If the trailers didn't make it obvious already, "Grindhouse" is not for the squeamish. The new film, a double feature by Robert Rodriguez ("Sin City") and Quentin Tarantino ("Kill Bill") aims to capture and repurpose the energy of the gore-filled B-movies the directors watched as kids, and in this endeavor, they are successful. That doesn't mean everyone's going to like it, though.
Rodriguez and Tarantino took different approaches to channeling their beloved exploitation films. Rodriguez pulls together all the horror B-movie genres' most intense elements and creates an exaggerated tribute with zombie-flick "Planet Terror." On the other hand, in "Death Proof," Tarantino intellectualizes a rather basic plot about a former stuntman driver-turned-psycho-killer with the kind of smart, colorful dialogue he's known for.
Rodriguez's approach is more in tune with the "Grindhouse" idea, but Tarantino's is easier to watch. In "Planet Terror," a chemical accident leads to a horrifying contagion that turns the residents of a small Texas town into deformed zombies. Freddy Rodriguez and Rose McGowan lead a gun-wielding band of nonzombies in a quest to escape - and of course take out anyone or anything that gets in their way. Oh, yeah, and McGowan has a machine gun for a peg leg.
Unlike the zombies of George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead," who merely had pale complexions, these creatures have large, pulsating boils that pop and squirt blood. All that in combination with a fair share of limb chopping and ball squeezing will make for an experience that's either extremely painful or truly hilarious. It depends on who's watching.
Those who fall into "extremely painful" camp will likely find Tarantino's "Death Proof" a breath of fresh air. Unlike "Planet Terror," which is all about visceral thrills, "Death Proof" is heavy on dialogue and character development. Kurt Russell displays an awesome range of emotions as Stuntman Mike, and Rosario Dawson is infinitely more likable than anyone in Rodriguez's movie.
"Grindhouse" also includes four fictional trailers, and they're all great. Robert Rodriguez's "Machete" trailer opens the film, and starts "Grindhouse" with a bang. The three guest-directed trailers that appear between the main two films are even better. It might not be saying much, but Rob Zombie's "Werewolf Women of the S.S." trailer is better than any film he's ever made. "Hostel" director Eli Roth's "Thanksgiving," an obvious "Black Christmas" tribute, is astonishingly gross. And "Shaun of the Dead" director Edgar Wright's "Don't" is a hilarious homage to movie trailers that try to cover up that the film is actually in a foreign language.
For those that have lost count, "Grindhouse" includes two feature films and four trailers. So yeah, it's pretty long - three hours and five minutes, to be exact. Add in the commercials and previews for actual coming attractions, and that's almost four hours at the cinema. That's cool for film geeks, but it might be a bit too much for general audiences, especially students with heavy workloads. For those who do find the time, however, at least remember not to drink too much Cherry Coke before going. "Grindhouse" is what it's advertised to be: a tribute to the gross-out B-movies of yore. Those who've been waiting for the film with bated breath will likely think it's the greatest thing ever, but those who think it looks horrible and gross are not likely to change their minds.
