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Grindhouse film review
GRINDHOUSE
Running time: 192 mins
Starring: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton, Bruce Willis, Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Sydney Poitier, Tracie Thoms, Zoe Bell
Quentin Tarantino and his buddy Robert Rodriquez are known for their innovative work. Both are cinephiles who use their knowledge and passion for old films for inspiration. It's their love of grindhouse films (the term given to the exploitation films of the 60s and 70s) that's behind this project. Grindhouse is a double feature comprised of Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror and Tarantino's Death Proof. Reintroducing the public to the idea of a double bill is an admirable experiment, but, based on this evidence, it's one that isn't wholly successful.
Tarantino and Rodriguez might love the hokey charm of B-movies with their excessive violence, gratuitous sex, bad scripts, even worse acting and cheap production values, but in this world of increasingly sophisticated and impressive effects and demanding audiences, their appeal is limited. Also, people might be prepared to commit more than three hours to one really good film, but less likely for two mediocre films. This is borne out by the fact that the film company is shortly to release them as two separate films.
Of the two, the opening Planet Terror is by far the most enjoyable. Complete with grainy scratches to add authenticity, Planet Terror is completely over the top schlock horror. The world has been overrun with flesh eating humans who have contracted a deadly virus that causes their bodies to erupt in grotesque, gangrenous boils. Dr William Block (Josh Brolin) and his wife Dakota (Marley Shelton) are on duty at the hospital when victims of the virus come flooding in. They include Cherry (Rose McGowan), a go-go dancer whose leg was bitten off, and her ex, Wray (Freddy Rodriguez).
The fun thing with grindhouse movies is nothing has to make sense and anything goes. In this case, it includes Wray attaching a machine gun to the stump of Cherry's leg so she can shoot the infected. Part homage and part spoof of the genre, Planet Terror is hysterical rather than frightening. The violence is as exaggerated as the effects of the virus are gross. And the jokes are as corny as they are tasteless, including one where someone views a corpse with the back of its skull missing and declares, "This one's a no brainer."
Sadly Tarantino's Death Proof lacks the same wit and is only saved from utter disaster by the deliciously evil Kurt Russell as malevolent misogynist Stuntman Mike. Tarantino's penchant for having long scenes of people engaging in trivial conversation is indulged to excess here. Trouble is, the dialogue is boring and the people exchanging it even more so. None of the two unconnected groups of women who Stuntmen Mike picks as victims include anyone endearing or interesting. As a consequence, when Stuntman Mike uses his reinforced muscle car to try and kill them, you hope he succeeds. Death Proof does include some impressive stunts, most notably by Zoe Bell, a professional stunt woman who plays herself, but it's not enough to prevent Death Proof being a bigger wreck than Stuntman Mike's battered Dodge Charger.
To replicate the whole grindhouse experience, both before and in between the double feature, there is a selection of great spoof preview trailers, one including a self-deprecating Nicolas Cage. While Planet Terror certainly has its moments, the films being trailered looked way more entertaining than Death Proof.
Individual ratings: Planet Terror 7/10 Death Proof 3/10
Kevin Murphy
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