Review of Grindhouse (2007) by Anthony B — 22 Apr 2010

Finally had the chance this past week to see "Grinhouse" the way it was originally intended to be seen as a double feature with all of the fake trailers and ads sandwiched inbetween and I have to say I was totally blown away! The movies both have a geat retro feel and a true sense of fun and I would expect nothing less from the duo Tarrantino and Rodriguez who are both huge fanboys of 60's and 70's sleaze cinema.

First up in the double feature is "Planet Terror" which is an all action zombie splatter fest which is uncompromising from start to finish and also frickin hillarious to boot! For me the casting is the strength of the movie as Freddy Rodriguez looks like he is having a whale of a time as mysterious badass El Wray, genere favourites Tom Savini, Jeff Fahey and Michael Biehn are all excellent and Rose McGowan is smokin' hot (even with only one leg!).

"Death Proof" is definitely the weaker of the two movies but should not be overlooked, when I first saw the movie upon its original standalone release I felt totally cheated but upon further viewings this Russ Meyer homage has grown on me and seeing it back to back with "Planet Terror" has given me an even greater appreciation of it. "Death Proof" is one of QT's weaker movies for sure but if you get all the references here then there is a lot of fun to be had. Kurt Russell is Fantastic as the phsychotic Stuntman Mike and he is the true driving force (no pun intended!) of the feature, whilst aussie stuntwoman Zoe Bell is fuckin annoying!!!

The mock trailers from the likes of Rob Zombie, Eli Roth and Edgar Wright are all spot on with their 70's exploitation references and the short clips all leave you wishing you could actully see the full feature. Nic Cage as FU Manchu - classic!!!