 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
|
|
|
 email this review to a friend
"Grindhouse" is a double feature of movies written and directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, and it is their ode to the exploitation movies of the 70s and 80s that they loved so much. A lot of those movies were very poorly made and had bad acting, writing, and directing. This is not the case here as this ode to all things exploitation gets brilliant treatment from two renegade minds of Hollywood cinema. To put it mildly, "Grindhouse" was a awesome experience. How great it is to see some kick ass movies made by two guys who have such a love for movies and who love making them. The movie starts off with the first of four trailers for fake movies. The first trailer was for "Machete" which was done by Rodriguez, and stars Danny Trejo as a framed Mexican who goes after the bad guys with a vengeance. This was a blast to watch, and the best of all the trailers in the film. If they are to make a movie out of one of these trailers, it should be this one. It captures the ridiculous one liners of action movies from the 80s. I especially liked how they had Cheech Marin playing a priest who Machete gets to kill the bad guys with him. What an immensly sweet touch. Then the movie gets underway with "Planet Terror," Robert Rodriguez's addition to the "Grindhouse" movie. It is basically his ode to all those zombie movies that came out before we met the fast-paced zombies of "28 Days Later." It's his cross between a George Romero and a John Carpenter movie. The movie features a score done by the director himself who clearly seems influenced by the music of John Carpenter. This was a blast. A flashback to the go for broke action and horror movies that did not hold anything back. It reminded me of the "Evil Dead" movies among others where everything and everybody was going nuts. Then again, with the characters of this film running for their lives from the zombies coming after them, can you blame them? This is one gorey ride to put it mildly. But then again, what do you expect when you have Tom Savini playing one of the sheriff's deputies? Have you even seen the movies he has worked on? Robert gets all the gross details down like body parts blown or ripped off in an ever so disgustingly precious moment. Skin melting away, bites spreading all over the body, and body parts that either melt, cut, or blown away. These body parts are, as a man, the last things that I ever lose! Ever! After that movie ended, we were treated to the other 3 fake movie trailers. Edgar Wright (who directed "Shaun Of The Dead") did the trailer for the movie "Don't." This was hilarious as it showed all the things you should not be doing in a horror movie. Then there was Rob Zombie's contribution of "Werewolf Women Of The S.S." which was as funny as it was bizarre. Don't worry, I won't spoil this for you, as there are cameos in the trailers that are too good to just giveaway. And then there was "Thanksgiving" which was done by Eli Roth who wrote and directed "Hostel." It seems to be one of the few holidays left that has not been turned into a holiday for horny teens to get slaughtered. Then we get to Tarantino's addition to the "Grinhouse" movie: "Death Proof." It stars Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike who turns out to be a serial killer who uses a car instead of a knife to murder young women. No reason is really given as to why he does this, but in this movie, does it really matter? It also features one of the more exhilirating car chases in recent movie memory where Kurt Russell rubs up again a Dodge Charger occupied by a trio of women on a test drive. One of the women (Zoe Bell, Uma Thurman's stunt double for "Kill Bill") is riding onto the front of the car and riding it like the insane stunt woman that she is. Seeing her struggle to stay on the car makes the scene all the more frightening and exciting. Of the two movies in "Grindhouse," I have to say that "Death Proof" is the best. Although it takes awhile to get to the action, the dialogue is fabulous in a way that only Quentin can come up with. He continues to up with great lines that make the characters much more distinct than those in your average action movie filled with stock characters. One of the actresses involved with the movie said that Quentin really knows how to write for women and knows how they think. Kurt Russell is still one of the most underrated actors in film today along with Jeff Bridges. He can go from genre to genre, and he can also go from playing a good guy to a bad guy pretty easily. He is great in this role played a pure psychopath who is clearly schizoid and dealing with a multiple personality disorder as he goes after his next trio of potential victims. So overall, a kick ass experience at the movies that I am ever so eager to see again. email this review to a friend
Comment on this Review:
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
RSS | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | About MatchFlick® | Press | Contact Us | FAQs
Partnership and Advertising Opportunities | Movie Database | Merchandise ©2004-2008 MatchFlick®. All rights reserved. ©MOVIE IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT PROTECTED AND THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS |