Grindhouse

Rating: 9/10 (16 April 2007)

Grindhouse features two full length feature films plus some fake trailers in between the two films. The two films plus the trailers are supposed to look and feel like the cult and exploitation films that were made in the 70's and appeared often as double bills at the drive in. For those unaware or unsure if they have ever seen an exploitation or "grind house" film then you should know that they are usually films not made for a lot of money, often they look very grainy and have black lines every once in awhile going down the screen, cracking and popping noises during the film, not very good acting, often a lot of sex, violence and other things which usually made them X rated and usually they were very sensationalistic films meaning that pretty much everything in those type of movies were over the top from the acting, to the story and of course the violence and sex. Exploitation films started early and often tried to be educational such as the film Reefer Madness which has now become sort of a comedy classic because nobody takes it seriously anymore. Other sub genres of the exploitation era were blaxploitation (and featured such films as Shaft and Blacula), sexploitation (which featured any film by Russ Meyer such as Supervixens or Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!), shock films which were meant to be pretty shocking and repulsive, women in prison films and much much more. Basically if you have seen a film from the 70's with any of the criteria I have mentioned in this review with the few examples I have given, then you have seen a grind house film. So, I don't go on forever about this genre I will skip right to my review of this film Grindhouse in which there are two feature length films one being called Planet Terror and written and directed by Robert Rodriguez and the other is Death Proof which is written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Having been a big fan of cult and exploitation films since I was a teenager I have noticed that often with these type of films the critics tend to give a lot away in their reviews and spoil all the fun, so I will not go into any detail whatsoever about what the two films, or even the fake trailers are about and I will instead tell you what I liked, or should I say loved about this double feature. As I mentioned above I love cult and exploitation cinema. To many people they would just be classified as trashy or good for nothing films, but I have always loved how fun, shocking and sometimes unintentionally funny they could be. Plus in my opinion any of those exploitation films from the 70's is more fun than any Hollywood popcorn summer movie they are releasing these days. Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino and the guest directors who made the fake trailers completely captured everything I loved about these 70's films and put it into this double feature. The films were entertaining, captured the look and dialogue of the 70's films and every last detail was done to perfection. If I were to pull out one of my exploitation films from the 70's out from my vast DVD and video collection and actually sat down and compared those films to these two films made in 2007 and meant to look like the 70's then I think it would look absolutely the same and everything they captured from the feel to the way of storytelling is so perfectly done it is amazing. Of course with all exploitation films they are likely to offend or turn off some, but I always liked that and I had a blast seeing this in theatres. These films entertained me and reminded me of the past films I loved. Also the fake trailers were done to perfection as well and if you have ever seen a 70's movie trailer then you know you really need to commend these guest directors for doing such a great job. For being one of the most fun, campy, outrageous and totally entertaining films I have ever seen in a theatre plus bringing me back memories from my favourite films and capturing the essence of them completely then you can probably already guess I loved Grindhouse. If this film sounds like it would be right up your alley then make sure to see it in theatres because it is one of the most fun theatre experiences I have ever had.