Grindhouse

I’d like to begin my review with a little explanation of the circumstances in which I happened to see Grindhouse. For most of you fine people on MoFo, Grindhouse has come and gone in theatres and is currently available on DVD, with Planet Terror and Death Proof probably released separately. No such luck for Australia, one of the countries where Grindhouse was divided up and released separately (as I recall, Planet Terror didn’t even get a theatrical release, only just coming out on DVD). From what I gathered, Grindhouse proper was played briefly in a few theatres across the country but pretty much everyone missed it, your humble narrator included. Recently, a local theatre held a special offer – Grindhouse would be playing in its entirety (both movies back-to-back with mock trailers included) for one week only. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to watch it and got my ticket. I was not disappointed.

The “one-week” circumstances were a brilliant addition to the atmosphere that made Grindhouse immensely enjoyable. Just like the days when films would ship from town to town a week at a time, these films could be properly appreciated by people who would like it. Nobody was going to walk off the street and treat it as an idle way to blow a couple of hours like any ordinary mindless movie. The entire audience at the showing I went to had, like me, bought their tickets a week in advance and had planned on quite simply enjoying a spot of gloriously over-the-top “trash” cinema. Countless laughs and the odd groan were had over the course of the three-hour running time. This is the kind of experience watching the DVD at home quite simply can’t produce.

What does this say about Grindhouse itself? Lots. Even though the film’s quality (in every sense of the word) is debatable, there’s no denying just how freaking enjoyable the whole thing is. The mood was set within the first few minutes with Rodriguez’s trailer for Machete; three minutes’ worth of Danny Trejo taking names and kicking ass. Everyone watching knew how ludicrous the trailer was, but they lapped it up anyway. Trashy, yes, but at least it’s good trash. That leads onto the first “feature presentation”, Planet Terror.

I’m fond of citing Planet Terror as my favourite of Grindhouse’s two halves. Maybe it’s because I have a soft spot for zombie movies and John Carpenter movies, both of which receive ample homage in PT. Having seen the bulk of Rodriguez’s filmography, I knew what I could expect – questionable plot and dialogue coupled with plenty of stunning special effects. That was certainly the case – granted, it’s a zombie movie, I can accept substandard plot and dialogue. In Planet Terror’s case both were actually fairly decent (or at least they weren’t what I’d refer to as “Transformers bad”). As for “stunning special effects”, I can’t argue. Rodriguez sides with effects group KNB for his own grotesque take on zombies – as bulbous, goo-spurting mutants that would make Peter Jackson proud. Other than that, Rodriguez’s penchant for explosions and action shines through. Even the simple “machine-gun leg” in the film’s third act managed to impress me a lot more than I expected.

Even though the film ends on a somewhat happier note than I’d have liked, all in all Planet Terror was great, although its “horror” quality is debatable – like 2004’s Dawn of the Dead remake, it’s more like an action movie with zombies in it. Doesn’t make it any less fun.

Then come a few more fake trailers. I have to admit I think the fake trailer gimmick was pretty impressive, offering a brief glimpse into some shamelessly amusing pieces of trash. Seriously, I wonder if anyone would ever consider producing full-length versions of these movies. Anyway, my favourite of the bunch would have to be Eli Roth’s trailer for slasher film Thanksgiving. What can I say? It manages to be both dark and funny, often at the same time.

That leads to the second half, Tarantino’s Death Proof. I might state that prior to seeing Grindhouse proper, I saw both halves in their extended DVD versions. Having said that, I do believe that the shorter versions used in Grindhouse are superior, especially in the case of Death Proof. Mainly because, quite honestly, Death Proof is fairly hard to sit through. After being charged on Planet Terror and a series of intense trailers, having to change gears and watch a movie that is one-third car chase and two-thirds girl talk is a bit too much of a jolt, so to speak. As such, when watched as part of Grindhouse, Death Proof feels slooooooow.

At least, the first half does anyway. When you first watch Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell, giving a decent performance but nothing spectacular) change from amiable stuntman to psychotic stuntman, the movie gets ramped up a few notches. Then it gets pulled back down again as you get subjected to more girl talk, albeit actually interesting (maybe because of stuntwoman Zöe Bell, who steals the show with a thick Kiwi accent and a love of dangerous driving). Just when it begins to drag, along comes Death Proof’s (and ostensibly Grindhouse’s) climatic point, a twenty-minute car chase through the Tennessee countryside. It all comes to a conclusion that is quite honestly blunt and pretty predictable, but that doesn’t deter the audience, who cheered and clapped the end of three hours’ worth of so-bad-it’s-excellent cinema.

And now here comes the fun part, trying to come up with a rating for Grindhouse as a whole. I wonder just exactly where my enjoyment of the film itself ends and where my enjoyment of the experience I had watching the film with other trash lovers begins. I feel like giving it , but I wonder if that’s because of the experience I had and not just the movie itself. Do I still do it?

Hell, of course I do. This is my review thread.