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Finally. I actually get to talk about a film genre that's so bad, so shocking, so offensive, and so outrageous, I still get to tell you it's an important part of our film history. Directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino co-direct this picture in a double feature. To give you an idea about what a Grindhouse film might sound like, consider these plot details: In Planet Terror (directed by Quentin Tarantino), a rural town in Texas is ravaged by psychopathic zombies from a chemical accident in the hands of a millitary officer (Bruce Willis), while a go-go dancer, Rose McGowan, loses her leg to the zombies and is helped by her ex-boyfriend played by Freddy Rodriguez. For some reason Rodriguez's character is a weapons specialist and attaches a machine gun to her stump. Dr. Williams Block (Josh Brolin) treats the patients at the hospital and pursues his wife while infected, recalling she (Marley Shelton) was planning to abandon him for her lesbian lover. The rest of the film contains what any Grindhouse movie defines itself by, brutal, exaggerated violence and gore, sex, damaged film and missing reels, and comic death. In Death Proof (directed by Robert Rodriguez), Kurt Russell plays a killer stunt driver hosting a near indestructible (hence "Death Proof) black 1971 Chevy Nova with a white skull on the hood. The beginning of the film follows a group of young women, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, and Sydney Tamiia Poitier who meet Russel's character in a bar and eventually fall prey to his road rage. Later, the film picks up on a second group of girls, a group working as the "techies" in Hollywood, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosaria Dawson, Tracie Thoms, and Zoe Bell ( a stuntwoman and a real stuntwoman playing herself). After taking someone's Dodge Challenger for a test-drive, Zoe attempts the "ship's mast," a stunt in which she lays on the hood of the car as it charges down the road at high speeds. Of course, this is when Kurt Russell attacks. No one is killed during his foul play, but the girls decide to hunt him down. Also before and in between the two films are fake trailers (which now have actually signed on to be real films) directed by well known directors such as Eli Roth (Hostel) and Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead). Now when it comes down to evaluating these two films, I am approached with a fairly easy task. If released as films that were trying to be "good," they would stink. However, since the films are trying to be "bad," they almost completely fulfill their purpose. Planet Terror has everything you could possibly find and hope for in a Grindhouse film. Film that looks damaged and discolored, missing reels (leaving gaping plot holes), gorgeous women, sex, violence, gore, explosions, strong language, and cameo appearances by Quentin Tarantino. Planet Terror doesn't fall dull for a second and just when you feel like "Oh no, a ungodly dull segment of dialogue...," you get a missing reel and thankfully the film cuts back in right at the peak of violence. The performances are played out as seriously as possible. Both Tarantino and Rodriguez grew up with these kinds of exploitation films and their love for them was the motivation for making this double feature. Rodriguez's Death Proof is no where near as good Planet Terror. The film follows a group of women that has enough uncut dialogue to make you nod off in your seat. Also, the film follows a group of women, I'm not making a personal statement, but why no sex or exploitation at all in this film? Thankfully when Zoe attempts her crazy stunts on the highway (probably around 3/4 of the way through the whole movie) you actually start to have a bit of fun. Kurt Russell is fantastic. He's scarred, intimidating, but at the same time really humorous and ends up crying over dramatically when he's shot in the arm by the girls. With a running time of about three hours and five minutes, which includes the two films and the trailers, goes by fairly fast except during the dialogue of Death Proof. For the level of exploitation and gore, it isn't as bad you would expect and only twenty seconds was cut from the film to avoid the dreaded NC-17 rating. I must say going to see a film where you don't have to think or fall under pressure from the plot, you can go a little crazy, relax, and have a really great time at the movies. For once, I was able to do the same with the same with the film review and I had almost as good a time thinking back about the film as I did when I saw it in theaters. If you liked this, I recommend trying to search some 1970's Grindhouse films, these films I've discussed could pass off as family to the true exploitation films of the Grindhouse era. email this review to a friend
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