(Originally written April 13, 2007)

Grindhouse is one of the most thoroughly enjoyable movie experiences I have had in a long time. Similar to the way in which Borat took the medium of film and perverted it for the masses in a refreshing way, directors Rodriguez and Tarantino have created a film that captures the joy of going to the movies. This double feature featuring two films, Planet Terror and Death Proof, is a ride that dwells in the carnal pleasures of blood, skin, and cars.

Robert Rodriguez’s segment is Planet Terror, a zombie film with a plot concerning toxic chemicals that never completely makes sense, but the specifics do not matter. The basics involve a toxic gas that turns people into flesh-eating monsters, and those not infected with the gas must fight the monsters off to save civilization. The dialogue is awful, and perhaps Rodriguez was smart enough to use the format of the B-movie double feature in a way that excuses any missteps in terms of the dialogue. There are a lot of unexplained moments, and a fake “missing reel” meant to simulate the experience of being in a run-down movie theatre allows Rodriguez to dodge the challenge of actually having to answer any real questions. There are several independent plots involving a woman cheating on her husband with another woman, a policeman attempting to get his brother’s secret barbeque recipe and even a romance, and these different stories are brought together as the characters battle against the zombies.

This is definitely the sleazier of the two films. The trashy tone is established from the opening scene showing Rose McGowan as a go-go dancer in a bar. Rodriquez makes the film that Tarantino would have made towards the beginning of the career. It is an explosion of violence with little substance, yet the adrenaline of the film itself propels the story forward. The film has a lot of shock moments that have audience members vocally expressing disgust, as when a doctor describes one of the victim’s cases as a no-brainer, then turning over the body to reveal that the description was literal. There are also a lot of memorable tongue-in-cheek gags that allow this movie to be over-the-top fun, including the well-publicized image Rose McGowan with a machine gun for a leg.