Death Proof- Grindhouse

This is the other part of the Grindhouse double feature (along with Planet Terror) put out by the Weinstein group. This film is written and directed by Quentin Tarantino . It doesn’t have the old look that Rodriguez used in Planet Terror but it does have a very “grindhouse” look to it nonetheless. I was quite pleased with the look and direction (not surprising from Tarantino) and I feel it made an ok script much better than it should have been.

The first half takes place in the same town as Planet Terror before the events in that movie and contains several of those characters. Kurt Russell plays a former stuntman who has turned madman hunting down young women in his “death proof” car. The first part is ok but pretty much only exists to have you root more for the women in the second half. Kurt plays the part pretty well but honestly seems like pretty much every other character he ever plays. Most of the women’s parts were played pretty well though and you do find yourself rooting for them. The last half does have a pretty great car chase scene which seems to be the entire point of the movie. While an ok movie with some good parts it is far from Tarantino’s best work and greatly outshone by Rodriguez’s effort on Grindhouse.

My rating 7 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

Planet Terror- Grindhouse

Planet Terror is a part of the Grindhouse double feature that was put out by The Weinstein Company. This one was written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The movies even had fake movie trailers between them, which were way over the top. One of them (Machete) is actually being made, and had one of the best trailer taglines ever. “They just fucked with the wrong Mexican.” How can you not want to see that movie after hearing that? This movie was processed to really feel like you were watching a movie form the 70s, with tons of scratches on the film and often made to look like parts of the film had warped or burned. I felt this effect really worked well and added a very nice touch. It was particularly great when He used a missing reel gag.

A bio-chemical spill has started transforming a small town into flesh eating zombie-like creatures. A group of various people happened to be immune and fight for their lives and freedom. So it sounds like a nice cliché Day of the dead remake right? Wrong, this movie takes a lot of the clichés to a new level. It looks like a b movie and even has many things that would be seen in a B horror movie but actually makes them work. Some of the things are so freaking cheesy but I found myself liking them and rooting for the characters even more. I found myself rewinding the DVD at least 4 times to see parts over again. I mean Rose McGowan gets her leg eaten of and replaces it with a machine gun and it is fantastic. This movie is over the top in every area. The gore is absolutely of the charts. It has been a good while since I have seen a movie this gory.

I will not say much more so as not to ruin it for those that haven’t seen it, but trust me in that this movie is worth seeing. I would rate this as one of the best zombie movies of all-time.

My rating 9 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.