

Firstly I’d just like to say thank you to Writer/Director, Christopher Moore for allowing me access to an online screener of his 8 minute, Horror/Comedy short “Knob Goblins”. Knob Goblins is about R.J (played by Michael Williams), a young mental patient who returns to his childhood home with hopes of facing the fear he carries surrounding his younger brother’s death. The film also stars Tom Gore, Jaysen Buterin, Christopher Houldsworth and Yale Giffin.

THE GOOD

The film’s tagline says it all (haha), absolute gold. The concept behind Moore’s short isn’t necessarily a unique one but it doesn’t make the thing any less enjoyable. Joe Dante’s family friendly, “Gremlins” is probably the clear “creature feature” that over the years helped shape other filmmakers ideas. Knob Goblins opens with a simple and clever hand drawn title, with complimentary stick figures to boot. The film’s production value is impressive. There’s a couple of nice wide shots in the opening few minutes and some steady close camera work for the remainder, the framing distances are consistent as well. Certain shots in the basement of R.J’s childhood home take advantage of the depth of field and result in some great focus shots. The audio levels are nice and clear and there’s a striking score that consists of violin and cello.

The short is set during the day so there’s a great mix of natural lighting plus some really effective light that eases its way through parts of the basement during the climax of the short. The performances from the all male cast were good, the line delivery flows evenly and never feels too scripted. The strongest aspect here was the choice to make a practical goblin, I really respect that. Now it’s not all that great, essentially looking like a cross between one of Dustin Mills’s puppets or something out of Dave Parker’s micro-budget film “Slimy Little Bastards” crossed with the little demon from “Dead On Appraisal”. The important thing was the effort behind it and because the lighting is well conceived it comes off looking better than it should, plus there’s some red stuff in there too.

THE BAD

8 minutes really isn’t enough time to find anything to complain about, if I had an issue it would be with the lack of reaction from the group during the final moments involving R.J. A point that also ties in with the fact that it would have been great to see a body count and some more crazy special effects but I also understand with limited time and money that’s not always possible.

Knob Goblins gave me exactly what I was hoping for, 8 minutes of pure entertainment which is more than some entire films give me. It should come as no surprise that with Christopher’s previous experience on short films, he’s got a clear grasp on the technical know how as well as the ability to conceive a fun and entertaining premise. I really hope this is just a stepping stone toward a Knob Goblins full length feature because that’s something I would definitely jump on board for! Do yourself a favor and check this one out.

My rating for “Knob Goblins” is 9/10

BUNNY THE KILLER THING

THE SETUP

This is a review for the brand new Finnish, Horror/Comedy film “Bunny The Killer Thing”, Directed by Joonas Makkonen and bought to us by Monster Pictures. Bunny The Killer Thing is about a group of young adults both Finnish and English, who get stuck at a cabin where they’re attacked by a creature that’s half rabbit and half human and sporting over sized genitalia. The film stars Hiski Hamalainen, Enni Ojutkangas, Veera Vilo, Jari Manninen, Katja Jaskari and Matti Kiviniemi as “Bunny the Killer Thing”. I’m guessing that before I go on I’ve already lost a bunch of you who are thinking “Half human, half rabbit, I’m out!”. If that was your reaction you’ve probably made a wise choice but those of you who are still with me should be in for an entertaining read. Now those who know me know I’ve seen every ridiculous film out there (okay well maybe not all of them) but my fair share. I’ve seen a vast array of killer things killing things. Backpacks turning on people in “Attack Of The Killer Backpacks” a micro-budget Argentinian film, to Sushi coming alive and hunting people in “Dead Sushi” not to mention “Atomic Brain Invasion”, “Witches Brew”, “Ticked Off Trannies With Knives” haha, the list goes on and trust me it does go on. I was hoping to see yet another crazy idea outdo all those other crazy ideas, I’m always looking for someone to up the ante with these kinds of films. Well… Bunny The Killer Thing gave me something I’m just not sure what it was.

THE GOOD

I’m a sucker for the Splatter style, Horror/Comedy flicks Europeans have become so adept at making. There really is no crossing the line or a filter when it comes to some of their crazy ideas, Makkonen’s approach in this obscure telling is no different. Let’s talk about this ridiculous villain/creature for one moment. Bunny the Killer Thing is a half rabbit/half human wielding an absurdly large and humorous member, now if that isn’t funny on its own what is would be the fact that it’s clearly a guy in a rabbit suit with a dildo or prosthetic penis attached to it… I mean who thinks of this stuff haha? Apparently Europeans do… In all seriousness though if nothing else its original, Right? Immediately you can see Joonas’s film has a great production value, especially taking into account the modest budget. The opening sequence showcases a gorgeous snow-covered, Scandinavian landscape with a charming little cabin at the centre of it. The entire film is pretty well shot. There’s a few sequences that employ some nice gentle tracking shots and others that are well conceived with a Steadicam.

The audio levels are nice and clear and the introductory score over the credits and opening seems larger than life. It feels a little reminiscent of music in the “Final Destination” franchise, it was a pleasant surprise given the difference in tone between the two films. Although some of the lighting isn’t perfect there’s a couple of scenes that make use of some effective natural lighting peaking through windows and inside of cars. The cast are made up of an eclectic group of people most of whom do a decent job in their roles. I mean it’s a silly movie so naturally some of the acting feels that way too. Enni and Veera made for some lovely eye candy and each shared a sizable amount of screen time. The special effects were the main thing that got me interested in Bunny The Killer Thing. I love the splatter approach that’s best used in Tommy Wirkola’s “Dead Snow”, one of my all time favorite Horror films, so I was looking forward to what this group would be able to do. In the first few minutes of the film there’s a practical head explosion which looks gnarly. Although following that there’s a bit of a lull in the action/ kill sequences, there’s an impressive leg rip and plenty of biting and pulling of genitalia toward the end of the film.

THE BAD

The first thing that jumped out at me (other than the heavily wooded Rabbit of course) was some of the incorrect subtitle translation. Half the movie was in Finnish/Swedish and the other half was in English but the subtitles were slightly off and on several occasions they were positioned right in the middle of the screen blocking the scene. They should always be at the bottom of the frame. Even though most of the camera work is solid some of the framing is questionable. It’s either being slightly adjusted in the middle of the shot or it’s just far too close to the actors faces. Personally I prefer wider shots than anything else, unless it’s a really intimate conversation there’s no need to be in that close. The films overall pacing is odd. Several chunks of the film are hurriedly edited, where a scene could go on a few frames longer it doesn’t but by the same token the running time is made longer by other scenes that wear out their welcome all to quickly. From the first time we catch a glimpse of the CG and green screen it’s quite obvious that it was intended to be hokey. The explosion doesn’t look that bad but the car spiraling out of control down the hill and some of the internal shots when characters are driving looked fairly mediocre.

The main issue I found with Bunny The Killer thing was getting behind the extremely thin plot and lack of motive. We don’t even get a proper transformation sequence of the bunny. We see the mysterious serum injected (which I can only imagine is Rabbit sperm) into the man who ends up becoming the bunny but no gradual process. Ordinarily I wouldn’t take issue with missing content if this had the quality of entertainment that the aforementioned “Dead Snow” did but it doesn’t. The core setting is basically just a party revolving around getting wasted and engaging in prepubescent sex, something that doesn’t really pull me into a film. I can’t really relate to those situations I think I just matured quicker than most and I need some sort of plot. The situation is just one facet of the film but even the characters had no arc. They were just the one-dimensional stereotypes. Now like I said that would have been fine if this was an all out splatter fest but it’s not, instead it plods along with an interesting scene here or there but nothing memorable. The dialogue is pretty juvenile and offers little in the way of humor and you don’t ever learn anything of any substance about this mixed bag of oddball characters. The story jumps from scene to scene quite suddenly and without ending a characters movements and doesn’t often return to them for several minutes. There’s plenty of awkward silences that feel exactly that, awkward but not funny. There’s an overly lengthy and boring sequence in the bathroom between Sarah (played by Ojutkangas) and the Tim character (I think it was him?), it wasn’t funny nor was it sexual, it was just a waste of 10 minutes of screen time.

I know I shouldn’t be surprised when I say I don’t really know what to make of Joonas Makkonen’s, Bunny The Killer Thing but I don’t. It’s a slick-looking film with a high production value and some great cinematography (probably the last thing you’d expect from a film with this subject matter) but alas. There’s a nice score, a bizarre and downright nonsensical creature at the core of it and some gnarly albeit brief, practical blood splatter throughout. I didn’t watch the original short film from 2011 which is included on the Dvd but I can’t help thinking this was probably an idea better suited to that format. It’s a film that promises a lot but doesn’t manage to deliver. It’s marketed as a pretty sick and gross film and although the premise is pretty “out there”t, it never feels that sexual or violent in graphic nature. The characters were plain, the continuity was choppy and the gore didn’t flow consistently enough to quench my thirst. On top of that, the couple of stupid cops that supplied the comedic relief didn’t get anywhere near the amount of screen time they should have, Dead Snow this is not. I didn’t have the highest expectations for this one it was definitely a gamble and unfortunately I lost. If your Comedy isn’t great and your Horror isn’t either, I’m not sure what you’re left with.

My rating for “Bunny The Killer Thing” is 4.5/10

THE VISIT

THE SETUP

Over the last decade Writer/Director, M Night Shyamalan rightly or wrongly has been on the end of some pretty harsh criticism which hasn’t necessarily been warranted. Sure, the guy’s made a few duds here and there but so have most filmmakers at one point in their careers but it’s not usually a reason to lose faith in them. I’ve always been a huge fan of Night’s films “Signs” and “The Village” which were both wonderfully suspenseful and cleverly told stories with a particular style of comedic relief in them. I’ll be honest I even have a soft spot for Marky Mark and “The Happening” I know.. I know what you’re thinking. I understand it’s not really a mainstream film (for those of us who liked it, the takeaway message was a nature warning cautionary) and although there were aspects I didn’t like about it it’s far from his worst film. It’s been a couple of years since Shyamalan’s film “After Earth” but 2015 saw him return to the Horror/Thriller genre for the first time in over 10 years with his new film “The Visit”. The Visit is about two young siblings Becca and Tyler Jameson (played by fellow Australians, Olivia DeJonge and Ed Oxenbould) who document a week-long stay in the country with their grandparents whom they’ve never met. Becca and Tyler attempt to get closure for their mother Loretta (Kathryn Hahn) regarding events from her past and they do so by getting to know their grandparents but all is not what it seems on this quaint Pennsylvania farm. The film also stars Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie and Celia Bolger.

THE GOOD

Much to my surprise I enjoyed the shooting style of The Visit. It’s a nice combination of conventional still work and Steadicam, along with “found footage” or more precisely handy cam (because FF is of events from the past not the present). I know it’s an approach viewers are sick of simply because of the sheer number of films being made like it. It’s usually to cover up sloppiness in other departments but in this case it works well because the film’s plot warrants it. At only 90 minutes The Visit is evenly paced and you won’t find yourself getting bored. Much like Night’s best work it’s a steady build up to an eventual climax/reveal. For the most part the editing is smooth but even when it’s sharp it’s usually to magnify comedic timing. There’s a couple of well-edited and humorous scenes involving Tyler unpacking clothes and making faces at the camera. I’ve always thought the one constant in Night’s body of work was the scores, so you can imagine how thrown off I was by the lack of sound in the Visit…. well there’s sound but not the usual intensified music. It’s a pleasant surprise to see the film work so superbly with just one brief piece of music in the first act (repeated at the end) and nothing for the remainder.

Let’s talk about the writing. This is clearly Shyamalan’s best writing since Signs (well The Village for me but let’s go with the masses). He’s stripped everything back, taken a simple premise like going to visit your grandparents and turned it into a fresh and suspenseful tale. Right off the bat we are introduced to the James family of 3, we come to know that the man of the house left years before. The situation and important background information is laid out for us in the first fifteen minutes, which is something that can be key in getting your audience engaged something Night has failed to do in some of his recent films. What he’s done here is taking what’s seemingly a serious situation and lacing it with a surprising amount of comedy, something I think he’s done quite well in the past and does so again here. It’s a balancing act between the characters and we get a bit of everything. From the humor of T Diamond Stylist (Tyler’s rap stage name haha) who busts out some funny and impressive freestyle jams, to the more dramatic Becca concerned more with the authenticity of her documentary, to the mixed bag of vague and iffy that is the grandparents it’s all nicely conveyed. There’s some great tension filled moments and a couple of jump scares but importantly nothing gets overused. The two most suspenseful scenes involve a game of hide and seek under the house and what I can only describe as the “Bloody Mary” scene, good stuff!

Kudos have to go to the casting department on The Visit because everyone here is on their game. Not only do Ed and Olivia both deliver credible American accents they also look like they could actually be brother and sister. I’ll go you one better than that, Kathryn Hahn even looks like she could be their mother! Casting the right people is only half the battle though you’ve got to have a group with genuine chemistry and our four leads have it in spades. Oxenbould and DeJonge work off of each other perfectly and when you add Deanna and Peter to the mix (playing the grandparents) you’ve got a real affability. Speaking of Deanna and Peter, they both give unsettling performances and each have a couple of cool highlights in the film. I don’t want to spoil anything as far as revelations are concerned but we’ve all come to expect that classic Shyamalan “Sixth Sense” twist and The Visit doesn’t let you down but it gives you something quite different. I’m interested to hear what others think of the direction the story takes. Certain aspects of the film seem far more grounded in reality in comparison to any of Nights previous work, but than other times it feels a little unsure of what it’s aiming for tonally, it’s an interesting contrast.

THE BAD

Everything is pretty well shot given the use of minimal cameras but those of you who aren’t seasoned viewers of shaky-cam might find yourself getting a little disoriented in one or two sequences. Most of my other criticisms are to do with finer points of the writing, such as expendable material that’s used to round out the siblings character arcs. There’s a handful of unnecessary interactions between Becca and Tyler, which mood wise took the film in a much more dramatic direction. Becca doesn’t like to look at herself in the mirror for whatever reason and Tyler has a heavy case of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) but only when it comes to germs. Neither points are discussed at length and therefore could have just been cut. Tyler also tells a story that seemed leading about his father and events of a certain pee-wee game of football he played when he was a little kid, I guess it comes into play in a round-about and unexplained way toward the end of the film but yeah. Was he in some sort of trance? I don’t know what was happening there. There also doesn’t appear to be any kind of significance to 9:30, which is usually the time Nana and Pop Pop retreat to their room. Why? we all want to know why? There’s a couple of other dead-end conversations and freak out moments involving Nana after she’s questioned by Becca in regards to Loretta. (No Spoilers) but now having seen the film I’m not sure why she would react to the questions the way she does.

The Visit saw M. Night Shyamalan successfully return to the fold, the Horror fold that is. Box office wise this latest film has done pretty well and so it should have, it’s a blast. Night has written a very fresh and entertaining script with possibly two of the most likable siblings at the core. Technically it’s a far superior film to just about everything we’ve seen done with the handy cam/documentary approach and the absence of music really helps generate that uneasy feeling the mysterious grandparents give off. The acting from everyone is top-notch but the surprise packet came in the form of Olivia and Ed who really make you care about their characters and dire situation. The Visit is a perfect blend of Suspense/Thriller and Comedy, it feels like a mix that shouldn’t work but it does. Topping things off is a disturbing and sharp twist that I didn’t see coming at all. There’s a few things in the writing that weren’t needed and half a dozen unclear character quirks, including a state of confusion for one character during the film’s climax but overall nothing that took away from my enjoyment of the film or its entertainment value. I think this is a really solid entry from Shyamalan and I can gladly recommend this to everyone!

My rating for “The Visit” is 7/10

SWEET HOLLOW

THE SETUP

 I’d like to start off by saying thank you to first time Writer/Director, Sean Lee for allowing me early access to an online screener of his 10 minute, Horror/Thriller short titled “Sweet Hollow”. Sweet Hollow follows a young woman named Emily (Alice Kremelberg) as she’s driving down a deserted road late at night, on route to visit her sister.  Her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and she’s offered a ride from an attractive stranger whose supposedly heading to the same place. A short way into the car ride Emily realizes there’s more to her new friend than meets the eye. The film also stars Ryan Vigilant and Sean Patrick Folster.

THE GOOD

Sweet Hollow has a really clear audio level which is quite rare among first timers films. I was impressed with the audio from the moment Emily began conversing with her sister over the phone. Most of the short is without a conventional score but the last couple of minutes had some well-placed sounds and background music. Alice Kremelberg, who I recognized from “The Taking Of Pelham 123” bares a striking resemblance to the late Brittany Murphy (R.I.P) and she was very easy to watch on-screen here. Vigilant’s character is obviously mysterious but Lee cleverly keeps him in the shadows up until the main turn of events. A certain level of suspense was gauged from a simple decision to use minimal lighting (on a side note, that’s also a complaint of mine more on that later). There’s quiet a good legend behind Sweet Hollow Road and that becomes the films focal point. I was neither here nor there on the finer points of the story, that was until I realized the intelligent reveal in the narrative which totally won me over by the end.

THE BAD

Cinematographer, Henry Zaballos’s style of close framing and hand-held camera work was a miss for me. There’s a key conversation in the car between Emily and James and it was completely shot with the focus on the actors faces, no foreground and no background, not even a wider shot of the car. The problem is that in this case the lighting isn’t prominent enough (I know it was probably intended), to make those frames stand out. They could have included some wide shots, maybe a few shots from the hood anything just to break up all the uneven moving camera stuff. Although the darkly lit approach kept James shrouded in mystery it didn’t make for the easiest viewing at 6 or 7pm (I didn’t have time to watch it really late but I recommend you do, watch it in the darkest setting possible). In Emily’s shoes I’m not sure I’d be so trusting, even with the re-assurance given to her by James. I would’ve liked to have seen her at least express some uneasiness about the situation, try an attempt to call her sister, exhaust all avenues before accepting a last resort, everything is too calm. I thought most of the delivery and acting was solid but there needed to be a heightened reaction from Emily when she discovers what she’s gotten herself into. Alice is probably just going by the script but Lee needed to write his character with much more urgency.

For a first attempt Sean Lee’s, Sweet Hollow is a short and snappy little Thriller. The performances are solid, the audio is clear, there’s some suspense conveyed through careful lighting and the clever narrative leaves a good taste in your mouth. Personally I wasn’t a fan of the camera work. I think a wider approach to three-quarters of the scenes would’ve given this a higher looking production value. The key sequence saw everything looking extremely dark and perhaps Lee could have ventured down additional paths when covering his protagonists bases and not just settled for the convenient. I’m not sure when Sweet Hollow is due out but keep your eyes peeled. It’s well worth ten minutes of your time and quick side note, Sean was a production assistant on the latest Coen brothers film “Hail, Caesar!” (trivia for ya). I look forward to seeing what he brings us next!

My rating for “Sweet Hollow” is 7/10

THE HATEFUL EIGHT

THE SETUP

Well here it is guys, the highly anticipated eighth film from the extremely original and talented Quentin Tarantino. It’s been three years since the masterpiece that was “Django Unchained” and Quentin’s brand new film “The Hateful Eight” is almost at our doorsteps. This review is based upon an online screener because the film doesn’t officially hit theaters in Australia until the 21st of January. Tarantino follows a similar path to that of Django in that once again it’s a Western shot in anamorphic 70mm rather than the conventional 35. In the same vein, the unique and descriptive writer once again blends multiple genres together. The eight grounds itself in that slow burn nature most old Westerns do, all the while introducing elements of dark comedy, historical detail and a conventional who dunnit sub plot. The Hateful Eight is set in Wyoming during one of the worst blizzards in recent history. Bounty hunter, John Ruth (played by Kurt Russell) is on his way to the town of Red Rock and chained to him is his prisoner Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Along the way the two end up crossing paths with Major Marquis Warren, an infamous bounty hunter (Samuel Jackson) and the supposed soon to be Sheriff of Red Rock, Chris Mannix (played by Walton Goggins). The four end up taking refuge at a haberdashery to avoid the intense weather conditions. Upon their arrival they realize they are going to be hole up with four other colorful characters that include Bob, the current caretaker of the establishment (Demian Bichir), Oswaldo Mobray, a hangman (Tim Roth), Joe Gage (played by Michael Madsen) and General Smithers (Bruce Dern). The film also stars James Parks, Zoe Bell and a surprise inclusion who shall remain unnamed.

THE GOOD

When you combine Tarantino’s film making experience with an estimated budget of around 45 million you get a technically impressive result. The Hateful Eight opens with a fantastic beating drum and low-end bass score by composer Ennio Morricone as the camera begins to trek the snow-covered landscape of Wyoming. Speaking of which the setting for Tarantino’s latest film is gorgeous. The Civil War has not long ended and times are tough, the weather is harsh and people are looking for ways to make a quick buck, enter our main duo. There’s a nice early mixture of wide shots and close personal camera work during the tense horse carriage ride in Part 1, that’s when things start getting cozy. As usual there’s also a few of the signature aerial shots that Tarantino uses to great effect. Most of Morricone’s score sounds good and there’s a few modern folk style songs thrown in just for good measure, personally I thought the Django Unchained soundtrack was superior though and I hoped for a little more here than I got. Courtney Hoffman is behind the unique and wonderful costume designs of each of our strangers. What would a Western be without the complimentary poncho? Not only that, you can tell everyone was feeling the cold so it’s a good thing the wardrobe consisted of a lot of wool and furs and hats. Audiences expect a certain level of violence in Tarantino’s work and it often elevates the film to even greater heights, as is the case here. It doesn’t come on as strong as his previous work but it’s as effective and impressive, especially with the use of practical blood splatter and no CG.

Quentin’s writing is always the strength of his films, he has a certain rhythm with his dialogue and he’s been doing it for over 20 years. For the most part The Hateful Eight is a tight screenplay that takes some really surprising turns. The narrative reveals important information to us all in good time and in an interesting way. Once again the same formula we all know and love is the approach in this latest venture. Separately introduced acts became a trademark of Quentin’s after “Pulp Fiction” and he’s since used them in most if not all of his films. I also like the fact that in a “man’s world”, in which almost all of his movies are set, there’s a woman somewhere at the core of the story. Think about it, if you ignore “Kill Bill” (Uma Thurman is the main character) and “Reservoir Dogs”, Mia Wallace of Pulp Fiction is pretty much Vincent Vega’s whole arc, We follow Shosanna from the beginning of IB, ultimately she is a huge part of the reason the Basterds are able to complete their mission and of course Broomhilda of Django is everyone’s end goal. Daisy Domergue is no different in The Hateful Eight. She could be deemed a secondary character but without her the film wouldn’t hold the same weight. Tarantino cleverly and subtly places strong female characters at the core of his storytelling and you’ve got to love that. Most of the comedic relief in the film works although not to the same  tune as Quentin’s other films. His last two have had some of the wittiest humor but not so much this time around. The film’s strongest element is its solid back story for just about all the key characters. The first half has plenty of exposition conveyed mostly through dialogue and you’re never really quite sure who’s being truthful about their background/motives, if anyone making for a suspenseful setup.

It’s well-known that Tarantino likes to work with the same people and when you’ve got a cast with this level of talent, Why wouldn’t you? This is very much an ensemble piece presented like a theater production. There’s some very entertaining characters and fine performances by all. Kurt Russell was recently in the Western/Horror film (some would say horror) “Bone Tomahawk”. The shooting dates for these two films must have been close together because Kurt carries that seemingly winter-worn, rugged look into The Hateful Eight. I was one of those people who didn’t love Bone Tomahawk, I thought the performances were solid but it was too slow and didn’t deliver a big enough finale to warrant sitting through the earlier 120 minutes. In the eight Russell plays a confident, take no-nonsense bounty hunter named John Ruth, who manages to carry on a great chemistry with Leigh who plays the uncultured Daisy. Tim Roth surprised me in this film and was finally able to show audiences what he can do. There was an air about him comparable with that of Dr King Shultz from Django Unchained (played by Oscar winner Christoph Waltz), it might have been the wardrobe I’m not sure. Any who, it seems Roth had more to work with here than say his role in “Pulp Fiction”, his gleeful, proper and well to do portrayal of Oswaldo is very amusing. It should come as no surprise that if there’s a standout in The Hateful Eight it’s the ever reliable Samuel L Jackson as Major Warren. Jackson has given us some of the most entertaining and memorable performances in recent times. He often goes unnoticed compared to those in the same age bracket in Hollywood but make no mistake he is a consummate professional. With his perfectly delivered dialogue and ability to balance calm and explosive to draw out suspense, is it any wonder he commands your attention with every moment on-screen.

THE BAD

This is the first time I thought Tarantino’s decision to shoot in Ultra Panavision 70 mm wasn’t warranted. Whether or not it was because a majority of the film is set in one location I don’t know, but the choice to do so didn’t enhance my viewing experience quite like I expected. I’ll use Django as an example simply because I think it’s his best film. It ended up such a rich looking, vibrant and colorful film that the style accompanied it perfectly. However, The Eight is all about its bleakness and gritty aesthetics much like most classic Westerns are. Other than the early external shots in Part 1 and 2, visually the film is claustrophobic because of the one setting and the extra width and color the 70mm supposed to expose doesn’t really magnify it. It’s a long film and when you’re trapped in the one location without much action, even with interesting dialogue and great characters/actors you can find yourself tuning out from time to time. I think it was Part 3 that lagged a bit (I’d have to watch again), with an unnecessary side plot involving a loose connection between Marcais and General Sandy Smithers. We get a brief flashback sequence and some graphic and redundant description surrounding Smithers son and Marcais. The plus was that those scenes aided in bringing on the first altercation, which doesn’t come until well over half way into the film but ultimately dragged out the running time. Without that extra plot point the film could have been cut by 20 or 30 minutes to help it flow quicker. Both Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained had me glued one hundred percent from intro to credits and that’s the sign of a truly brilliant film, Hateful Eight doesn’t quite get there.

Most of the content and in-depth passages of dialogue are needed to help establish who these people are and how each of them relates to the given situation. I’m somewhat torn because I would’ve liked to have seen a couple more flashbacks to help progress the plot, as well as briefly getting to see outside those same four walls but on the other hand the final act wouldn’t have the same power it does so it’s a tough one. I think I can deal with staying inside the cabin but the run time either needed to be slightly cut or some gun play needed introducing earlier than the 100 minute mark to save things getting partially stale. The only flaw I found in the writing was early on when John tells Marcais about the bounty on Daisy, Why? Why would you do that? Desperate times call for desperate measures, the conditions are harsh you’re trying to get paid surely you’d lie, Why would you risk it all by telling someone you’ve just met. That plot point could have been revealed after arriving at the cabin rather than in the beginning. I’ll close by saying if you head into this one expecting the usual non-stop Tarantino flare you may be disappointed. Just be ready for a slow-burn approach is all I’m saying. There’s a few throw away lines and some extra details you don’t really need to know about but other than that it’s very good story telling. Ultimately this is “Reservoir Dogs” if it were a period piece grounded in the Western genre and the last act/huge finale gave me similar vibes I had at the end of the RD.

I’ve waited a long time for this latest film from Quentin Tarantino, so I had a lot of time to build it up in my head and when you do that it’s rare it ever lives up to your expectations. It’s got all the elements we love about Tarantino’s work, a woman at the core of a man’s world, clever and informative dialogue, impressive aesthetics and a good volume of blood splatter. The performances from all the cast are great but in particular Jackson, Russell and Roth who deliver a high standard of entertainment with their representations. MVP goes to Jennifer Jason Leigh because she does cop it from all sides in this film and takes it like a trooper, well done! All that being said I do think the running time is 20-30 minutes too long and there’s a couple of sequences/sub-plots that could have been cut. It’s difficult to maintain the audience’s attention for almost three hours when you’re stuck in one location. Because of that one location the 70mm style doesn’t feel like it adds much to the equation and so I found myself falling in and out at times. As expected though Tarantino won me over with one of the best final acts in any of his films, what a hugely enjoyable finish. Hard to outdo yourself with a resume like Quentin’s so don’t be discouraged when I say that I think The Hateful Eight is missing a few pieces to the puzzle that is his best work. Saying that I still look forward to seeing this one again in cinemas on the 21st and it’s a very good film that will surely see Jackson with an Oscar nomination for best supporting Actor.

My rating for “The Hateful Eight” is 8/10