I was one of those guys haunting the independent cinemas in the early nineties. I remember the indie film renaissance well – particularly seeing the first films by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarrantino long before most of America. It was refreshing to see a totally different take on action films from what was going on in Hollywood.
But after about 15 years and numerous movies, these two filmmaking icons, who once could do no wrong, were wearing very thin for me. So, when I heard some of the negative reviews for Grindhouse, I decided for the first time to skip this double feature by two of my former faves.
Eventually, I watched the films on DVD (in reverse order it turns out). Man, I didn’t know what I was missing! From the very first moments of Grindhouse: Planet Terror I was entranced by the fanfare music, the scratching and popping film, the ‘coming soon’ intro, the trailer for ‘Machete’, and the “Restricted” animation. The film itself reminded me not of the 70s retro I was expecting, and had heard about over and over, but of a time I was even more fond of – the 1980s – sitting in the back of the house at the walk-in theaters, seeing ‘B’ movies like Day of the Dead, and C.H.U.D.
With all the hype and ubiquity of zombie films these days, I expected to thoroughly groan through every minute of this film, but I didn’t I was thoroughly entertained. Rodriguez really knows how to not only put his characters in danger, but put them under serious pressure – Cherry Darling, a dancer, loses a leg early on. Dr. Block, a surgeon, at one point loses control of her hands. But their bulldog tenacity through their personal Hells, and while the whole world is being overrun, keeps you cheering all the way.
The great thing about Grindhouse is that it’s not just one move, not just two movies, but two movies and a bunch of shorts – now that’s value! The shorts are actually movie trailers and they’re great fun. They run the gamut of Drive-in, B-movie, and exploitation genres, and will surely remind you of when movie trailers weren’t always preceded by a “this movie has been approved for all audiences” screen.
Death Proof, Tarantino’s entry, is (of course) a throwback to 70s. This time he sets his sights on the road pictures that were so popular at the time (you remember, car chase pictures like Hooper, Vanishing Point, Two-Lane Blacktop and Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry – what? You don’t? O.K., I will have to review some of those here in the future) You don’t have to have been there to appreciate Death Proof, but it definitely helps. This entry features some of the same cast from Planet Terror this time being stalked and terrorized by a guy named ‘Stuntman Mike’ who’s built an indestructible muscle car which he uses to chase them down Duel style.
My chief complaint with Grindhouse comes from Death Proof which spends a great deal of time developing interesting characters and then abandons them part way through for a less interesting cast. Maybe I would have felt a tiny bit better if I had watched the films in their proper order, so at least the actors would come back in the second film, but I kind of doubt it. Anyway, Death Proof is still great fun, and so is all of Grindhouse.
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