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The Grindhouse

Featuring Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror and Quinton Tarantino’s Death Proof

 It is rare that I get the opportunity to go to the movies and truly enjoy it as much as I did when I went to see The Grindhouse.  Being a fan of corny horror movies like Evil Dead and Nuke ‘em High, The Grindhouse hit my odd sense of humor dead on.  While I may not have been old enough to go to or enjoy the “creature features” of the past, the experience of The Grindhouse was something that was a direct throwback to that era.

 Even though it’s over three hours long in total, it doesn’t have an epic adventure feel; instead, it’s a complete movie going experience.  And since tickets for movies now are around ten dollars a pop, I don’t mind at all going to see something that is a little longer.  That way I don’t feel like I have been raped after sitting through some cheesy hour and a half long romantic comedy that is like every other romantic comedy out there.

 The very first thing that you will see when the movie starts is actually a trailer for a non-existent movie, Machete.  They even have the old psychedelic logos for upcoming “prevues,” seventies music, and old logos for the restrictions and such.  All of these things combined to give the two films a much older feel even when they are both set in modern times.  It feels as if you are truly watching something from the seventies. 

Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror is a wonderfully hilarious and gory film that definitely does not skimp on the gross factor.  It starts off when a chemical is released into the air that, of course, turns people into zombies.  These zombies infiltrate a small town where a go-go dancer named Cherry (Rose McGowen), a tow truck driver named Ray (Freddy Rodriguez), and a few other odds and ends make their stand against the hordes of demons.  Rose McGowen’s leg is ripped off by some of these half-dead creatures and is replaced first by a table leg and then by a machine gun.  One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Cherry and Ray are having sex and her table leg goes straight up in the air.  It’s enough to make you howl with laughter.

 After a few more retro looking “prevues,” Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof comes right on.  A murderous man, Stuntman Mike (Kurt Douglas), goes on a mission to take his specially modified car out to kill girls that he picks out along the way.  True to Tarantino style, the film is quirky, dark, and a tad heavy on the dialogue.  It takes a while for the story to pick up, and while I usually love the witty dialogue in Tarantino films, this time it kind of seemed to work against the story.  However, after the first act, the film does pick up and before you know it, you are thoroughly engaged in an action-packed car crash sequence that will grip you by the throat and keep you leaning forward in your seat. 

 All in all, I highly recommend watching The Grindhouse.  Even though the two films were supposed to be an homage to B films of the seventies, they are actually really good movies.  Yes, they may be poorly acted.  Yes, the plot may be contrived.  But, dammit, that’s what they were trying to do, and they more than succeeded in their goals.  And I, for one, hope that there are more movie experiences like The Grindhouse on their way.