"Tonight, is a special night."

Rating: 8/10 (11 April 2007)

Relentlessly outrageous and always over the top, "Grindhouse" is not a film for the masses, but if you go in knowing what to expect, this is one blast of a thrill ride start to finish. As a tribute to the sexploitation films of the Seventies, the movie is wildly successful in recreating the drive in movie experience of that era, complete with scratchy picture, missing reels and tons of gratuitous anatomical shots, if you know what I mean. Gory and violent too, to the point of squeamish if you have a weak stomach, but even then, it's in an effort to outdo itself in scene after scene.
Now for the life of me, I couldn't really tell you what "Planet Terror" was supposed to be about. It's got mini scenarios about a feuding husband/wife doctor duo, a reuniting of former lovers (Rose McGowan and Freddy Rodriguez), and lots of zombies. Bruce Willis turns up, but I can't say if he was a good guy or a bad guy. Lots of zombies too. There's so much going on, and one gets so mesmerized by Rose McGowan's amputated leg replaced by a stick and a machine gun that your rational mind has a little trouble keeping up with the sensory overload. Not to mention the zombies.
The "Death Proof" segment is a bit more straightforward, and the title makes a whole lot of sense when put in context by Kurt Russell's character, Stunt Man Mike. Russell is maniacally effective as the thrill seeking lady killer, and the car chase scene has to be one of the best put to film. I could have done a lot less with the diner scene which seemed endless and virtually pointless, my mind straying to the one in Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs", which worked a whole lot better for it's relationship to that story. Before I forget, Russell gets to ham it up with a real cheesy John Wayne impersonation in the early going, way before the Challenger ladies turn the tables on him.
Up front and in between, we're treated to four movie trailers and that instantly recognizable 'Feature Presentation' music that was a mainstay of theaters back in the day. You couldn't get me to a drive in to watch any of this stuff when it was in it's prime, but today, reliving my youth, this stuff is a blast. The film gets a lot of mileage out of it's caricature of an era gone by, and that's the point, so you'll either get it or not get it, depending on your perspective. Oh yeah, my favorite grindhouse title of all time - "Sex Cures The Crazy" - never saw it, but still remember the title after almost forty years. Imagine the impact if I HAD seen it!
Hey, if you need a recommendation to see the film, I'll let Rosario Dawson's t-shirt tell the story - 'Badass Cinema' - that's all you need to know.