Back in the day, grind houses were theaters that primarily showed B movies and exploitation films. They were known for pumping out cheesy movies in rapid succession, and they often featured the flicks as double features.
Today, though, “Grindhouse” is an excessive, modern B-movie double-feature extravaganza by directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. And that’s not a bad thing.
The first half of the double feature, Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror,” is an ultra-violent homage to the action and zombie genres of the ’60s and ’70s, starring Freddy Rodriguez, Rose McGowan and Marley Shelton, among others. Everything about the film is excessive, from constant gunshots and explosions, to uncountable wounds that gush fountains of fake blood, to numerous lingering shots on cleavage. That’s right – there’s plenty of T&A in this picture.
It starts off cheesy, and the deliberately terrible writing (and hilariously excessive use of the F-word) carries the cheese all the way to the end.
And describing “Planet Terror” without using the words hardcore or bad-ass would be a gross oversight.
If you don’t already know, McGowan’s character eventually loses her leg in the movie. How is this problem solved? By attaching a gun to her leg, of course. She spends the rest of the movie taking out zombies with her gun-leg in pretty creative ways. Only one word can describe that: badass. Also, since “Planet Terror” is meant as an awesomely bad zombie/action movie, things constantly blow up for no reason, and infected zombies repeatedly rip people apart. One word: hardcore.
Trust me. The plot really doesn’t matter. All that matters is that “Planet Terror” is a fun-as-hell thrill-ride of blood, guts, death, destruction and, of course, a little bit of sex. This film is excessive in every sense.
Serving as an intermission between the double feature’s two films is a set of fake movie trailers directed by Rob Zombie, Eli Roth and Edgar Wright. Don’t leave the theater during the intermission unless absolutely necessary; the trailers are just too funny to miss. Roth’s preview for a fake slasher film called “Thanksgiving” crosses the line on several occasions, but that shouldn’t be anything new to his fans.
Next comes Tarantino’s half of “Grindhouse,” which, sadly, kills the momentum from Rodriguez’s gore-fest.
“Death Proof,” starring Kurt Russell , starts off boring and dialogue-driven, but eventually becomes a fast-paced death match as Russell’s character, Stuntman Mike, hunts down pretty women to kill in his “death-proof” stunt car.
Sound misogynistic? It’s not. The women are really the stars of “Death Proof,” as well as “Planet Terror,” as evident by the casting of McGowan, Rosario Dawson and Zoe Bell, among others, as the female leads. All the “Grindhouse” women are just as capable at dealing out the pain as they are at taking it. Bell is famous as Uma Thurman’s stunt double in “Kill Bill,” so you know she’s gonna take a beating and kick some ass while doing it. And she does. The women of “Death Proof” get their revenge on Russell’s Stuntman Mike, and a sweet revenge it is. There’s something particularly funny about seeing Russell cry pitifully for mercy.
“Death Proof” has a little bit of gore, but has nothing compared to “Planet Terror.” Instead, the film focuses on the fast-paced car chases between Stuntman Mike and his unwilling victims.
First, though, viewers have to sit through a lengthy chunk of mostly unnecessary dialogue. At first, the switch from the violence of “Planet Terror” to the lip-flapping of “Death Proof” makes it seem like sitting through a three-hour double feature just might be difficult to do.
Thankfully, however, the interaction between the characters of “Death Proof” is fairly interesting. Curse words, a Tarantino staple, are in bountiful supply here, and the characters mostly discuss sex and related issues. Who doesn’t like talking about and hearing about sex? Also, Tarantino doesn’t wait too long to kick the action into gear, and the fun will end before you’re ready for it to stop.
You’ll laugh. You’ll cringe. You’ll have a good time. But you will most definitely not cry or learn anything important. When it comes down to it, though, who cares? If you’re going into the “Grindhouse” experience expecting to learn anything, you shouldn’t be seeing the film in the first place.
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