This is classic Tarantino in all ways. I've seen many of his 9 movies, and if you've seen one, you know what's coming: violence on steroids. But in this one, he holds back until the ending--and that is Tarantino doing his Tarantino thing.
By no means is this perfect movie. It has no real plot, and some long scenes were simply pointless. Not bad, mind you, just pointless.
But Tarantino's genius is to be compelling and fascinating, and the acting is always incredibly impressive. As a director he gets more than the best out of everyone. So while this movie is thin on plot, and is self-indulgent in certain scenes, it is a tour-de-force in many ways.
It helps if you are familiar with the story of the Manson murders, because you then know who's who, but not required.
This is not one of his better movies. Hateful Eight was superior, as was Inglorious Basterds, because they actually had plots. But it's classic Tarantino, and that's not a bad thing.