These are the classic shows and movies that helped inspire the brutal Western thriller.

Quentin Tarantino’s Hateful Eight inspirations

These are the classic shows and movies that helped inspire the brutal Western thriller.

By Keith Staskiewicz

December 25, 2025 8:30 a.m. ET

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Tim Roth as Oswaldo Mobray, Kurt Russell as John 'the Hangman' Ruth, and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Daisy Domergue in 'The Hateful Eight'. Credit:

Andrew Cooper/The Weinstein Company

Quentin Tarantino is known for paying homage to the movies and shows he watched as a budding cinephile, with references galore packed into each of his films. One of the more common threads running through his work is his love of old-school Westerns, as seen prominently with his take on the spaghetti Western in 2012's *Django Unchained* and his nostalgic tribute to a fading Western star in 2019's *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*.

Then there's *The Hateful Eight* (2015), a grisly Western about strangers traveling by stagecoach through a blizzard in post–Civil War Wyoming. Their perilous journey takes them to a cabin where all hell soon breaks loose, as Tarantino mashes up various genres, from classic Westerns to claustrophobic thrillers. The film netted strong reviews and earned three Oscar nominations, including a win for legendary composer Ennio Morricone.

With *The Hateful Eight* now celebrating its 10th anniversary on Dec. 25, we're looking at the films and shows that inspired Tarantino in crafting this brutal saga.**

Rio Bravo (1959)

Ricky Nelson as Colorado Ryan and John Wayne as John T. Chance in 'Rio Bravo'. Archive Photos/Getty Images

Tarantino has previously cited Howard Hawks' John Wayne Western and "hangout movie" as his favorite film, and while the tone of *The Hateful Eight* is less us-against-them and more us-against-us, the classic remains a tangential influence.

Bonanza (1959–1973)

Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright, Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, and Dan Blocker as Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright on 'Bonanza'. United Archives/ullstein bild via Getty Image

This television Western was a lot more than just its iconic theme song. Tarantino previously styled his main character's look in *Django Unchained* (2012) after that of Michael Landon's Little Joe, but for *The Hateful Eight*, he wasn't looking at the heroes. He was looking instead at the characters played by guest stars like Charles Bronson or Vic Morrow, whose motivations wouldn't be known until midway through the episode.

"I always liked those characters. So I thought, 'What if I did a story that was made up of nothing but those characters?'" says Tarantino. "So there's no good guys. There's no Little Joe."

The High Chaparral (1967–1971)

Cameron Mitchell as Buck Cannon, Henry Darrow in Manolito Montoya, and Leif Erickson as Big John Cannon on ‘The High Chaparral’. United Archives/ullstein bild via Getty Images

Another oater from the creator of *Bonanza*, this four-season series was a Tarantino favorite when he was younger and it served as another TV inspiration for *The Hateful Eight*.

It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

Buddy Hackett as Benjy Benjamin and Mickey Rooney as Ding Bell in 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'. Everett Collection

You might not think that the contentedly bloated 1963 comedy epic has anything in common with *The Hateful Eight* other than an eye-popping cast, but both films were actually filmed with the same lenses. Cinematographer Robert Richardson found the lenses in the Panavision vaults while looking into shooting the project on 70mm film. They, along with some of the cameras, had also been used on *Ben-Hur* (1959), *Mutiny on the Bounty* (1962), and *Khartoum *(1966).

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Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink, Chris Penn as Nice Guy Eddie, and Harvey Keitel as Mr. White in ‘Reservoir Dogs'.

Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection

All of Tarantino's movies contain nods of varying vigor to the other films in his oeuvre, but *The Hateful Eight* resembles none so much as *Reservoir Dogs*, with its cast of shifty characters trapped in one location (a cast that includes former *Dogs* Tim Roth and Michael Madsen). Even Tarantino notes the similarities: "A bunch of guys who can't trust each other," he says. "I mean, that wasn't a marching order when I sat down to write the script, but pretty quickly I realized this is kind of coming full circle."

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Steve McQueen as Vin Tanner in 'The Magnificent Seven'. Courtesy of the Everett Collection

*The Hateful Eight*'s title pays homage — or at least a wink — to John Sturges' adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's *Seven Samurai* (1954), though the enumerated characters of Tarantino’s film are far less selfless.

The Thing (1982)

Kurt Russell as R.J. MacReady in 'The Thing'. Universal/Everett

Tarantino screened John Carpenter's Arctic horror thriller for his cast so that they could see a good snowbound film and prepare for their own subzero experience. The film also features three of composer Ennio Morricone's unused tracks from *The Thing* in the score.

The Virginian (1962–1971)

Gary Clarke as Steve Hill and James Drury as the Virginian on 'The Virginian'. Courtesy Everett Collection

Add *The Virginian* to the pile of long-running TV Westerns that helped inspire the basic idea behind the film. "At least four times a season on *The Virginian*, or any of these shows, some bad guys would show up at the Ponderosa or Shiloh Ranch and take it over, and then they had this hostage situation," says Tarantino. "Now, ours isn't exactly a hostage movie, but you get the idea."

Also worth noting: Executive producer Charles Marquis Warren, who also created the series *Rawhide* and adapted *Gunsmoke* to television, is undoubtedly the basis of the name of Samuel L. Jackson's character, Maj. Marquis Warren.

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Source: “EW Quentin”