Review: Grindhouse

I almost didn't review this movie. Not because I didn't love it (because I did, boy howdy, did I ever), but rather because I kind of thought that a movie like Grindhouse came with a built-in audience, if not several of them. You got your Rodriguez, you got your Tarantino, zombies, hot chicks, double feature. What could go wrong?

Planet Terror was, unsurprisingly, my favourite of the two films. Rodriguez was in prime form, getting back to his gore-splattered, From Dusk Til Dawn roots. It is fabulously vile, at once both hilarious and horrifying throughout. Rodriguez has a knack for casting, and Planet Terror's ensemble is pitch perfect from the leads to the very smallest roles (a particular tip of the cap to Naveen Andrews for his). Rose McGowan was particularly fine as Cherry Darling, the plucky one-legged, ex-stripper. You don't really expect to see much in the way of character development in what's billed as an exploitation film, and, well, you don't here, really. But between Rodriguez's words and McGowan's delivery, Cherry winds up feeling genuine, despite the sensationalism (gun leg! gun leg!!!) that would indicate otherwise. By the end, the film has taken on an epic scope, that lives up to the promise made by the title and then some.

Death Proof, while highly entertaining, wasn't as strong of a win for me. Part of that is no doubt due to the bar raised by his previous efforts. While it was a brilliant execution of an, on the surface, exploitation standard (hot girls meet bad man, hijinx ensue), it didn't feel quite as tight in terms of both plot and dialog as I'm used to in a Tarantino film. Bits of it felt forced. That said, the climatic car chase makes an instant race to the short list of the best car chases in cinematic history, and the finale more than forgives any missteps along the way.

Sandwiched between them are trailers for fake coming attractions and retro commercials for "local" businesses.

Coming in just over three hours, Grindhouse is an event. A fantastic, bloody, event. Which is why the real horror that I'm currently experiencing is over the rumors that they're talking about splitting the film into two, due to a "weak" opening box office (it came in fourth), forcing my hand to review what should be a review-proof film.

Don't let studio paranoia steer you away from this masterpiece. Opening on Easter weekend was clearly a mistake. As marvelous as it is, Grindhouse is not exactly the movie you bring Gramma and the kids to. Easter is a family weekend, plain and simple. Adding into that the few screens it opened (word on the web is that my experience of one or two screens per theater was not a local phenomenon) on, it's no wonder its numbers weren't higher.

On the off chance they're serious, do yourself a favor. See Grindhouse the way it was meant to be seen, as an event. An experience. Drown in it. You won't be sorry.