8 Makes Hate. Remember that, because you’re going to be reading that tagline an awful lot in the coming months. The trailer for the as-yet-unmade Quentin Tarantino western The Hateful Eight, which was supposed to be seen only by audiences willing to hand over money to suffer through Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, has been leaked online.
The trailer outlines the bare bones of the film’s plot: eight strangers stranded by a blizzard discover “they shared a deadly connection.” Against a snowy backdrop and much fake blood effects, the eight characters are introduced with graphics depicting iconic western images (cowboy on horse, sheriff’s badge, noose). It looks as if the film will be Tarantino’s patented blend of pop culture references and popcorn genre junk disguised as homage. With Iggy Pop and The Stooges screaming “Gimme Danger” on the soundtrack, we see a collection of western stereotypes: The Bounty Hunter; The Hangman; The Prisoner; The Sheriff; The Mexican; The Little Man; The Cow Puncher; The Confederate. Tarantino has evidently not lost his sense of humor, or hubris: the trailer ends with a reminder that he is an Academy Award winner and that in a nod to the olden days it will be filmed “in glorious 70mm” (super cinemascope).
