The movie is a giant homage to certain kinds of films from the 70s and 80s. These films were usually very low budget and exploited sex and violence in very interesting ways. These films usually didn’t have wide releases, but ended up in run-down theaters on their last leg.
I was not around to see these kinds of films during their theatrical runs, so I never actually got the Grindhouse experience. However; around middle school and early high school, these low-budget exploitation films were the ones that caught my attention.
Tarantino and Rodriguez attempt to give you the Grindhouse experience with this “Back-to-Back Double Feature.”
The Grindhouse Experience
Machete Trailer
Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo stars in Machete. It’s rumored that this might actually become a movie, and I hope it does. Machete is the name of the man who fights for the little man in this very fun looking movie.
Feature #1: Planet Terror
Written and Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
A business deal with ex-military men goes awry and a deadly drug agent escapes into the air around a small
The Review:
Planet Terror was an adrenaline packed rollercoaster with not-so-mindless action and decent dialogue. It was over-the-top. It may have even gotten corny at parts, but that was part of the experience.
This movie started off fairly complex. We have a few different stories. Cherry quits dancing to start a new life. She runs into El Wray, an ex-boyfriend. She also loses her leg to some zombies and Wray takes her to the hospital, to be in the care of Dr. William Block, Dr. Dakota Block’s husband that she was running away from. There is also tension between Wray and the Sheriff, as well as tension between the Sheriff and his brother J.T. who runs the local BBQ restaurant. Oh… and zombies are running around eating people.
Quick Sidebar: Michael Parks is in this movie… as Earl McGraw. If you were unaware, that was the character he has played in both Kill Bill Volume 2 (directed by Quentin Tarantino) and From Dusk Till Dawn (another Tarantino/Rodriguez collaboration).
We have all of these stories flying around, and then we get a missing reel… after which, all of the problems are solved, some people ended up dead, and we have all of the survivors now gathered in one place. Pretty convenient… wouldn’t you say?
It turns out that Wray is some sort of legend with weapons, and he and Cherry had now rekindled their love. They lead the survivors out of town, but they are soon captured by the ex-military. From here, the survivors must break out of the military base before either the military officers of the zombies kill them. It’s simply a classic standoff. It’s excellent.
This movie was just simply fun. It completely felt like old horror films I used to watch at 2 am. Usually… these movies were considered “so good they’re bad.” I don’t necessarily believe in this concept. If a combination of film elements that usually present a bad movie end up pleasing, then the film itself becomes pleasing and rises above these attributes. Planet Terror played with this concept and purposely played to the people who enjoyed these types of movies.
Rating: 8.5/10
Werewolf Women of the S.S. Trailer
This is the Rob Zombie directed trailer starring Nicholas Cage. Nazis and werewolves… sign me up.
Don’t Trailer
This is the one directed by Shaun of the Dead helmer Edgar Wright. It’s a very strange mix of images, but very cool. Notice how no one talks except for the narrator. This was done because the film was British. Films from the Grindhouse era usually didn’t have people speak in the trailers for foreign films.
Thanksgiving Trailer
This was probably my favorite trailer. This is the one directed by Hostel director Eli Roth. After seeing this trailer online, I actually looked for it in the video store a couple of times before I remembered that it was fake.
Feature #2: Death Proof
Written and Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson, Sydney Poitier, Vanessa Ferlito
The Set-Up:
Stuntman Mike owns a car that is “100% Death Proof.” He picks out women to stalk and kill with his car.
The Review:
This is where the film slows down. Planet Terror was very fast-paced. Death Proof is not. Tarantino is somewhat known for his strange use of structure in film. This one does not time shift like the others, but it does have a strange structure.
First, we get to meet a group of girls. Then, Stuntman Mike kills them. Then, we meet another group of girls. Then, they stand-off against Stuntman Mike. It makes a little bit of sense, but it seems to be lost on some people. I wasn’t in love with it myself, but it was different and interesting. I went with it.
The first group of girls that we meet are Jungle Julia (Poitier) and her friends. They hang out at an
The second group of girls are in the film industry. Zoe Bell (the actual
I dug this film, but I see where it would be lost on some people. I wasn’t in love with some of the elements myself. The tone of the movie drastically changed between the groups of girls. I would almost consider this one of its saving graces, because each half of the movie actually moves fairly slowly. Because of the structure, it might be considered somewhat experimental (like most Grindhouse films), but it could also be considered a somewhat broken movie.
Rating: 7.5/10
The entire thing is a bit self-indulgent. Same actors are used. Tarantino not only appears in Rodriguez's film, but also his own. And some of Tarantino's dialogue comes off a bit pretentious.
It's over-the-top, and maybe too violent for some.
However; I enjoyed the over-the-topness of it all. I also found the film to be a little less violent than a lot of the movies I used to watch. The experience was fun and sexy. I really really enjoyed myself.
Overall Experience: 8/10
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