Quentin Tarantino may only have one more movie left in him, as he’s made it pretty clear that he’s wrapping things up after his 10th movie is complete. But what will that 10th movie be? His rated “R” take on Star Trek, perhaps? Or maybe the long-awaited Kill Bill: Volume 3?
How about a horror movie? Tarantino has dabbled in the horror genre in the past, most overtly with his contribution to Grindhouse, Death Proof – that’s of course not counting From Dusk Till Dawn, which Tarantino wrote and starred in but did not direct. Granted, Death Proof is perhaps more exploitation-action than it is straight-up horror, but with a handful of gnarly kills – the gruesome car wreck that obliterates the first group of characters is pure slasher movie insanity – and Kurt Russell at the center as a murderous stuntman, we feel pretty comfortable considering Death Proof the closest Tarantino has come to making a horror film.
And then there’s of course The Hateful Eight, Tarantino’s #8. Like most of his films, The Hateful Eight spills more blood than most horror movies do, and the central premise is not all that different from John Carpenter’s The Thing: a group of a men trapped in a single location by a snowstorm, with heaping helpings of paranoia on the menu. The Hateful Eight, it’s worth noting, even puts to good use some unused bits of Ennio Morricone’s score for the Carpenter film, further establishing that it’s Tarantino’s The Thing…only without the monsters.
But will Tarantino’s career come to end up without a full-on, downright scary horror film under his belt? We’re thinking, sadly, that’s probably likely. But for what it’s worth, Tarantino made it pretty clear a few years back that if nothing more, he’d *like* to make a horror movie.
Tarantino told Time Out in late 2015, “If I had all the time in the world, I would love to make a really, really scary horror film, like The Exorcist. But I don’t know if me taking my sense of humor and putting it in the backseat just to hit a tone of dread from beginning to end is the best use of my talents or my time. I don’t know if I could let go of that humor and be able to make something like The Exorcist and keep that tone of dread all the way through.”
It’s this very quote that I couldn’t help but think about while watching Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. There’s one particular sequence meant to establish a connection between Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth and the sinister Manson Family, while also introducing us to some of the characters who come into play for the film’s insane final act. Booth pays a visit to his old friend George Spahn at the Spahn Ranch, the place the Manson Family calls home. Booth himself has a history with George and the ranch, having filmed “Bounty Law” there years prior as Rick Dalton’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) stunt double.
Booth suspects something isn’t quite right about the place, and the people who inhabit the Western movie ranch, and he wants to make sure George Spahn is not being taken advantage of. And so, while the Family watches on, Booth barges his way into George’s house on the property, wherein he meets infamous real-life Manson Family member Squeaky Fromme, played by Dakota Fanning. It’s at this point that we begin to wonder if the gang has possibly killed George Spahn and taken over the ranch, and Tarantino ratchets up the tension for a suspenseful, drawn out sequence that seems likely to end in a whole lot of trouble for Cliff.
A feeling of extreme dread fills the air during this sequence in particular, as Tarantino escorts Cliff through the house with what can only be described as a “horror movie score.” The house is filthy, with dirty dishes piled up in the sink, flies buzzing around and even a still-alive rat stuck in a trap. We have no idea if Cliff is going to find George Spahn dead or alive, or if the Manson Family watching on from outside is going to strike and make Cliff their next victim. After all, even if Tarantino hasn’t yet established them to be murderous by this point, we know they are.
As close as he’s come, it starts to feel like Tarantino’s Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Ultimately, the sequence ends with Cliff discovering that George is very much still alive, even if his old friend is no doubt being taken advantage of. Bucking expectations, nothing outright horrifying actually happens during the suspenseful Spahn Ranch sequence, but it’s nevertheless one of Tarantino’s most tense sequences to date. Remember that interview from 2015, where Tarantino expressed that he was unsure if he could “hit a tone of dread” that lasts across an entire movie? Well in this particular sequence, he damn sure does just that.
Of course, Tarantino’s concern is that his style perhaps doesn’t allow for that sort of tension long term, and the Spahn Ranch sequence is only a tiny portion of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood‘s nearly 3-hour runtime. But it’s great to see Tarantino playing with the sort of tension, dread and suspense you often only find in horror, if only for a little while.
The sequence helped scratch an itch, but now we’re just hungry for more.
