Back in the good old, schlockyold 1970s, a grindhouse was the indoor, inner-city equivalent of a run-down drive-in.
Cheapy exploitation flicks with some combination of scantily clad babes-in-peril, souped-up vehicles, hardcore violence and sadistic evil doers in human or supernatural form played where whole scratchy reels of the double feature might be missing, acting and sound effects were overwrought to the point of high camp, scripts might as well have been used as toilet paper, and coming attraction trailers promised even worse (and thus better) guilty pleasures in future.
Director-writers Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez both came to fame for elevating pulpy fiction genre flicks to high bloody art. Now they have joined forces to recreate a retro experience in two separate hour-and-a-half long “features” — punctuated by a handful of off-the-wall B-movie trailer spoofs — for the much-hyped “Grindhouse.”
The result is a daring concept with several moments of nostalgic reverie for dotty senior cinephiles who got their jollies the first time around from, say, 1974’s “Dirty Mary Crazy Larry” or any girls-in-prison yarn starring busty Sybil Danning (who shows up in a quick cameo here). Younger fans of kitsch and Tarantino’s trademark dialogue won’t be disappointed either.
Unfortunately, the most important thing about the grindhouse was this: THE MOVIES WERE, LIKE, REALLY BAD!
The first “feature” is Rodriguez’s goofy/nasty zombie saga “Planet Terror.” It showcases flesh-eating former humans with oozing viral pustules facing off against the feisty uninfected led by an amputee heroine (a va-va-vooming Rose McGowan) with a machine gun as her prosthetic leg. (Take that, Heather Mills!)
Tarantino’s second feature, “Death Proof,” is a chick revenge thriller with a crazed stalker, Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike, who gets off on using his tank-like hot rod to smash up sexy young women.
The wildly co-mingled casts of the segments include at least one veteran from the original grindhouse repertory (Michael Parks) alongside unbilled major stars slumming (Bruce Willis, Nicolas Cage), cool stars of the moment (Rosario Dawson, pop singer Fergie, Freddy Rodríguez), today’s version of D-listers (Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn) plus some great kick-butt hot chicks to watch out for (Tracie Thoms, Marley Shelton, Zoe Bell).
But, however heady the mix, in these modern days of DVD not everyone will want to sit through over three hours of them without a pause button at the expensive multiplex. “Grindhouse” ultimately proves that cheesy is cheesy — however clever the satire, whatever the budget.
‘Grindhouse’
3/5 stars
Starring: Rose McGowan, Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Freddy Rodríguez
Director: Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino
Rated R for strong graphic bloody violence and gore, pervasive language, some sexuality, nudity and drug use
