The complete theater experience

Rating: 10/10 (8 April 2007)

Grindhouse 5/5 'Planet Terror' 4/5 'Death Proof' 5/5
So it's finally here. Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's double bill grind house exploitation feature is here. Announced a little over a year ago, this has been one of the most anticipated films in the horror genre since its initial status as a rumor. The concept is simple. Two directors known for their love of 70's and 80's B-movies each film a feature, and present them in the way they would have been shown in an old school drive-in or downtown porno-theater back in the day, including fake trailers (for fake genre films), damaged prints, and even missing reels.
The first feature is Robert Rodriguez's 'Planet Terror' which is, simply put, an over the top zombie apocalypse film. The plot revolves around a stripper, named Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan) who loses her leg to a zombie early on. She quickly regains her ability to walk, through a table leg that is jammed into place by love interest, and mysterious tough-guy, El Ray (Freddy Rodriquez). The plague is brought on by the release of a strange gas on a nearby military base, after a business deal goes bad. The all star cast includes Bruce Willis (as a corrupt military commander), Naveen Andrews (as a corrupt scientist), Michael Parks (as the same slow talking, quick shooting sheriff he seems to play in all Tarantino/Rodriguez flicks), in addition to Nicky Katt, Josh Brolin, Fergie, Michael Biehn, Marley Shelton, and Tom Savini. 'Planet Terror' is chock full of over the top violence (pistols seem to fire buckshot, resulting in extreme squib shots) and of course, overt sexuality (McGowan is a stripper after all). Rodriguez has definitely made an effort to give 'Planet Terror' the feel of a genuine grind house feature by dirtying the print with an almost excessive amount of scratches, pops, burns, and the like in his otherwise sleek digitally enhanced film. This, for me, presents the only real problem with 'Planet Terror.' If the scratches were removed, 'Planet Terror' would look every bit as high budget and slick as 'Sin City', '300' or any other recent digitally filmed feature. For me, this took away from the drive-in experience of the film. All in all, 'Planet Terror' is a genuinely thrilling popcorn contribution, with no shortage of guts, sex, and explosions.
Following 'Planet Terror' is a series of fake trailers. Rob Zombie's 'Werewolf Women of the S.S.' invokes nazispolitation at its best, capturing all of the over sexed allure of such gems as 'Ilsa, She-Wolf of the S.S.' while still looking like a Rob Zombie flick. Look out for the unexpected cameo in the role of a classic villain. 'Hostel' director Eli Roth creates a chilling and hysterical holiday themed slasher in the vein of 'Halloween' and 'My Bloody Valentine' with his trailer for 'Thanksgiving'. Rodriguez directs the trailer for Danny Trejo starred 'Machete'- "You just f----d with the wrong Mexican!" Finally, Edgar Wright('Shaun of the Dead') channels Euro-horror such as 'The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue' with his haunted house chiller 'Don't'
Finally, we get to the real gem of this three hour experience, 'Death Proof', Tarantino's tribute to both the Car movie, and the Slasher. Stuntman Mike is a stunt driver. His cars are "death proof". As long as you're sitting in the driver's seat. Otherwise, well, you're screwed. Kurt Russell returns to cinema with his best performance since he first played Snake Plissken in Carpenter's 'Escape From New York' as Stuntman Mike. At the drop of a hat he jumps from cool and collected, to terribly creepy. With car chases (all filmed practically, with little to no CGI, which is a big plus for me) that rival 'Vanishing Point' and 'Gone in 60 Seconds' (the original 1974 film) Tarantino has created one of the most thrilling film experiences in recent history. Zoe Bell (the Australian stunt woman who was Uma Thurman's double in 'Kill Bill') is stunning, playing herself, and performing all of her own stunts (playing 'Ship's mast' on the hood of a 1970 Dodge Challenger, in alpine white, exactly like the one used in 'Vanishing Point'). The set up, and execution may seem slow to some, after the non-stop gore and explosion-fest that is 'Planet Terror', but when the final 'Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!' invoking shot freezes on the screen, I feel that for my money, 'Death Proof' is the superior film. It does a better job of capturing the feel of authentic 1970's B-movies (with unintentional jump cuts, and its own missing reel) while still weaving an exciting, and well paced story that will be enjoyable to those not familiar with the genre.
All in all, 'Grindhouse' is an experience for everyone. Cinephiles will be tickled by the overtly self referential and meta-cinematic elements, and the average movie viewer will be treated to an afternoon of some of the best popcorn, blood and guts, sweat and gasoline film making ever produced.