Double Feature! Double Action! Double Cheese!

Rating: 8/10 (28 March 2007)

Bad editing. Cheesy dialogue. Gratuitous violence. Missing reels. These elements are hardly found in a major Hollywood blockbuster. But they are the elements that make up "Grindhouse", the new double feature film from maverick directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Grindhouse-genre movies are cheaply made films that often contain gargantuan amounts of violence and sex with acting that most likely won't win an Oscar. In Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" and Tarantino's "Death Proof", the directors utilize all the components of their beloved genre and turn it into an in-your-face, never-back-down, thrill ride. In the hands of Rodriguez and Tarantino, even something made to horrible can turn out good.
In "Planet Terror", a military general (Bruce Willis) attempts to buy a new form of biological weapons. After the deal goes sour, the scientist (Naveen Andrews) releases the disease that turns anyone who comes into contact with it a zombie. A small band of survivors including trucker El Wray (Freddy Rodriguez) and go-go dancer Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan), fight through the night to get back to the military base where the antidote lies. If they don't get there in time the world is doomed.
"Death Proof" introduces us to Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), a psychotic driver who hunts down innocent women and kills them with his protective car. His latest target: a group of vacationing movie crew workers (Rosario Dawson, Zoe Bell, Tracie Thomas, Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Stalking his prey, Stuntman Mike attacks with relentless aggression. But in these girls, he may have met his match.
"Planet Terror" is Rodriguez's most full force film to date. Once the action starts, he never backs down. Each scene is filled with traditional grindhouse over-the-top explosions and gore. Audiences will experience every head explosion, every open head wound, and every gunshot wound. One of the main points of a grindhouse movie is its grainy quality and bad editing effects. Rodriguez uses these effects brilliantly to achieve the grindhouse feel. The film if filled with scratchy sequences and "missing reels" that cut off at just the wrong time. (Yes, the wrong time.) Rodriguez gives the audience exactly what they would expect from such a film and delivers perfectly.
Tarantino tries his hand at a new brand of action: the car chase. The director excitingly captures every angle of this sequence. He shows the extreme fear of the victims being perused, the sick excitement of Stuntman Mike, and the high velocity impact of the crashes. Though he does incorporate the grindhouse devices, he doesn't quite accomplish it as well as Rodriguez. "Death Proof" is not as grainy as "Planet Terror" but is still provides plenty of over-the-top action. Fans of the Tarantino dialogue may also be disappointed to find there are not any profound thoughts on hamburgers or comics in this film. The director's script gives more a little more background to the characters than "Planet Terror" but does not seem to move fast enough for this style of film.
While the cast may not win Oscars for their performances, they do the job well for this style of film. As El Wray Freddy Rodriguez plays the B-movie action hero to the tilt. He has great delivery on his quips and comebacks while slicing up zombies at the same time. Rodriguez also possesses the heroic scowl. This feature gives him the ideal look of an action hero and he does not let it up throughout the film. Rose McGowan is very good as Cherry Darling. With the limited storyline, she does pulls off the polarity of a troubled soul and combative heroine. Like Rodriguez, she can also pull off the quips but tells her story with her eyes rather than a scowl. Kurt Russell is a terrific mix of smooth customer and evil hilarity. He can turn on the charm and pick up women before immediately shifting gears to a homicidal maniac. Like his "Planet Terror" counterparts, Russell's facial features tell a story. He has great maniacal smile that shows he likes killing for no other reason than the pure pleasure of it. Though the women perform well enough in "Death Proof", it is a very daring stunt performance by Zoe Bell steals the show. Tarantino keeps the camera on her always to show this authenticity and audiences will be glued to their seats in anticipation.
Will "Gridhouse" bring back the return of the genre? It doesn't seem too likely. The continual choppiness effect can get annoying if this were to continue long-term. However, the directors do deliver what they promise: tremendous amounts of hardcore violence with a side order of sleaze. They go out of their way to bring back the experience of the grindhouse movies they grew up with and introduce the genre to a new generation of movie-goers. This includes the fake trailers from Rob Zombie and Eli Roth who also don't hold back anything in their contributions. The grindhouse genre may not continue but Rodriguez and Tarantino (as always) have left their mark in the field.
GRINDHOUSE: B+
Separately: PLANET TERROR: A-, DEATH PROOF: B+