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Quentin
Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez have directed
two full length action-packed horror features in
this double-bill. First up is Rodriguez' Planet
Terror where an infection is spreading in a small
town, turning people into flesh-eating zombies.
Next up is Death Proof where a bunch of girls are
terrorized by a madman in a car. Read on to see
what we thought of these movies.
So it's finally here, the movie we've all been
waiting for, and man has it been worth the wait or
what. I'm not going to beat around the bush so I'll
go straight ahead with my review. Grindhouse opens
with a faux trailer for a movie called "Machete",
and right away, I knew that I was in for a good time.
The trailer for Machete is very amusing and looks
like a mixture between a western and an action flick.
I didn't really get much sense of what the movie was
supposed to be about, but it was still very funny.
Then to our first feature presentation, Planet Terror.
Rodriguez doesn't waste any time and shifts into
third gear at once. The movie's about an infection
that's spreading all over a small town, and it's up
to a group of people to stop the infection before
it's too late. You see, the infection turns people
into flesh-eating zombies and it's spreading fast
as hell. Planet Terror is an extremely entertaining,
fast-paced, non-stop action ride with humour, tons
of gore, a terrific story and a top-notch cast.
You should be aware of the fact that these movies
are meant to be campy though, and Planet Terror is
indeed campy, but that's what makes it so great. It
really feels like one of those bad movies that you
could catch at a late night drive-in theatre back
in the 70s, only it's not bad. It's actually really
well written, flawlessly executed and doesn't let
up for a second. Planet Terror is indeed an instant
cult classic if you ask me.
Then it was time for some more faux trailers. First
up is Rob Zombie's "Werewolf women of the SS" and
I'm not really sure if Rob really understood what
the concept of this movie was since not only is the
trailer incredibly bad, but it's also too exaggerated.
When Nicolas Cage appeared on screen, I was just
embarrassed. It was terrible. The next faux trailer
is for a movie called "Don't" and man was this funny
or what. I laughed so much that I actually cried.
It really nailed the hilarity of early 80's horror
flicks with "don't" in the title (Don't go into the
house, don't go in the basement etc...).
Finally, the last faux trailer made by Eli Roth is
for a slasher flick called Thanksgiving and I wouldn't
have minded if this actually became a feature movie
as it looks great. It's campy but it looks very
entertaining and I'd check this out any time.
On to our final feature movie now, Death Proof. By
now the audience members were starting to loose their
attention span (including me) and Tarantino doesn't
make things much better by having the first hour of
his movie consist of nonsense dialogues that really
don't add much to the plot. It was a complete bore,
people were actually falling asleep in the theatre.
Then we finally get to the grand finale that everyone
has been raving about, but I actually found it to
be pretty "meh". It wasn't horror, it wasn't very
exciting, and the ending was weak.
Death Proof felt more like "Deleted Scenes" material
for the DVD rather than a feature presentation but
still, the entire experience of seeing Grindhouse
is worth so much. It's such a unique concept and
everyone really got into it so I ultimately really
loved it, despite Death Proof not being great. Don't
wait for the DVD, catch this at a cinema near you,
but if you get tired after Planet Terror, you don't
really have to stick around for Death Proof.
Death Proof is extremely dry but Planet Terror is
filled with melted faces, severed legs, gory bodies,
bodies ripped to pieces, exploded heads and a whole
lot more. I won't go into too much detail but it
won't disappoint the gore hounds.
Again, Death Proof failed in this department while
Planet Terror shined with its classy Pulp Fiction-like
music. Top-notch for Rodriguez movie here.
Grindhouse will definitely live up to your expectations,
it even surpassed mine. Well, Planet Terror did anyway.
Death Proof was a bore and I was kind of disappointed
in that, but overall, this was such a unique movie
experience that I have to recommend it. Don't miss
this one, and do NOT wait for the DVD.
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