Good gravy Marie! Grindhouse, simply put, is badass cinema. Rodgriguez and Tarantino have definitely achieved, if not the real thing, an illusionary “grindhouse experience” in the modern cinema. The faux trailers, the films Planet Terror and Death Proof and the 1970’s film effect devices are all spot on, brilliant execution of the exploitation (film school vocabulary alert) mise en scène. From my experience and the commerical performance thus far, Grindhouse is probably not a movie most people are going to enjoy — at least as much as I did. It certainly helps if you’re a film geek and/or a Rodriguez + Tarantino fan although both typically go hand in hand. These films are mastabatory in their nature; similar to Sin City and Kill Bill, they are a celebration of a genre and not (necessarily) original or unique cinematic achievements. Then again, if they pulled off true exploitation, you would expect a lot of people to see these films. A few reasons why…
Planet Terror
Zombies, truly over-the-top gore, pointless explosions and a dripping-with-sex hot Rose McGowan are the exploits in this film. Aside from that, some brilliant and memorable performances from Freddy Rodriguez as Wray, Jeff Fahey as J.T. and Josh Brolin as Dr. Brock. The story itself is a logic-free zombie fest involving Austin, TX being overwhelmed by a military designed virus which leaks from the nearby military base (2 miles). Not much of the city is shown since the story occurs in one evening. Also because, staying true to the genre, the locations are limited to a hospital set, J.T’s BBQ restaurant and the military base. Anyone who has spent time on or around the Austin Studios should recognize some of those scenes.
Planet Terror plays out similar to From Dusk Till Dawn - the violence, gore and witty cliches (is that a paradox?) bring the viewer to exhaustion by the end. I also found myself exhausted from laughing, specifically at the gore - and Naveen Andrew’s love of balls. The film is fun but the old-film reel effects, gore and pyrotechnics are possibly overused. Then again, that’s probably the point.
Death Proof
A fellow Austin-transplant and I commented that we might as well had written the first act of Death Proof. The film opens on the skull and lightining bolt Dodge Charger driving on the scenic portion of Spicewood Springs - a drive I have made too many times to count. From the shot of the Alamo Drafthouse downtown on Colorado (on it’s way to relocation on 6th street), continuing with Guero’s and finally the Texas Chili Parlor with some not-so-subtle product placement courtesy of Shiner Bock, I felt like I was back in Austin hanging out in some of my old dives. Of course, this all goes down hill when Stuntman Mike goes homicidal and we’re transplanted to Tennessee for the second act (there is no third).
Death Proof, in typical Tarantino fashion, is heavy on the dialogue and build up but the payoff is well worth it. The exploitation and film effects are not as heavy as Planet Terror as the film seems to be focused on two things: sex and high-speed car chases. For the fans, another exploitation involves the noticeable tie-ins to some other Tarantino films. The most obvious is the mention of a Big Kahuna Burger. Of course, there isn’t a Big Kahuna Burger restaurant in Austin but I believe the last time I went to Hutt’s Hamburgers on 6th, they offered a Big Kahuna burger.
The cameos of the Kill Bill characters did not unnoticed during the film. Earl McGraw and his “Number One Son” reprise their characters from the El Paso church scenes in Kill Bill (vol. 1). Earl McGraw, played by Michael Parks also has a brilliant cameo in Planet Terror but the tie-in to Kill Bill is a little more obvious in Death Proof. Also reprising his character is Jasper, the necrophiliac friend of “Buck” from Kill Bill who adds some more weight to his scenes in Death Proof if you remember his “lip-biting” performance in Volume 1.
The last nod to Tarantino’s previous films is Tarantino’s obvious foot fetish. For some reason, I never caught on to his love of the female foot before now. That seems ridiculous when you consider the foot massage debate from Pulp Fiction; Tarantino drinking tequila off of Salma Hayek’s feet in From Dusk Till Dawn; Bridget Fonda’s toe-ring in Jackie Brown; Uma Thurman’s struggle to wiggle her big toe in Kill Bill vol. 1; and Uma squishing Elle Driver’s eyeball between her toes in Kill Bill vol. 2. Okay, maybe that last example is a bit of a stretch. But in Death Proof, I noticed at least a handfull of gratuitous female feet shots. Clearly for Tarantino, giving a woman a foot massage is in the same ballpark…
The Grindhouse Trailers
Rodriguez’ Machete was probably the best, followed by Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving, Rob Zombie’s Werewolf Women of the S.S. and Edgar Wright’s Don’t. I was hoping that the winner of Rodriguez’ SXSW Grindhouse trailer competition would have made it to the final print. Unfortunately, it didn’t but one of the prizes for winning the contest was that the trailer will be included on the Grindhouse DVD. I have watched this trailer numerous times over the past few weeks for a good laugh so it’s worth posting as a tribute to the excellence of cinema all of these filmmakers have put together. So without further adieu, here is Hobo With a Shotgun: