Posted: 04/08/2007

Grindhouse

(2007)

by Gary Schultz

If you have been reading Film Monthly for the past four years that I have been writing for it you would know that I am a genre freak. My favorite movies are genre films. I eat them up and poop them out. Next to my love for horror films is my love for exploitation films, especially the films of Jack Hill (you can search Film Monthly for my interview with Jack Hill from May 2004). “Grindhouse” is a double feature by two directors that share my passion for so called B-movies, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, maybe you’ve have heard of them. There’s a lot to dissect about “Grindhouse”. I loved it, but it’s not going to be for everyone. It’s not supposed to be. This double feature is for ‘us’, the fans of ultra stylized 70’s gore, fast cars, T & A and over the top one-liners that compliment the ultra-violence that fills the desaturated screen. Yes it’s that freaking cool.

The 3 hour and 15 minute double feature starts out with a “fake” movie trailer (meaning movies that don’t exist) for a movie called “Machete” by Rodriguez that looks amazing and it’s rumored that Rodriguez is considering making it into a feature length film thanks to fan response. Rodriguez ‘s feature, a movie called “Planet Terror” is a zombie film about a small town sheriff department that has to deal with a plague outbreak caused by poison gas that turns people into small pox ridden zombies. Of course some military rejects are responsible and they are lead by Bruce Willis doing his best tough guy act. Damn he’s tough. This movie has fantastic stylized performances by Freddy Rodriguez and Rose McGowan on one leg. It’s the best I’ve ever seen McGowan. The supporting cast is amazing, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Marley Shelton, Naveen Andrews, Michael Parks and Tom Savini (check out FM for my interview with Tom Savini from January 2004). The action and violence never stop and when you think the movie is going to slow down, they lose the reel and get back to more action and violence.

Rodriguez made a very authentic homage to the drive-in horror film with nasty grain that fills the screen complemented by a fantastic score and a disgusting amount of gore that literally splatters the camera. Rodriguez took his favorite elements from classic horror films, and filled it with his style of action and dynamic camera moves. Usually I would say that if Rodriguez, who is a one man studio has a weakness it is his writing but this style and genre plays right into his deliberate in your face writing style and it only helped to make “Planet Terror” his best film next to “Sin City”. “Planet Terror” is an over-stylized, disgusting piece of B-movie horror drive-in nostalgia and it’s fucking amazing.

After “Planet Terror” try not to run to the bathroom because there are 3 fake trailers that are extremely entertaining, starting off with Rob Zombie’s “Werewolf Women of the SS” about a Nazi experiment to make a super soldier army of werewolf women, followed by a trailer by Edgar Wright called “Don’t” which is a spoof on 70’s British murder mysteries like “The Legend of Hell House”, that has great spot-on narration. A lastly a trailer by current American gore monger Eli Roth called “Thanksgiving”, a spoof on “Halloween” and slasher movies like “The Prowler” and “Driller Killer”. “Thanksgiving” is the most outrageous trailer of the bunch and I don’t want to spoil it but I will say you will think twice about eating the turkey.

Our second feature is called “Death Proof” by Quentin Tarantino which is a super 70’s stylized film about a psycho named Stunt Man Mike that likes to kill pretty girls with his car. Kurt Russell who is genius in this role plays Stunt Man Mike. Russell never gets enough credit. He was Snake Plissken for Christ’s Sake. He was in “The Thing” and “Tombstone”. Why the hell would they remake “Escape From New York”?!! Sorry for the rant. Tarantino’s movie starts off with feet and hot girls. There are lots of feet so if you like that we are off to a good start. Then there is lots of talking and not the usual entertaining way Tarantino delivers too much snappy dialogue but just too much talking about nothing. The story appears to be going nowhere. Enter Stunt Man Mike and things get a little cooler, then a dramatic twist and the story basically starts over 35 minutes into it. Thus far I was thinking that Rodriguez made a better film than Tarantino. Rodriguez is a talented filmmaker but Tarantino is a better writer and director so I was still waiting for something more from him.

Then “Death Proof” introduces a new group pretty ladies. This time four ladies played by Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and real life stunt girl Zoe Bell. Thoms and Bell play stunt girls in the movie take a daredevil ride that Bell performs herself. Enter Stunt Man Mike and one of the most amazing car stunts and chases I have ever seen. It’s so simple and so good. This is edge of your seat material that is hard not to spoil. I think stylistically and aesthetically “Death Proof” was everything I had hoped for however I feel that structurally it could have used 10 minutes of story stopping dialogue cut from it. I like films that build slowly and I understand what Tarantino was trying to do and in many ways he was successful but sometimes he enjoys himself too much and it can cost the movie. Is that a crime? I mean Tarantino could film grass growing and it would still be entertaining.

In films like “Pulp Fiction”, “Kill Bill”, “From Dusk Till Dawn”, and “Road Racers” to name a few Tarantino and Rodriguez normally have a large amount of homage paid to classic films they are borrowing ideas from. I was worried that when they attempted sometime like “Grindhouse” which is a deliberate borrowing of story and genre aesthetic that they could possible create something that felt like a cheapened version of what it is trying to be, or a “Go-Bot” version of a “Transformers” movie if you will. Something that would fall short of expectations. That isn’t the case with “Grindhouse”. It delivers exactly what you would expect and is a strong throwback to my favorite eras of filmmaking the 70’s and 80’s. “Death Proof” actually references many of the films it is paying homage too and in “Planet Terror” the Jack Hill movie “The Big Bird Cage” actually inspires the rapist character to go and attempt to rape one of the prisoners.

One last geeky fan boy point I will make is that the exploitation films of filmmakers like Jack Hill were amazing because what was shot and put on screen was only what was necessary to tell the story and sell the film. Roger Corman knew that beautiful women would help sell the movie so Jack Hill would find a way to write an intriguing story that just so happened to have a dozen beautiful women in it. But a filmmaker like Jack Hill would make these films on budget’s of 100K -500K and on a schedule that ranged from 12- 25 days whereas on “Grindhouse” they spent over 50 million and I’m sure much longer than 4 weeks shooting to achieve the same aesthetic. Makes you wonder why a great filmmaker like Jack Hill hasn’t had a studio make one of his films since 1982. It would seem that a filmmaker that can shoot cheap, quick and get the kind of results that would inspire two of the most creative filmmakers of modern times Tarantino and Rodriguez would have studios all over him to make another feature. Good luck Jack. For the rest of you go see “Grindhouse”.

Gary Schultz is a filmmaker in Chicago who wishes Rodriguez and Tarantino would have asked him to make a fake trailer for Grindhouse.

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