Celebrating Grindhouse: 10 Years Later
Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 1:00PM By Spencer Coile
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There was something electric in the air when I sat down at an opening night showing of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's collaborative work, Grindhouse ten years ago to this day. I was only 15 years-old at the time, crowded into a rowdy, sold-out theater. Dripping in nostalgia, the film heralded back to B-movies from the 60's and 70's that were pulpy, campy, and over-the-top in every way imaginable. This 3+ hour epic featured trailers, two films (Planet Terror from Rodriguez, Death Proof from Tarantino), and an "intermission" as a means to immerse its audience into a culture of filmmaking that had long been forgotten...
Unfortunately, not everyone was itching to climb aboard the nostalgia express and kill three hours with seemingly mindless entertainment. Grindhouse only made $25.4 million in the US (with a $53 million budget), and was later released on DVD with the two films separated-- not at all the way it was initially intended. Still, one decade later, and I still look back on that opening night with fond memories. Marley Shelton brandishing syringes, Rose McGowan donning her machine gun leg, a posse of women kicking the life out of Kurt Russell. Say what you will about the quality of the two films, but their parts make up a bloody and altogether enjoyable good time.
In very much the way Rodriguez and Tarantino did, let's hop back into our time machine and evaluate Grindhouse ten years later.
The inspiration for Grindhouse came from both Rodriguez and Tarantino's insane fascination with double-features, and everything that comes before, during, and after. This interest led to Tarantino hosting his own screenings at his house, leading the two to begin collaborating in 2003. And at long last, Grindhouse was released nationwide in 2007.
Planet Terror tells a simple enough story: a band of misfits attempt to fight off a swarm of zombies in rural Texas, led primarily by Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan), a former go-go dancer who loses her leg and has it replaced with a machine gun. Meanwhile, Death Proof finds Stuntman Mike McKay (Kurt Russell) driving around his "death proof" vehicle, praying on innocent girls, and killing them... as one does. That is, until a group of spunky women working below-the-line retaliate and chase down the man who wronged them. Interspersed are a collection of faux trailers from Rob Zombie, Edgar Wright, Eli Roth, and Rodriguez himself (his trailer, Machete, later becoming its own film). And good news for us is that each of these trailers are available on YouTube. Thankskilling is especially a treat, showing us the dangers of bouncing naked on a trampline.
Naturally, the art of creating a "grindhouse" flick is a feat unto itself. Steeped in a rich history that includes a niche audience and content not typically seen in mainstream theaters, grindhouse refers to theaters that played the odd and obscure genres, including: sci-fi, horror, and Westerns. In other words, they depicted gritter and more violent times-- making use of exploitation. And this is clearly represented in Grindhouse, where the film was literally damaged as a means to make it look like many of the exploitation films made in the 70's.
;)
Ten years later, and what makes the experience worthwhile is sitting back and soaking in all of the madness, and considering it was made from the fuels of nostalgia alone. The film works as a holistic and timeless dive into the deep end. Is there a complex message to be found underneath all of the layers to said madness? Certainly not, but there does not necessarily need to be. Instead, what we are left with is truly a spectacle; one that throws in everything but the kitchen sink to keep its audience entertained. I know that I was those ten years ago. For those willing to take the time, grab some friends, obtain both Planet Terror and Death Proof DVD's, and enjoy the sick ride that is Grindhouse.
Reader Comments (22)
Grindhouse was the film that broke me of my need to see movies with other people. No one I knew wanted to go, and I was too excited about it to miss it. So I went alone, bought popcorn (which I almost never did), and had an absolute blast. Ever sine, I haven't had any problem with going to see a movie by myself.
Also, they did eventually release the theatrical version on its own on Blu-Ray. Which was one of the things that made me upgrade my DVD player to a Blu-Ray player.
I remember being wildly disappointed with Death Proof (Planet Terror was everybit as hokey and wonderful as I expected it to be). That being said, the car chase with Zoe Bell hanging on the roof of the car was incredibly tense. That was the best part.
I think Death Proof is vastly superior than Planet Terror. An underrated gem, the film begins as an simple homage to exploitation movies and goes way beyond that with a delicious touch of woman empowerment.
They already made a genuine grindhouse movie before this exercise: From Dust Till Dawn. Which is vastly superior to both of their gobbled together features for this movie. And Planet Terror has more to do with 80s trash aesthetic than anything from the 60s and 70s. That's Tarantino's domain.
Death Proof is the better standard alone movie. And evidence that Tarantino is at his strongest when his features aren't epics in length.
I'd love for Rose McGowan to get that one role that will truly utilize her. This came close.
To me, it's one of my favorite filmgoing experiences ever. I went to see it all the way through but some people left after Planet Terror unaware there's another movie playing as I was having fun. The end of Death Proof had myself and the audience go "FUCK YEAH" as we thought it was one of the best movies ever. It still is....
10 years already?!!! I had a ball with both and I don't even think I'm the right target for them.
I have to agree with r.m. and say that Death Proof is definitely superior to Planet Terror. Don't get me wrong, the former is schlocky B-movie fun, but the latter is something better, scarier. That elongated car chase sequence at the end is masterful!
I also believe that Sidney Tamiia Poitier is excellent is Death Proof, worthy of an Oscar nomination in my books. The way she delivers Tarantino's delicious dialogue is quite spectacular.
I personally think Death Proof is one of Tarantino's better movies. I'd probably rank it fourth behind Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, and Inglorious Bastards. I found Sydney Tamiia Portier's performance mesmerizing, and I'm genuinely surprised she didn't end up a much bigger star than she is.
I also believe that Sidney Tamiia Poitier is excellent is Death Proof, worthy of an Oscar nomination in my books. The way she delivers Tarantino's delicious dialogue is quite spectacular.
You may be confusing her with Tracie Thoms who was basically the female Sam Jackson.
I was definitely in favor of this project even if I think the two individual films were both sort of second tier side projects for their respective directors.
It's a shame that they performed so badly at the box office, which was one of those periodic wake-up calls that us film fanatics sort of live in bubbles that normal film audiences are well removed from.
It is interesting to see that after this failed at the box office Tarantino seems to have buckled down and sort of reinvented himself while Rodriguez has sort of doubled down on the thrown together schlock. Gotta say, Rodriguez has had a very disappointing career since this.
I suspect I might have liked PLANET TERROR more if I'd seen it in the original double feature as planned. After it flopped in America, they split the films up. DEATH PROOF went theatrical and PLANET TERROR ultimately only went direct to home entertainment. The one benefit of this is that we got the director's cut (of sorts) of DEATH PROOF that included the best non-car chase scene. The "Down to Mexico" strip tease sequence that was taken out of GRINDHOUSE. DEATH PROOF remains one of my favourite Tarantino's. Apart from JACKIE BROWN, it's definitely the QT film I'd prefer to watch at any given moment.
Of the trailers, DON'T is clearly the best. THANKSGIVING clearly the worst. Eli Roth is terrible at even making a fake trailer.
3rtful - I too nominate Sydney Tamiia Poitier for Death Proof (she truly does make Tarantino's dialogue feel natural which is no mean feat). Vanessa Ferlito and Marley Shelton also make my Top 10.
This movie and The Devil Wears Prada put me off Tracie Thoms for some time - talk about "one note" performances. It took until her cameo in Ava DuVernay's I Will Be There for me to warm to her...
While "Dead Proof" is overall a great, thrilling film, to my taste, it's a misfire as QT completely forgets he's supposed to be shooting a BAD film and never gives up to some of his trademarks, making it obvious in every frame, he's a master winking the eye to the critics...
... in exchange, Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror", fully embraces the proposal and nails a George Romero/John Carpenter vibe and delivers an instant classic and one of the funniest films of all time, disturbing when it needs to be, hilarious in the use of conventions and cliches and rewatchable to extenuation.
Dead Proof ****
Planet Terror *****
Tarantino never sets out to make an intentionally bad movie. For all the missing reels and drops in visual and soundtrack quality for the sake of giving you a Grindhouse experience, he never wavered this was his opportunity to make a slasher film he'd never actually make if it were solely a standalone.
Tracie Thoms gives the Oscar worthy performance. Someone here said the other actresses deliver his dialogue better which is insane because he writes his Sam Jackson slanted characters to execute exactly like Tracie, Ving, Pam, Vivica, Chris, Tiny Lester, and some other black people outside of Jackson did.
I prefer Sidney, too. But, please, let's stop with every good performance being "Oscar worthy".
She does nothing in the movie performance wise. Tarantino claims he wrote the role with her in mind because she's never cast according to the specificity of herself (black and tall). Always some generic part that never alludes to who she is.
Just rewatched Death Proof and enjoyed it very much after all these years - I got the original soundtrack - the music plays such important roles in QT movies - still enjoy the Ferlito dance number in Down to Mexico as one of my favorite QT scenes - right up there with Uma Thurman/Travolta in Pulp Fiction IMO....
Spencer, I had the exact same experience watching these films opening weekend you did, which definitely added to the experience. I think Death Proof is the superior film over all. Planet Terror was fun, but I barely remember anything specific about it. It turned into a noisy mess that overstayed its welcome.
I saw this opening night midnight showing in college with three other people. We all had a blast. I do think Planet Terror is the better movie for just completely going for it while best utilizing Rose McGowen. Death Proof is not a bad movie but just not as good as the film that preceded it. That chase scene with Zoe Bell though is so frightening. But I love that even on the hood of the car she still tries to fight back by kicking at his car.
I didn't really like any of the films. Slightly prefer Death Proof, if forced to choose.
I just saw this post but Marley Shelton actually made my Supporting Actress cut for Planet Terror. EVERYTHING decision she made was pitch perfect.