Quentin Tarantino’s eighth cinematic endeavor, “The Hateful Eight,” follows the Tarantino formula as a wintry western in the style of his most recent film “Django Unchained,” and a ‘whodunnit’ similar to his 1992 film, “Reservoir Dogs.” Through themes of vengeance and justice, motives are concealed, but true identities are soon revealed.

Beating a blizzard in a stagecoach on the way to Red Rock, Wyoming, is bounty hunter John Ruth, the ‘Hangman,’ played by Kurt Russell. Ruth has chained himself to his prisoner, fugitive Daisy Domergue, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh. They reluctantly pick up two stranded men on their journey to Red Rock where Domergue is to be hung and where Ruth will collect his bounty. Samuel L. Jackson, a Tarantino frequent flyer, plays Major Marquis Warren, a famous bounty hunter who fought as a union soldier in the recent Civil War. Ruth and Warren form an unlikely alliance as bounty hunters, and Warren joins their party. They come across Chris Mannix, played by a very animated Walton Goggins, who claims to be the new sheriff of Red Rock.

The intensity of the blizzard forces the group to stay the night at cozy Minnie’s Haberdashery, where they meet the rest of the eight men of their hateful breed: Bob, the Mexican man, played by Demián Bichir, who claims that he is watching the place while Minnie visits family; the charismatic Oswaldo Mobray, played by Tim Roth; the ‘cow puncher’ Joe Gage, played by Michael Madsen, and the old man, Confederate General Sandy Smithers, played by Bruce Dern.

This film lives up to director Tarantino’s signature formula: incisive and at times, humorous character dialogue, a theme of vengeance, violence, minority struggles, monologues, and an homage to the way film has been shot in the past.

“The Hateful Eight” was shot with antique film lenses and is being projected at select theatres in 70mm Ultra Panavision, which means that the film produced is wider and more detailed. This old-timey format allows for clearer shots. It is easy to see every pore and wrinkle on the eight’s faces as well as faraway mountain landscapes.

The plot of this film is very thick, with so many main character backstories and a lot of introduction to get through. In order to make sense of the background information on each of the hateful eight, the story moves as slowly as molasses for its nearly three hour run time. The amount of backstory and introduction takes roughly an hour to get through, but it is brilliant writing on Tarantino’s part and it helps to justify some of the character’s motives.

This film is not for the faint of heart. The violence in several scenes is best described as a fast-paced blood bath. There is a lot of gory imagery; for instance, a person’s head is completely blown off in one gunslinging moment. There are a few very loud and unexpected gunshots that are just as frightening as a jumpscare in a horror movie. As with any Tarantino film, there is a glib use of swear words about every 20 seconds, as well as racial slurs. There is one violent sexual scene that lasts only about a minute.

With as much violence and offensive language as this film has, “The Hateful Eight” gets an ‘R’ rating. Critics of the film will not like its length or pacing, or the sheer amount of violence that takes place. Yet, this film will be praised by fans of Tarantino’s work, people who enjoy suspense, western film lovers and fans of action.