Quentin Tarantino’s Forgotten Movie Is Worth Watching This Weekend

If you’re looking for something to watch this weekend, look no further than Four Rooms – the oft-forgotten movie that secretly brought Quentin Tarantino and Bruce Willis back together one year after Pulp Fiction.

Released in 1995, Four Rooms follows Tim Roth’s sleazy bellhop on New Year’s Eve, as he encounters four sets of guests, each caught up in their own bizarre stories.

What makes the movie special – and so often forgotten in round-ups of Tarantino’s work – is that each of its four segments has a different director and writer. Allison Anders wrote and directed ‘The Missing Ingredient’, Alexandre Rockwell ‘The Wrong Man’, Tarantino-collaborator Robert Rodriguez contributes ‘The Misbehavers’, and only ‘The Man from Hollywood’ is written and direct by Tarantino.

What Happens in Tarantino’s Four Rooms Movie Segment

In ‘The Man from Hollywood’, the bell hop encounters four gamblers, played by Tarantino, Willis, Jennifer Beals and Paul Calderón. The four pay Tim Roth’s character to sit and listen to an outrageous proposal.

One gambler, Norman, is willing to bet that he can light his lighter ten times in a row without a failure. Tarantino’s gambler has taken the bet, but wants to cut off his friend’s finger if he loses. He argues that he doesn’t want his friend to lose his finger, and plans to ferry him to the hospital the moment it’s off.

The group want Roth’s character to actually cut off Norman’s finger if he loses, to avoid any hesitation or bad blood between the friends. The story has all Tarantino’s signature features, including sizzling tension, smart dialogue and heapings of profanity. We won’t spoil how it ends here, since we’re encouraging you to watch it.

Why Bruce Willis Went Uncredited in Four Rooms

What makes this a ‘secret’ collaboration is that Bruce Willis wasn’t credited for his performance. Willis reportedly played his role for no fee as a favor to Tarantino, with the two having grown close prior to working together on Pulp Fiction. Willis was only asked to film for two days, placing a minimum amount of inconvenience on the actor.

Reportedly, Willis goes uncredited because working for free put the film in violation of the Screen Actors Guild union rules, and neither actor nor director wanted to risk any legal blowback for the move.

Yes, 1995’s Four Rooms Is Quentin Tarantino’s Forgotten Tenth Movie

Tarantino fans may be shocked to learn about the existence of Four Rooms since Tarantino has very publicly stated he plans to retire after ten movies, and this (if you count Kill Bill as one film) would mean he’s written and directed ten. However, given he only handles a quarter of the film, Tarantino doesn’t seem to consider it part of his vow.​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​How Tarantino’s Short Diverges from Roald Dahl’s Short Story

Dahl’s Story Includes a Surprise Twist Ending

While ‘The Man from Hollywood’ is based on Roald Dahl’s short story ‘The Man from the South’ (aka ‘Collector’s Item’), it actually skips the short story’s twist ending. The story begins much the same – the narrator acts as referee between an eccentric older man named Carlos and a naval cadet who boasts about his skills with a cigarette lighter.

However, the story ends with a shock twist when a strange woman bursts into the room and calls a stop to the bet. She reveals herself to be Carlos’ carer, and that he is a deeply disturbed man who doesn’t have a penny to his name – the car he offered to the cadet is actually the woman’s.

The woman explains that Carlos lost his fortune playing the game, and even had to flee his home country because he maimed so many people. When the narrator passes her the car keys, nullifying the bet, he notices that she’s missing three fingers, implying that she played Carlos’ game multiple times and was the person who finally beat him for good.

The short story was adapted by both Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Tales of the Unexpected, with Four Rooms actually referencing the Hitchcock version. The movie misnames it as ‘The Man from Rio’, but rightly references the key actors Peter Lorre and Steve McQueen, with Tyler McVey as the referee.

Are Four Rooms’ Non-Tarantino Segments Worth Watching?

​​​​​​​Four Rooms was a flop on its release, despite praise for Tarantino’s segment. Today, it sits at a 13% critic score (rotten) and a 69% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

So, should you actually watch it? First off, you should watch Four Rooms just for Tarantino’s segment. You don’t need to know anything about the rest of the film, and can treat it as simply a short film by one of cinema’s most celebrated masters. Tarantino’s segment starts at approximately one hour twenty.

However, if you feel like a feature-length watch, Four Rooms has a lot to offer. After ‘The Man from Hollywood’, the third segment ‘The Misbehavers’ is the next best, and likewise worth your time. It’s a dark slapstick where a dead body is discovered in a guest’s room, and stars Antonio Banderas, Tamlyn Tomita and Salma Hayek. If you’re a fan of Tarantino, you likely already know Rodriguez’s work and whether it’s for you.

Compared to the latter half of the movie, the first two segments aren’t nearly as good, but they take far bigger swings. The first (‘The Missing Ingredient’) stars a trio of witches, while the second (‘The Wrong Man’) sees Roth’s bellhop threatened by a man who may intend to kill him, or may be playing out a kinky scenario.

Neither are fantastic, but they’re both ambitious, short, and help emphasize the bizarre night that Roth’s bellhop is dealing with. And if you’re a fan of cinema, it’s fascinating to see how multiple acclaimed directors attempt to work together – both in how they succeed and how they fail.

Where to Watch Four Rooms Now

If you want to check out Four Rooms – whether the whole anthology movie or just Quentin Tarantino and Bruce Willis’ segment – you can find it in a number of places. It’s currently streaming for free on Pluto TV, and can be purchased via YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, the Apple TV Store, Google Play, Fandango at Home, and Spectrum on Demand.

The film has also appeared sporadically on Netflix, so if you’re reading this after April 2026, that’s also worth checking out. If you’re only interested in Tarantino and Willis’ scene, then it’s worth checking social media sites like Youtube, where clips cover the majority of the scene.

Four Rooms isn’t perfect, but it’s a truly unique movie containing a largely unknown collaboration between Quentin Tarantino and Bruce Willis that any fan of Reservoir Dogs or The Hateful Eight needs to see.

Birthdate

March 27, 1963

Birthplace

Knoxville, Tennessee, United States

Height

6 feet 1 inch

Professions

Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Actor, Author