Perhaps, in a general sense, this is the spirit that Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino were trying to channel when they produced "Grindhouse," a double feature complete with faux movie trailers and 70s-era "Feature Presentation" screens. The presentation, with a running time of three hours and 11 minutes, may seem a bit much to the casual viewer, but those dedicated procrastinators who brave it will be rewarded with a supremely entertaining and well-executed trip back to a bygone era of theatergoing. Sporting absurd plots, damaged film and missing reels, "Planet Terror" and "Death Proof," the two full-length features, are at once an homage to and an out-and-out satire of 70s low-budget exploitation cinema. Think "Dawn of the Dead," "The Car," "Vanishing Point," "Zombie Flesh Eaters" and just about any other cult film stripped down to the very core of what makes it entertaining, and then executed by competent directors with a genuine sense of humor.
To be sure, the features are straight-up exploitation flicks, with enough sex (although never shown on screen), violence and corny one-liners to give obscenity censors nightmares. These films are not for the faint of heart. However, it is all presented in such an overblown and satirical context that it teeters on the absurd, inciting belly laughs rather than cringes. A particular scene in "Planet Terror," featuring a heavily armed assassin escaping a horde of zombies on a mini-motorcycle comes to mind here. These are not the thinking man's movies-attempting to rationalize the plots can only result in heavy brain-cell death-but that is precisely the point. The films are intended to be too much fun to have to make sense, and in this they largely succeed.
"Planet Terror," the first of the two, is in many ways your stereotypical zombie movie. A small band of survivors must work together to survive the outbreak of a horrible disease that turns their neighbors into flesh-eating monsters. Throw in a hilariously terrible performance by Rose McGowan, a cameo by Bruce Willis and Fergie having her brain scooped out of her skull, and you have a recipe for non-stop mindless entertainment.
The energy is high from the very beginning, with corny dialogue, character stereotypes and gratuitous gore laid on so heavily that by the time credits roll, viewers are left wondering where their hour went and why their sides hurt from laughing so much. Robert Rodriguez is great when he's not trying to take himself seriously ("Desperado," anyone?) and revels in the campiness that made his career. This film features perhaps the most well-timed missing reel in cinema history, and Rodriguez uses the effect so well you find yourself thankful that it's not there. He maneuvers 70s film tropes with a virtuosity that is almost frightening, using all of the elements that made B-movies so banal in the 70s to make "Planet Terror" original and fun.
"Death Proof," Tarantino's contribution, is a bit more choppy than Rodriguez's honest attempt. The story of a deranged stuntman who murders young women with his "death-proof" stunt car, it fluctuates between viscerally engrossing and mildly boring. Tarantino indulges his ego and his penchant for writing great dialogue a bit too much here, and the end result is two incredible car chases spaced by two only somewhat interesting and far-too-long dialogue bits. Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike really steals the show here, and deserves far more screen time than he got, especially in the movie's latter half. Although the film causes "Grindhouse" as a whole to lose some of its energy, Tarantino's camera work truly shines when portraying the vehicular mayhem, producing two of the most intense and nail-biting driving scenes that Hollywood has produced in years, if not ever.
While the films stand decently on their own, together they make for an inseparable and delicious package that keeps viewers glued to the screen. The complete presentation is a blast to a past most of us didn't get to experience and, after this movie, probably won't ever get to again. If you have the time to kill, throw together a few friends and make the trek down to Cinemark to see it. You may find yourself having something you haven't had in a long time at a movie: genuine fun.