Hilarious bloody fun.

Rating: 9/10 (7 April 2007)

Grindhouse is shown as a double feature with 2 full length films and fake trailers before and in between.
Planet Terror: starring: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Mary Shelton, Michael Biehn, Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis, Tom Savini, Naveen Andrews, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Parks, Stacey Ferguson, Jeff Fahey.
Robert Rodriguez directs and writes this hilarious zombie movie. Planet Terror is about a stripper Cherry (McGowan), an outlaw type guy named El Rey, and a gang of people trying to stop these government created mutants. This movie was absolutely hilarious. Rodriguez made sure it was as bloody and purposely dumb as possible. It was filled with purposeful mistakes and scratched film, along with one of the funniest scenes in the film due to a missing reel. The special effects were great and hilarious, as was the over the top acting. "Planet Terror" was a bit silly, but brilliant over the top parody. My rating: *** 1/2 out of ****. 86 mins.
Death Proof: starring: Kurt Russell, Vanessa Ferlito, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rose McGowan, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Parks, James Parks.
Quentin Tarantino directs the second feature length film which focuses more on characters than on extreme violence. This movie has a very odd setup that really had me confused until the very end which made the entire thing worthwhile. We start with four girls at a bar and Stuntman Mike (Russell) trying to woo them. The first 40 minutes are the setup for the last half, explaining what Stuntman Mike does to kill women. The second part is about some girls messing around by playing a game where one woman lays on the hood of the car holding on by belts until she can't hold on any longer. When Mike messes with them, he quickly learns his lesson. Where the dialogue between the women can get tedious and over-stretched at times, Kurt Russell gives such a screen presence and great performance that he makes up for it. The last 20 minutes don't let up with the excellently filmed chase scenes. By the end, you realize that this is Tarantino's homage to the women kicking butt movies from the 60s and 70s. Great character development and superb chase scenes make this a great movie, and a great way to end the double feature. My rating: *** 1/2 out of ****. 87 mins.
The fake trailers were another part of the movie, and a part that had me hysterically laughing. Before the movie starts we see a trailer for "Machette" starring Danny Trejo as a Mexican action star and Cheech Marin as a tough priest. The trailers in the middle of the movie are the great "Werewolf Women of the SS", the true story of Hitler's army of werewolves. "Thanksgiving", a horror movie about a killer who decapitates people quite well, and "Don't", a cheesy looking horror movie about a haunted house. All the fake trailers were hilarious and filmed perfectly to look like the original terrible movies they're based on. Directors Rob Zombie, Eli Roth and Edgar Wright lend their directing talent to these.
Overall this was a laugh out loud funny, exhilarating experience that any fan of Rodriguez, Tarantino, or any fan of great parody and action should not miss.
Final rating: *** 1/2 out of ****. 191 mins. Rated R for strong violence, sex, nudity and drug use.