Apr 10 2007
“Grindhouse” (2007)
Movie Review: Grindhouse
Written and Directed by: Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino
Release: 2007
Rated R. (hard R. people. As usual, leave the chillins at home)
Talk about a movie with a built in litmus test!
Pull anyone aside and ask them if they want to see a movie that’s over 3 hours long that features a go-go dancer with a machine gun leg. Guaranteed, the answer that comes will be one of two scenarios. One, the person’s face will light up and he/she will say something to the effect of “a stripper with a machine gun leg?!?! Sweet!!! What time are you going?”
Or you’ll get the other response.
“a girl with a machine gun leg… for real? Hrmmmm… sounds GREAAAT Tad! Oh wait… you’re really serious aren’t you?” You’re then faced with forming an army of really cool people to go into a theater with, or you’re faced with explaining the whole theme and idea behind Grindhouse, what it’s all about, and why it exists in the first place. Not fun…
That said, judging by the hype, you’d think you’d have been fighting for a seat this last Friday night, but you’d be far from the truth. The people have spoken folks. Either it’s because it opened Easter weekend or it was just too weird for the average film goer.
Either way, Grindhouse tanked on the silver screen this weekend and it’s a damn shame that it did.
I could spend the next page or two on my theories behind the lame ass, spoon-fed, lemming populace that pays 8 bucks a pop regularly to see drivel that is so obvious and unoriginal; but I won’t. It’s a worthy topic of debate for sure, but I’d rather take the time to celebrate two incredible directors and how they’ve taken chances in the past, succeeding admirably at making films that go against the grain, cementing themselves securely in movie lexicons as true mavericks of film and single handedly changing and elevating the medium to something else entirely.
Reservoir Dogs, Sin City, Pulp Fiction, El Mariachi, Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2, Desperado, the list goes on and on and even if you didn’t like any of these films ( and you’d be lieing to yourself and anyone else who reads this…), you can’t deny the effect these films have had on entertainment, film in general, writing and narration, and the way that we all look at and enjoy cinema. I know when I saw Pulp Fiction as a freshman in college, I was blown away. The lens that I viewed movies through had been shattered completely and was replaced with nothing but sheer potential.
Those experiences, as a movie buff, are the holy grail of viewing. It’s why people like myself spend more time then I’d care to admit scouring the interwebs daily for that one interesting film that sparks a fire in you. Sometimes you find one, and sometimes, if you’re lucky, you stumble upon one that seemingly no one knows about yet.
It’s that buried treasure that makes the searching so enjoyable.
I imagine the Grindhouse films of the 70’s hid those occasional treasures, and the theaters themselves were the world wide web that they were buried in.
That’s what makes Tarantino and Rodriguez’s two films in Grindhouse so special. For once they’re not making something original, they’re actually saying “thank you” to all those old films that formed the way they looked at cinema. Just as we share the love of their films with our friends, they’re sharing their love of the films that shaped them as film makers with us.
And that’s what Grindhouse ultimately is; a handwritten love letter to a genre long gone that, in all likelihood, won’t be coming back. That’s why this movie, in my opinion was doomed to fail financially in the first place. Put simply, there’s a reason why these films had stopped being made. People didn’t need or want exploitation movies anymore. The zany story lines, the raunchy sex, the ultra violence, the super cheesy dialog and the really BAD production values were no longer escapism. People changed and so did their viewing tastes. In short, people still don’t need it today and that’s why no one was buying tickets this weekend. It was quite the gamble to make and release this film and, unfortunately, sometimes you lose.
But before I move on, I feel I owe you all a pretty hefty disclaimer.
When Grindhouse films were in their hay-day I was a youngin’ and by that I mean I wasn’t even born for most of it. And though I have read a crap load about the genre, and have seen a few of the classics on late night cable or on VHS, I am far from what you might consider an expert or even a casual viewer of Grindhouse films, and since the very nature of the Grindhouse genre is the actual experience of viewing one in it’s native environment, my accounts and opinions are only further shot full of holes. So what’s the point of this review if I don’t have first-hand experience with a genre of film that needs to be experienced to be appreciated? Well technically there is no point, except for the fact that I think I am part of that demographic that might just save the ideal of grindhouse cinema. That handful of late 20 or early 30 somethings that not only appreciate independent film making, but also the roots from which it all came. Even if they weren’t even alive to see it in the first place.
So what exactly is a grindhouse? What it is it all about?
Well, Websters defines it as follows:
grind house
– noun Slang.
1.a burlesque house, esp. one providing continuous entertainment at reduced prices.
2.a movie theater that shows films throughout the day and all or most of the night.
(Dammit! I wish I wasn’t in the womb for most of the 70’s!!)
What’s the movie, Grindhouse all about? Well, it’s 2 films for the price of one with some very entertaining fake trailers in between the two features. One feature, Planet Terror, is by Robert Rodriguez and the other film Death Proof, is by Quentin Tarantino.
Planet Terror revolves around a small town that is over-run by hordes of zombie-like folks who have ghastly sores all over their bodies, turning them into mutant flesh eaters. Standard zombie rules apply and before you can even say “aim for the head”, all hell breaks loose and lots of people start dieing… and then rising. It doesn’t take long before a colorful band of survivors find themselves as the only folk immune to this sickness that is infecting all of those around them. So they take it upon themselves to save their backwoods town and ultimately the world from a similar fate.
What follows can only be described as outrageous bombastic entertainment, spiked heavily with gore. Most of it doesn’t make a lick of sense, and it goes with out saying that none of it is remotely grounded in any shred of realism. But hot damn is it a fun hour and a half in the dark!!! There’s no too many flicks that feature a machine gun leg stripper (Rose McGowan), Fergie from Black Eye Peas, gore genius Tom Savini, Naveen Andrews (LOST’s Sayeed) with an incoherent lust for detaching men’s balls from their proper anatomical areas, an amateur pilot that’s also a strip club owner, a doctor-closet-lesbian that has a penchant for anesthesia, and more
explosions and exploding heads than you can shake and AK-47 at. Seriously, if it sounds like a wild ride it is. If it sounds like crazy nonsense, it is. If it sounds like traditional grindhouse cinema, IT IS!!!
Next up were 3 fake trailers created by some of the most humorous, talented and edgy brains in horror cinema today.
You get the following:
1.“Werewolf Women of the S.S.” - Written and Directed by Rob Zombie (“House of a 1000 Corpses”, “Devil’s Rejects”)
2.“Don’t” - Written and Directed by Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead”, “Hot Fuzz”)
3.“Thanksgiving” - Written and Directed by Eli Roth (“Cabin Fever” “Hostel”)
Ironically, I, along with Mel, who’s becoming a bit of a horror aficionado herself, enjoyed “Thanksgiving” the best. I really expected to enjoy Zombie’s or Wright’s best. Nothing against Eli Roth, it’s just the other two have made far more superior films by comparison. Maybe Eli should just stick to trailers from here on out… kidding sort of, he’s got potential, this trailer shows that. He just hasn’t reached it yet.
Without a doubt though, all of the fake trailers were awesome in their own right and they were a great segway to the next feature: Quentin Tarantino’s Deathproof!
Death Proof revolves around a serial killer (played with surprising effectiveness by the always awesome Kurt Russell) named “Stuntman Mike” who stalks young women for a period of time before killing them with his stunt car that is supposedly “death proof”. You get the feeling he’s been on a killing spree for a while, killing gaggles of young females that have had too much to drink at the bar, decide to drive home, and end up dead from an apparent DUI incident.
That is until he runs into four young women, two of which, unbeknownst to him, happen to be stunt women. Two stunt women that are REEEAAALLLY good at what they do. I won’t spoil too much, but suffice it to say, they bring the fight to Stuntman Mike with a frigging vengeance!!
While it was the more subdued film of the two, it was my favorite by a very narrow margin. You get a really awesome spread of strong women characters in this film. None of them are weak per say, they are all strong-willed and confident, but not all of them have the Moxi to kill someone if they had to. It’s this array of personalities that elevates this horror film to a character piece and those, in my opinion anyways, are the best horror films to watch. At the end of the day though, Death Proof only edges out Planet Terror because of personal preference. There’s a little more character development in it and the dialog, while not Tarantino’s best, is still classic at moments. Planet Terror is more classically “Grindhouse” than Death Proof, but I just enjoyed Death Proof a little bit better.
But only just a little. 
As a slight side note, keep an eye out for Zoe Bell in this film. Trust me, you can’t miss her. She easily steals the show from the other uber talented ladies.
So… good movies all around yes? Well according to this critic they are. But in a world full of critics, that doesn’t mean a whole helluvalot.
So where does that leave you? Should you take a chance and head out to see the past revived? Or should you listen to the masses and go and check out the always hilarious Will Farrell (I still need to get out and see Blades of Glory.)?
I can tell you until I’m blue in the face that you should go out to see these films, that you truly are getting 2 great films for the price of 1. I can also say that this style of cinema is definitely not for everyone. It’s about as far from casual viewing as they come. You’ll probably love it, you’ll most likely hate it. As I said before, I firmly believe that the Grindhouse genre died out for a reason.
But I also believe that it shouldn’t be forgotten.
