Grindhouse

“Grindhouse” is not your average movie. It’s a three-hour, creative ode to a particular slice of pop culture history. Named for the urban theaters in the sixties and seventies that would “grind out” low-budget, exploitation films, these classic movie palaces would frequently show two features back to back, sometimes starring the same heroes and villain

Kurt Russell, Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Rosario Dawson, Josh Brolin, Bruce Willis, Marley Shelton, Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Parks, Zoe Bell, Danny Trejo, Nicholas Cage, Tracie Thoms, Vanessa Ferlito, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Jordan Ladd, Stacy Ferguson, Naveen Andrews

“Grindhouse” is not your average movie. It’s a three-hour, creative ode to a particular slice of pop culture history. Named for the urban theaters in the sixties and seventies that would “grind out” low-budget, exploitation films, these classic movie palaces would frequently show two features back to back, sometimes starring the same heroes and villains. Good acting was not a requirement and a cohesive plot meant even less as long as there was plenty of bone-crushing violence and gratuitous sex. As youngsters, directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez were huge fans of this genre whose influence has been seen earlier in films like Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Rodriguez’ “Sin City”.

In Rodriguez’ “Planet Terror” a government-created plague is turning a town’s citizens into flesh-eating zombies. In true grindhouse fashion, Rodriguez fills the screen with sexy women, bloody battles and plenty of humor. Rose McGowan is terrific as the amputee with a machine gun for a leg. Bruce Willis and Tarantino play infected soldiers whose deaths are two of the most grossly hysterical moments in the film. But some of the scariest characters are the non-infected.

Kurt Russell plays serial killer Stuntman Mike in “Death Proof” where the cars are the stars. Just as he does in all his films, Tarantino puts diverse characters into unique circumstances and thoroughly mixes it with mundane dialogue and insane violence. In one exhilarating sequence real life stuntwoman Zoe Bell precariously hangs onto the hood of a speeding car in what has got to be one of the greatest chase scenes in cinematic history.

You’ll hate yourself later if you miss the trailers shown at the beginning and during the intermission of “Grindhouse”. Rob Zombie (“House of 1000 Corpses”), Eli Roth (“Hostel”) and Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead”) each created fictional trailers to films that were never made (but we wish they were). My personal favorite is Roth’s “Thanksgiving” where turkeys aren’t the only victims of a hatchet-wielding killer. The trailers add to the “Grindhouse” experience as a whole, not just two movies strung together.

You’ll not find enlightenment in this film, nor any redeeming value to speak of. Just like the movies that inspired it, “Grindhouse” is pure entertainment and that’s enough.

Rating :
Reviewer : Tim Basham