Grindhouse is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Tarantino/Rodriguez fans

Rating: 9/10 (14 April 2007)

Wow! Grindhouse is one of the most awesome movie theatre experiences in my life of 39 years! This Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez joint effort is the closest I'll ever come to what it was like to see a double feature from the '70s of exploitation movie fare. The first thing shown is a bogus trailer for something called Machete, a revenge flick about an assassin turning back on his employers after one of them betrays his trust in a surprise shooting. Cheech Marin has an amusing appearance as a priest. "They've (f-word) the wrong Mexican", indeed! Oh, and it has an X rating (what NC-17 was then). Then just after the rainbow-colored '70s "Our Feature Presentation" intro with the funky music (boy, does that bring back childhood memories!), Rose McGowan-looking all hot in her stripper (or go-go) outfit-dances oh so sexily during the opening credits for Planet Terror. Also appearing are Freddy Rodriguez, Bruce Willis, Naveen Andrews, Michael Biehn, Marley Shelton, and Stacy Ferguson, better known as Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas. Robert Rodriguez doesn't stint on the gore but many of it looks so fabulously over-the-top entertaining that you can't help but be highly awestruck by it all. Of course, there had to be a missing reel for the sex scene! Oh well, maybe it will be on the DVD! Next, come three "Prevues of Coming Attractions" (There's that funky music with the psychedelic rainbow colors again!) First, is Werewolf Women of the S.S. with Sybil Danning and Nicholas Cage as a Kung Fu master. Talk about a politically incorrect portrayal of a white playing an Asian! Then comes Don't, a promo for a haunted house horror movie so common during the '70s. Next, is Thanksgiving, a parody of various holiday slasher offerings from the '80s (Halloween, Mother's Day, April Fools' Day, My Bloody Valentine, Silent Night, Deadly Night and let's not forget, Friday the 13th and its sequels...) See the parade turkey get beheaded! See that topless cheerleader get knifed in the anus! (this scene got heavily edited for the MPAA) Perhaps the most sick and hilarious fake trailer there was! Finally, after a cartoon cougar morphed into a Restricted title card, we have Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (though there is another title that appears briefly before DP crudely appears on a black card). Like many Tarantino movies, this one has many conversations about various pop culture references like the movie Vanishing Point which heavily influenced this movie. Kurt Russell plays Stuntman Mike who likes to kill women either in or with his car. Among some of his victims are Sydney Tamiia Poitier and a blond Rose McGowan. Marley Shelton plays the same character she played in Planet Terror. Then there's a group of stunt women that includes Rosario Dawson and the double for Uma Thurman in the Kill Bill movies, Zoe Bell. The Tarantino dialogue can get a little monotonous here but it's worth it to see the climatic car chase that takes one's breath away. I especially loved the point-of-view shot of Zoe's from the hood of the car. So, in summation, Grindhouse is one of the most exhilarating experiences I've ever had in a movie theater short of actually experiencing a real grindhouse or drive-in. Loved the fake splices and scratches of most of Planet Terror, the previews, and some of Death Proof. Dig Rodriguez's score in his movie and Tarantino's choice of vintage songs in his. Well worth it to experience Grindhouse in a theatre near you! Oh, and Quentin does fine cameos in both movies.