Grinding Down The House

Movie Review

By: Fernando Dutra

Posted: 4/9/07

In "Grindhouse," directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino attempt to recreate the ambience of watching the old school exploitation films, which, as interviews have shown, both of them revere. Grind-houses reached their peak popularity in the 1960s and 1970s and were known for showing two B-list exploitation films back-to-back. The purpose of a grind-house film was not to inform or provide some form of mental sustenance; it merely served to entertain with its extreme content. By saluting this genre of film, both Rodriguez and Tarantino effortlessly deliver their sleaziest efforts to date. Every single aspect of "Grindhouse" is over-the-top and ludicrous, complete with nudity, violence, gore, language and atrocious voiceovers.

One alluring factor of "Grindhouse" is its determination to recreate the grind-house environment, complete with faux trailers for upcoming films. One fake trailer precedes Rodriguez's "Planet Terror," called "Machete" (also directed by Rodriguez), telling a hilarious story of revenge. In between Rodriguez's and Tarantino's films are three other trailers created by other directors. These include Edgar Wright's "Don't" ("Shaun of the Dead"), Rob Zombie's "Werewolf Women of the SS" ("House of 1000 Corpses"), and Eli Roth's "Thanksgiving" ("Hostel"). Each one of these trailers addresses a different genre of horror film, including British zombie, Frankensteinian and slasher, respectively.

Throughout the films, the screen is grainy (particularly Rodriguez's), and the film reels are scratched, strained, burned or completely missing (always at the most inopportune moments).

The first feature film is Rodriguez's "Planet Terror," a tribute to extremely cheesy zombie flicks. Of the two films Rodriguez's is the most condensed and action packed as he cycles through several characters' stories in a little less than an hour and a half. The short explanation of the plot is that there is some sort of toxic gas that is being spread around the world that turns people into zombies while, of course, survivors attempt to flee before being exposed to the gas. The result is plenty of gore and over-the-top violence with tremendous parallels to Rodriguez's own "Sin City" (complete with a jar of testicles), which includes Rose McGowan as Cherry Darling's leg being gnawed off and Stacy Ferguson (Fergie) as Tammy being mauled and torn to pieces, both done by zombies. Thrown into the mix is Freddy Rodriguez as Wray, Darling's ex-lover who promises to protect her, Marley Shelton as Dr. Dakota Block, Tammy's lover who was supposed to meet up with her before discovering she was gutted by zombies, and Josh Brolin as the suspecting, conniving, and jealous husband. "Planet Terror" provides just enough to keep the plot moving, wasting little time on character development and supplying cheesy dialogue amidst its languid score and choppy camera work, all done for effect.

After a batch of the previously mentioned trailers, Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof" begins with a set of feet (Tarantino is rather infamous for his foot fetish), shifting from "Planet Terror's" high-octane energy for something more relaxed. In the grand scheme of the picture, "Death Proof" fuses slasher elements and car chases with mixed results. However, a majority of the film spends time on its two groups of female protagonists, each chatting about anything that comes to mind. Tarantino is known for his dialogue, and "Death Proof" is a throwback to films like "Jackie Brown" and "Pulp Fiction," with significant emphasis on pop culture references. In spite of this, most of the dialogue seems to putter and seems to be in place simply to extend the film's length and praise the likes of "Vanishing Point" and "White Line Fever," two films that "Death Proof" pays tribute to. While some of the dialogue is enjoyable, a majority is not, causing a lull in any plot development. Tarantino does the opposite of what Rodriguez did in "Planet Terror," choosing instead to focus on character development.

With a plot so deceptively simple, it might seem like this emphasis on dialogue and idle conversation is necessary. In "Death Proof," an excellently vile Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike stalks two different groups of females, intent on killing them with his "death proof" stunt car. Russell steals every scene he's in, salvaging the film from crashing and burning too early. Without revealing too much, Stuntman Mike realizes his mistake while stalking the second pair of females, which climaxes in an astonishing car chase, which Tarantino swears was shot without special effects.

"Grindhouse" is successful in creating an atmosphere that exudes cheesiness and decadence at the same time. Both films draw from each other, with characters overlapping or actors and actresses being shared. "Grindhouse" is a deal for the price of one admission ticket - two nostalgic films interspersed with desultory trailers running at a little over three hours and apologies from the management.