Grindhouse

There was a time that you probably don't remember (OK, so I pretty much don't remember it either, but that's neither here nor there) when you had what was called a "double feature". No, not a bloody movie marathon, this was just two movies. A "double feature". We had them mostly at drive-in cinemas (Now I do remember watching something like that as a child, although I think the second movie was a bit more adult, so I had to sleep through it, although my sister and I discovered you watch the movie in the reflection of the rear window. We were cunning chappies...).

Anyway, in America, the double feature would invariably be two "B" movies, back to back, and this became known as "Grindhouse". A few years back, Robert Rodriquez and Quentin Tarantino decided to revive it, and they made two movies - Death Proof and Planet Terror - that were going to be shown Grindhouse style.

Well in America they were. Everywhere else they were going to be single releases. If they could be bothered. In Australia, apparently, we got one of them, despite being promised the Grindhouse. In defiance of this I chose not to see it at the cinemas. So I bought the two DVDs and decided to have my own Grindhouse.

And, lo...it was good.

Let's kick off with the first movie, Death Proof. This is essentially about a group of girls who get stalked by a mad stuntman in a car which is deathproof. The mad stalker is Kurt Russell, and after he deals with the girls he goes after a second group which doesn't quite go as he planned. Let me start off by saying this is a pretty good movie, but there are some things that are slightly odd about the whole situation. Firstly, the film is wonderfully scratched and faded as though it were made in the 70s UNTIL halfway though - then it becomes black and white, but clean. Then it becomes colour. To be honest, it's pretty disappointing that they didn't just have it colour and scratched all the way through, because the effect is so marvelous it's not funny. The other thing that is a little confusing is the fact that everyone is dressed in a 70s style and they all drive 70s vehicles, but its not until someone brings out a mobile phone you realise it is actually set in the modern times. This is really annoying because initially you just think that they are just annoying inconsistencies. With the Tarantino dialogue resulting in quite long scenes, the whole effect just screams 1970s - and then you see a magazine with CSI on the front cover. Confusing. However, those are pretty much aesthetic problems (although given so much is made of the whole Grindhouse aim, it's quite important). Plotwise the movie is great, with a quite surprising and immensely satisfying ending. However...after the first half of the film, the movie loses momentum as it seems to just replay the first half with a different cast. It's probably worth recognising that this is the extended release and not the actual "grindhouse" version, and that might have made a significant difference. Overall the movie is fantastic, and it's too much fun revelling in the 70s feel in the first half.
Between the two movies (and tacked onto the beginning of Planet Terror) is a preview for a movie called Machete which just looks so appalling it's great. I hear that Rodriguez has decided to actually make the movie rather than just leave it as a preview spoof. Bring it on :)

Planet Terror is actually my favourite of the two movies. Unlike Death Proof there is no time where the movie ever loses momentum - in fact, rather entertainingly, at one point in the movie we get a "Reel Missing" slide and the movie skips over details which is extremely clever. Also, unlike Death Proof, the 70s fading and scratching lasts the entire movie meaning consistency never seems to be lost. This movie is most definitely made to be "so bad it's good" and as such when Rose McGowan gets a machine gun tacked onto her recently amputated leg, all you can do is laugh at how absurd the situation is. The movie is also astonishingly gory, with melting heads, the grossest pustules on a tongue (which are then popped!), limbs severed and people getting eaten alive. Oh yes, didn't I mention that this was a zombie flick? Oh, but it is...

At the end of the day, I would have killed to see this on the big screen. The movies are both fantastic in their own rights and the throwback to the 70s is really nostalgic, even for someone who doesn't actually remember the seventies, not being in it for most of the time.

"A-"