A Break from the Usual

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2007)

I might be one of the few 80s kids out there that got to see a true grindhouse film in the drive-in theatres and the clichéd rundown cineplex. So, in seeing GRINDHOUSE PLANET TERROR - DEATH PROOF, I was nostalgically happy to hear the familiar splash screen tune and hypnotic colour wheel. What followed afterward was sheer adult cinematic, low-brow fun. For those who aren't familiar with the exaggerated exploits of drama and action that even John Woo would salivate over these films had usually two or more B-movies which divulged heavily into just about every social taboo possible... ranging from sex, drugs, and race-exploitations.
Robert Rodriguez Quentin Tarantinos GRINDHOUSE touches on the elements that made that genre of cinema popular, while adding both contemporary previous film glimpses that visually aware moviegoers should spot easily. PLANET TERROR literally gives us a zombie movie better than many seen in recent years(take note, RESIDENT EVIL!)... complete with the machine gun-legged Rose McGowan. Kurt Russell stars in DEATH PROOF, a muscle car thriller about a demented stunt car driver finally meeting his match.
In addition to the trip down memory lane, guest directors Eli Roth(HOSTEL), Rob Zombie(THE DEVILS REJECTS), and even Edgar Wright(SHAUN OF THE DEAD) provide hilariously cheesy action intermission trailers displaying a machete toting federali, a kill-crazy Pilgrim, and even demented Women breeding Wolfmen! For the full experience, see this flick at the movies during a matinée instead of waiting for it on DVD. And bring friends, they're sure to applaud and squirm at the overwhelmingly crazy sights sounds... of GRINDHOUSE.