The story takes place outside of Red Rock Wyoming, post Civil War. During a blizzard 9 people are held up at Minnie's Haberdashery, a stage coach stop. The people there are in natural conflict with each other as they fought on both sides of the Civil War.

Without ruining the plot, the 9 characters are:

1) Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) is a bounty hunter. He was three dead people with him. He fought in the Civil War and has a reputation among southerners who placed a bounty on him. He carries with him a personal letter from Abraham Lincoln. Everyone distrusts him because he is black...or that other word they use. 2) John "the hangman" Ruth (Kurt Russell) is another bounty hunter. He has with him a live $10,000 bounty and is paranoid about people wanting to take her. 3) Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is the bounty. She is very unlady like and frequently gets punched in the mouth. 4) Sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) is the son of a southern raider. He claims he is on his way to Red Rock to be its new sheriff. No one believes him either. 5) Bob (Demian Bichir) is a Mexican who cares for Minnie's Haberdashery while Minnie is away visiting her mom. Warren distrusts him from the start. 6) Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth) is a nice cultured Brit on his way to Red Rock to be the hangman. 7) Joe Gage (Michael Madsen) is a cowpoke trying to get back home. Pretty much keeps to himself. 8) General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern) is a confederate general known to Major Warren. He tries to be quiet. He is in Wyoming to create a grave marker for his missing son, presumed dead. 9) OB Jackson (James Parks) is the stage coach driver and most likely is not part of the titled 8, but he is there anyway.

This is typical Quentin Tarantino. The film is filled with blood, killing, twists, flashback, dark humor, and even a mystery with clues. Agatha Christie lives on and is rolling over in her grave.

Guide- F-bomb, N-word. FF male nudity. Brief MM sex.

The main sensation that one comes away with having watched THE HATEFUL EIGHT, Quentin Tarantino's newest film, is a sense of disappointment. It's not that this is a particularly poor film - it's far better than DEATH PROOF, for example - it's just that it's so, well, average. Tarantino is capable of so much more and you won't find it here. THE HATEFUL EIGHT is an Agatha Christie-style mystery set inside a snowy cabin with a blizzard going on outside and a cast of suspicious characters inside.

The story sounds interesting and it is. The best thing about it is Tarantino's direction, which is still second to none and really the only reason to keep watching through some of the worst moments. The worst thing about it is Tarantino's own script, which really needed the services of an editor to turn it into something workable. The whole first hour and a half of this movie is a deathly dull set-up in which very little happens and long stretches of boredom threaten to send the viewer to sleep.

I appreciate that Tarantino likes the slow burner, but slow burners need suspense and in that respect THE HATEFUL EIGHT falls far behind similar moments in RESERVOIR DOGS or INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. Not only do we have to wait around forever once we get to the cabin, but there's that whole extra first half an hour on the stage coach which is quite ridiculous. Another big problem is a whole half-hour sub-plot involving Bruce Dern's extraneous character which culminates in a crude sexual joke that seems to have been written by Tarantino in the mindset of a teenage boy. All that effort, all that money, and this is the best he can do? Not only that, but it has no relation to the main plot of the film and needed excising, along with Dern himself.

Still, there are flashes of the old Tarantino magic here, and the last part of the film, in which things actually start happening and the cast start dying, is good stuff, reminiscent of RESERVOIR DOGS at its best. There are lots of surprisingly gruesome special effects which seem to have been inspired by those in the EVIL DEAD remake and turn this into a horror film in places. Tarantino has also assembled some great actors including Kurt Russell and Samuel L. Jackson, the latter of whom gives a fine performance which is the best in the movie. It's also good to have Tim Roth and Michael Madsen back from the old days. Jennifer Jason Leigh has a difficult part but comes across well and it's only minor performers like the awkward Zoe Ball who disappoint. Kudos too to Walton Goggins, finally excelling in a main role after years and years of bit parts and minor work.

After the war, O.B. is driving a stagecoach to Red Rock, Wyoming carrying bounty hunter John 'Hangman' Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his $10k quarry Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). They stop for Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) who is stuck in the middle of nowhere with his three dead bounties. Next, the group picks up Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) who claims to be the new sheriff in Red Rock. Warreb and Mannix clash over their separate war exploits. The group seeks shelter from a snow storm at Minnie's Haberdashery. Minnie and Sweet Dave are gone and Bob (Demián Bichir) claims to be in charge. There are passengers from an earlier coach. Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth) is the hangman going to Red Rock. Joe Gage (Michael Madsen) is a cowboy. General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern) is a former confederate.

This is actually more like an Agatha Christie movie except Quentin Tarantino has his own special blood-splattering foul-mouthed ways to resolve the mystery. He orchestrates his type of murder mystery in a room. I would like Samuel L. Jackson to take more control as the protagonist. He should the character through which the audience sees the story. The other minor adjustment for me is a smaller cabin and more claustrophobic setting. This is definitely not for everybody. It is more like a violent, bloody stage play. Tarantino fans should not be disappointed.