“Humanoids From the Deep,” “Bloodsucking Freaks” and “Flesh Gordon.” Sound familiar?
For most of us in the MTV generation, titles like this and other exploitation films such as “Foxy Brown” are stored away in what we consider the land of cheesy, which also includes hit TV shows including “Soul Train” and “All in the Family.”
“Grindhouse” is resurrecting an era that disappeared long ago, before anyone in the current generation had a chance to experience it, so much so that Tarantino’s character, Stunt Man Mike (Kurt Russell), lists all the shows he has worked on as stunt man for a group of young women in a bar. He then has to turn to them and say, “Do you know any of the shows I am talking about?” He is then met with blank stares from the audience.
Unlike so many contemporary revivals of classic tributes, “Grindhouse” not only makes improvements to older films but also pays tribute to the genre. It is this playful respect that makes this double feature an enjoyable experience.
The film comes complete with fake previews, some directed by notable directors such as Rob Zombie, and ads for local Texas restaurants. It encompasses all that was great about the grindhouse theaters and even some of the bad with jumping frames and missing reels.
The double feature begins with “Planet Terror,” directed by Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City”), which focuses on a small town in Texas with a major zombie problem. The lead character is a stripper named Cherry (Rose McGowan). McGowan, who has already won the title of queen of controversial on the arm of Marilyn Manson, plays a woman who is forced to fight for the man she loves against killer zombies after losing her leg to them.
For women who thought walking in heels is bad, try a peg leg, like the one Cherry sports for part of the film until she upgrades to a gun for an appendage. The hero and Cherry’s love interest, Wray (Freddy Rodriguez), has a hidden past that proves to be a godsend as he shoots and kills zombies with the power only a fictional action hero could have.
“Planet Terror” encapsulates all the best elements of exploitation zombie films: excessive gore, including bloody puss sores that make an STD look like a cake walk; raunchy sex, McGowan’s opening strip tease; and the kind of corny dialogue that makes soap operas seem realistic. More importantly, “Planet Terror” makes other zombie films, like the remake of “Dawn of the Dead,” seem like they take themselves way too seriously.
Although some of the same actors from “Planet Terror,” appear in Tarantino’s “Death Proof,” it is an entirely different film. “Death Proof” is about a group of girls who are being terrorized by a psychotic former stunt man. The film is typical Tarantino style: long diatribes from various characters and a few moments of blissful violence.
The stretch for Tarantino in “Death Proof” was the script for female characters. Although the dialogue is entertaining, one has to ask, “Do women actually talk like this?” The unrealistic characters are only believable within the confines of the story, but attempting to remove them would be like plucking Mickey out of the Magic Kingdom. Although “Death Proof” starts out slow, the film provides what Tarantino does best: tell a story.
The only criticism of “Grindhouse” is the normal Tarantino problem – he is not doing anything new. These types of cheesy films have been around forever; all he is doing is recreating them. Yet, it doesn’t matter how old the story is, it is all about telling it.
“Grindhouse” does an incredible job of recreating and renewing a genre that has been ignored for way too long. We can only hope that other modern, toned down, exploitation flicks take some advice from “Grindhouse” and learn to lighten up.
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