Mixed bag

Rating: 8/10 (12 November 2007)

The disappointment of the spilt of Grindhouse has now died down and, to be honest, I almost feel fortunate to have seen these movies separately. I am still disappointed that the only trailer to survive was Machete but seeing that on the big screen is still a whole heap of fun. Now this review isn't so much for Grindhouse but my comparison between the two movies and, in the end, which one a think is better.
Tarantino has gotten to the stage in his career where he's now become something of a joke. I will be quick to defend him as I am a huge fan but, unfortunately, Death Proof represents the first major dud in his cannon and can be used as a weapon for those who hate him so.
I read the scripts for both movies way back in March and from the beginning I thought that Planet Terror would be more fun but when I started reading Death Proof I found myself in my haven: witty, sharp and punchy Tarantino dialogue intertwined with a slow brooding horror that builds to a gory and really quite scary climax that you've seen coming for ages but are powerless to stop. I was reading this first half in awe. But once I moved onto the second half, it was the same old stuff, just set during the day with a different set of women. I then found myself getting bored which was horrifying considering how much I enjoyed the first half.
The movie has no plot, just scene after scene of women talking with one or two scenes of horror. This is supposed to be a slasher movie but there is minimal slashing. This makes for an uninteresting and boring film. We don't care about any of these women, in fact, you kinda hope that they'll get butchered because they're just that annoying.
The main difference between these two movies is the way they're presented. Both are aiming for tongue in cheek rubbishness that was the staple of grindhouse movies but only Planet Terror succeeds. Robert Rodriguez really nails the tone. Tarantino, however, fails with aplomb. There's a difference between fun/bad and bad/bad. Both movies are deliberately rubbish but only Planet Terror makes it fun. The girls of Death Proof (actually it's pretty much the entire cast) spew out Tarantino's dialogue like cardboard cut-outs of Ben Affleck. Their delivery is not fun/bad but just plain bad. It's over the top and boring with the cast really looking uncomfortable spewing out this dialogue. In fact, it's gotten to the stage now where I'm fed up of people sounding like every Tarantino character ever written. It's gotten old.
I still maintain that Jackie Brown is Quentin's best directorial effort because it's the only proper movie he's every done. It has a plot for one thing and quite a complex one at that. But it didn't do so well as Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs so what did Quentin do? He made more of the same, with a vengeance in the form of Kill Bill. Now I actually really liked Kill Bill but I was stunned when it went from a 90 minute revenge flick to a four hour epic.
It just seems that, recently, Tarantino is getting too in touch with his inner fan boy and seeing as Jackie Brown was made in 1996 it's been 11 years since he's really made a proper film. Maybe Inglorious Bastards will be a return to form. And maybe the failure of Grindhouse will be the kick he so desperately needs.
Now with Planet Terror, I wasn't expecting anything less. Robert Rodriguez has made a living off of making films for boys in the vein of a comic book. To date, his only truly great film is Sin City but even then, it still bares all the hall marks of a Rodriguez film. Planet Terror is a brilliant movie for many reasons: 1) it nails the tongue-in-cheek aspect better than Death Proof could ever dream, 2) it has a plot and 3) it was just so much fun.
Death Proof was trying so hard with the fact that it was supposed to be rubbish that it actually ended up being genuinely rubbish. Rodriguez has made a living off of making movies that a stupid yet unbelievable fun and is obviously in his element where as Tarantino is actually a respected film maker and seems to fumble with the material. Planet Terror is like a bizarre mix between From Dusk Till Dawn and Desperado. Basically it was just better at being rubbish.
It is also unbelievably gruesome. Being a zombie movie you have to expect a level of gore but if this wasn't so over the top I'm sure the American censors would've had a problem with it. Heads are broken open and brains eaten, a hospital orderly has the front of his torso ripped off to gain access to the offal inside, and we also see Quentin Tarantino (who cameo's in the movie) have his penis melt off. You don't know whether to laugh or squirm are the gory bounty that unfolds through every minute of this movie. But it's all so blissfully over the top. When someone if shot, blood spills at impossible volumes and looks more like baked bean sauce than actual blood.
It is also very funny, in a sick kinda way. Gags like sausages being mistaken for innards or a dog being accidentally splatted by a truck and spraying two unsuspecting survivors bring out cringe worthy giggles that were never to be found in Death Proof.
Who knows, I may watch Death Proof again and find that it actually is a pretty good film but until that day I will be recommending Planet Terror to those who like their horror in the same vein as Braindead: Splat-Stick
Planet Terror  4/5
Death Proof  2/5