Grindhouse, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarintino’s double feature came out friday and I got a chance to check it out. It starts off with Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror then shows some fake movie trailers then ends with Tarintino’s Death Proof. Since they are essentially separate movies with their own unique plot I figured it would be best to review them separately first.
Planet Terror
Robert Rodriguez’s zombie flick is an over the top action film that is low on plot but makes up for in zombie kills. The movie reminded me of Lucio Fulci’s 80’s zombie films more than anything else. The action was amazing and Freddy Rodriguez’s fight scenes were awesome.
Death Proof
I can tell Tarintino had a blast making this film. It’s basically half classic Tarintino dialogue and half awesome car scenes. The main car chase ends up being 20 minutes of American muscle awesomeness. While I was watching the film I thought it was a bit too slow (its much slower than Planet Terror) but looking back, it seems just about right. It kind of reminds me of Reservoir Dogs in its pure simplicity.
click continue for thoughts on the trailers and my conclusion
The fake trailers that held the movies together were incredible and got just as much if not more audience reaction than the two films. Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving and Don’t were the two that stood out for me. Rodriguez’s Machete played before the two movies to ease the audience into Grindhouse’s bizarre world and had the best narrator dialogue ever. In the end, the movies were a lot funnier than I expected them to be and I have to give them props (especially Rodriguez) on some of the insane things they thought of to put into this movie. These movies won’t win any awards for best picture but if you are looking to have some fun, you won’t be disappointed by Grindhouse.
hector’s rating – 8 decapitated zombies out of 10
