Spring Break
Grinding Down The House
Movie Review
Fernando Dutra
Issue date: 4/9/07 Section: Focus
In "Grindhouse," directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino attempt to recreate the ambience of watching the old school exploitation films, which, as interviews have shown, both of them revere. Grind-houses reached their peak popularity in the 1960s and 1970s and were known for showing two B-list exploitation films back-to-back. The purpose of a grind-house film was not to inform or provide some form of mental sustenance; it merely served to entertain with its extreme content. By saluting this genre of film, both Rodriguez and Tarantino effortlessly deliver their sleaziest efforts to date. Every single aspect of "Grindhouse" is over-the-top and ludicrous, complete with nudity, violence, gore, language and atrocious voiceovers.
One alluring factor of "Grindhouse" is its determination to recreate the grind-house environment, complete with faux trailers for upcoming films. One fake trailer precedes Rodriguez's "Planet Terror," called "Machete" (also directed by Rodriguez), telling a hilarious story of revenge. In between Rodriguez's and Tarantino's films are three other trailers created by other directors. These include Edgar Wright's "Don't" ("Shaun of the Dead"), Rob Zombie's "Werewolf Women of the SS" ("House of 1000 Corpses"), and Eli Roth's "Thanksgiving" ("Hostel"). Each one of these trailers addresses a different genre of horror film, including British zombie, Frankensteinian and slasher, respectively.
Throughout the films, the screen is grainy (particularly Rodriguez's), and the film reels are scratched, strained, burned or completely missing (always at the most inopportune moments).
The first feature film is Rodriguez's "Planet Terror," a tribute to extremely cheesy zombie flicks. Of the two films Rodriguez's is the most condensed and action packed as he cycles through several characters' stories in a little less than an hour and a half. The short explanation of the plot is that there is some sort of toxic gas that is being spread around the world that turns people into zombies while, of course, survivors attempt to flee before being exposed to the gas. The result is plenty of gore and over-the-top violence with tremendous parallels to Rodriguez's own "Sin City" (complete with a jar of testicles), which includes Rose McGowan as Cherry Darling's leg being gnawed off and Stacy Ferguson (Fergie) as Tammy being mauled and torn to pieces, both done by zombies. Thrown into the mix is Freddy Rodriguez as Wray, Darling's ex-lover who promises to protect her, Marley Shelton as Dr. Dakota Block, Tammy's lover who was supposed to meet up with her before discovering she was gutted by zombies, and Josh Brolin as the suspecting, conniving, and jealous husband. "Planet Terror" provides just enough to keep the plot moving, wasting little time on character development and supplying cheesy dialogue amidst its languid score and choppy camera work, all done for effect.
One alluring factor of "Grindhouse" is its determination to recreate the grind-house environment, complete with faux trailers for upcoming films. One fake trailer precedes Rodriguez's "Planet Terror," called "Machete" (also directed by Rodriguez), telling a hilarious story of revenge. In between Rodriguez's and Tarantino's films are three other trailers created by other directors. These include Edgar Wright's "Don't" ("Shaun of the Dead"), Rob Zombie's "Werewolf Women of the SS" ("House of 1000 Corpses"), and Eli Roth's "Thanksgiving" ("Hostel"). Each one of these trailers addresses a different genre of horror film, including British zombie, Frankensteinian and slasher, respectively.
Throughout the films, the screen is grainy (particularly Rodriguez's), and the film reels are scratched, strained, burned or completely missing (always at the most inopportune moments).
The first feature film is Rodriguez's "Planet Terror," a tribute to extremely cheesy zombie flicks. Of the two films Rodriguez's is the most condensed and action packed as he cycles through several characters' stories in a little less than an hour and a half. The short explanation of the plot is that there is some sort of toxic gas that is being spread around the world that turns people into zombies while, of course, survivors attempt to flee before being exposed to the gas. The result is plenty of gore and over-the-top violence with tremendous parallels to Rodriguez's own "Sin City" (complete with a jar of testicles), which includes Rose McGowan as Cherry Darling's leg being gnawed off and Stacy Ferguson (Fergie) as Tammy being mauled and torn to pieces, both done by zombies. Thrown into the mix is Freddy Rodriguez as Wray, Darling's ex-lover who promises to protect her, Marley Shelton as Dr. Dakota Block, Tammy's lover who was supposed to meet up with her before discovering she was gutted by zombies, and Josh Brolin as the suspecting, conniving, and jealous husband. "Planet Terror" provides just enough to keep the plot moving, wasting little time on character development and supplying cheesy dialogue amidst its languid score and choppy camera work, all done for effect.
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