Grindhouse

Robert Rodriguez / Quentin Tarantino / Guests
2007

Initially the biggest issue with 'Grindhouse' is the sheer impossibility of completely recreating grindhouse cinema. Not only were ambitions and production values (rightly) set high, but in an all but DVD-driven market there is no hope of audiences flocking to theaters for basic, low-budget exploitation . In this sense, 'Grindhouse' is a paradox in origin. Pastiche and parody become the best one could hope for, but Tarantino/Rodriguez achieve more than that, which makes me wish they had opted for a more fine arts, gallery-oriented film, an exploration of the history, an evocation of the grindhouse feel.

Wistful pretension aside, both films on this double bill manage to deliver. 'Planet Terror,' Rodriguez's opener, is the better of the two. The film contains, but is not limited to, flesh-eating zombies, a renegade military squad, a jar full of severed testicles, and of course, Rose McGowan with a machine-gun pegleg. This fantastic genre outing is high on cheeky style, chock full of gross-out makeup effects (all hail Greg Nicotero!), and full of wink-wink references for the nerds. Its almost embarrassing that a gutsy genre plot like this needs to be marketed in such a self referential package, considering the film stands up fine on its own.

Tarantino's production is more problematic. In it, Kurt Russell stalks various groups of girls in his tricked-out muscle car, eventually killing them in collisions. Its quite a sexual thrill for him after all. 'Deathproof' is far more meta in terms of a grindhouse style film. For a flick about high octane automotive mayhem, it is extremely slow paced, which is a lot to ask from an audience that has already sat through one feature. The real failure here is in the seemingly endless dialogue scenes, completely uninteresting, and hackneyed. I don't want to say that the 'Tarantino style' has shot its wad, but most of the hipster talk comes off as a bad parody of the guy who directed 'Jackie Brown.' Ole' Quentin went behind the camera himself for this one, and while the footage is absolutely gorgeous in its freshly amateur compositions, and treated colors, I think this could be the cause of the story's shortcomings.

As a package 'Grindhouse' really shines with its small touches. The retro 'coming attractions' and 'feature presentation' title cards and the unforgettable faux trailers, made by some of the finest names in genre filmmaking, are highlights in and of themselves. A special mention should go to Eli Roth for his 'Thanksgiving' trailer, its not to be missed.

Review by Brett A. Scieszka