Grindhouse

Grindhouse is without a doubt one of the most ambitious and knowingly bizarre would-be blockbusters in recent memory. Underground cinema auteurs cum megastar action movies maestros Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez have teamed up for a two-part frenzy of campy, indulgent, and unapologetic carnage styled to match the cheaply made grade-z exploitation films of the 1970s. It’s not just one film; it’s two films (one by each respective director). Even better, it’s a 200 minute movie experience unlike any other contemporary works. It rehashes old, vintage 70s logos and fabricates trailers for “upcoming” grindhouse movies (directors like Rob Zombie, Eli Roth, and Edgar Wright help supply these previews). It even pretends that the film reels have been damaged, censored, or simply gone missing on multiple occasions. It’s the concept that makes this an unprecedented venture (at least for modern age theaters anyway). I actually witnessed many people leave after the first half of the film thinking they’d seen it all or ponder to themselves why they had never heard of Rob Zombie’s “Werewolf Women of the S.S.” before and why the trailer was snuck into the center of this film. I had thought there’d been enough press to fully inform people of what to expect here, but apparently a lot of people still didn’t get what was happening on the screen in front of them. For the record, the trailers are not real (at least, not yet) and there are two films here not just one. So, be aware of what’s actually happening.

It’s also important to be aware that these are not typical Hollywood films. They’re defined by raunchy, bloodthirsty, exploitation. It’s not that the directors lack logical minds or are incapable of constructing more competently rational narratives. They know that what they are doing is ridiculous and that’s what makes it so much fun. There are so many unclever, unremarkable films featuring stupid stories and over the top gore, but rarely are they handled as masterfully, and with such a self aware giddiness as these two films.

Rodriguez begins the double-feature with “Planet Terror,” a truly disgusting and utterly bizarre zombie movie. Rose McGowan, an acting talent who has hardly made a dent in popular culture in all the years of her subversive career, somehow landed the leading role of Cherry in this film and it’s an inspired piece of casting. McGowan has now found a place in film iconography as a one legged woman with a machine gun attached to her mutilated stump. That concept alone makes Rodriguez’s crowded, incoherent segment worth your attention. It’s made even better by the fact that McGowan is actually a far superior actress than I had expected. It’s more than just the physicality that she brings to the role. She really does humanize Cherry despite the fact that she’s a character torn straight from a very sick man’s fantasy. Her entrance into the film, a teary-eyed go-go dance routine amped up by Rodriguez’s own awesome score, is one of the best I can remember. It’s not just the smut and the silliness of it, though. She’s an affective character given life by McGowan’s willingness to be as sincere as she is campy. The many struggles of Cherry are just one facet to this feature, though. Freddie Rodriguez also stars as the mysterious Wray, a gun fighter of unknown origin with perfect aim and ample attitude. He and Cherry round up a crew of survivors to fend off the infected population of mutant zombies. The disease in question somehow strangely connects back to government corruption and the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. I still don’t think any of it makes any sense, but maybe that’s just part of the joke as well. Rodriguez’s film is certainly the bloodier of the two, but I also think it’s the messier one in terms of narrative as well. We do care, strangely enough, for Cherry, Wray, and other characters like Marley Shelton’s comedically numb Dakota. We just don’t have any idea what they’re doing or where they’re going or who exactly it is they’re shooting at and why. It all sort of spirals around in a bloody fog, but it’s certainly fun, particularly for action fans. It’s even just a teensy bit poetic in its attempts at character development. No doubt, there’s not been a zombie movie so clever or so affecting in quite some time.

It’s Quentin Tarantino’s less gruesome and more psychologically intoxicating “Death Proof” that most won me over. Tarantino assembled an impressive cast of young actresses to deliver his trademark dialogue packed with perversion and pop culture references. His film is the more methodically paced of the two, opting out of machine gun legs and choosing instead to slowly shape female characters that are unknowingly being targeted by a serial killer car driver named Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell). The cast of ladies includes Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Rose McGowan (again), and stuntwoman Zoe Bell who worked with Tarantino on Kill Bill and here plays a version of herself that allows her to do some unspeakably intense things in a great car chase near film’s end. Tarantino and Rodriguez have deeply different philosophies of filmmaking. Rodriguez enjoys CGI and the endless possibilities of digital manipulation (he masterminded the trendsetting Sin City which was almost nothing but special effects). Tarantino, however, will work only with real stunt people doing things that are actual plausible and can be filmed for real without effects. His car chase finale is doubly impressive because it was staged from start to finish using actual vehicles and actual, very brave, stunt drivers with minimal manipulation. I won’t give away all the twists of fate in store for those on the treacherous open roads, but let’s just say it gets very dangerous and hilariously brutal.

I can’t say that Grindhouse is for everyone. It’s not. In fact, I suspect a lot of people will despise it. If you get into it, though, it will be completely enjoyable and surprising in more ways than one. It’s worth the price of admission just to experience the strange 70s homage setup Rodriguez and Tarantino have created for themselves. Two action films of extraordinary caliber mixed with goofs, commercials, and generally cool bits of footage all add up to one very satisfying and very strange movie experience that’s well worth your time.

Grade: A