Kurt Russell in the "Death Proof" segment of Dimension Films' Grindhouse
© Dimension

Mania Grade: A
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: R
Cast: Rose McGowan, Kurt Russell, Freddy Rodriguez, Vanessa Ferlito, Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson, Marley Shelton, Tracie Thoms, Bruce Willis, Naveen Andrews, Michael Parks, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Jordan Ladd, Michael Biehn, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Stacy Ferguson, Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth
Writers: Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino
Director: Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino
Distributor: Dimension Films

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"Grindhouse"

The Premise 
One can’t really talk about the double feature movie Grindhouse without explaining what a Grindhouse is first. During the 1960s, there was a simultaneous rise in independent film production and urban decay. Inner city theaters, much like their rural counterparts the drive-ins, increasingly turned to cheaper independent films in order to survive, for the most part serving them up in double, triple, or even quadruple features. The movies were packed with sensational elements to appeal to the most basic human emotions. Drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs identifies and categorizes these elements in terms of the Three Bs: Beasts, Breasts and Blood. Sex, violence, and usually some sort of monster drives the psychotronic fare served up in these theaters. The popcorn was stale, the drinks were flat, and maintenance was decidedly low. To turn a profit, the managers would keep the projectors grinding from early morning to late at night, with some theaters even staying open 24 hours a day. Thus the name “Grindhouse”, and as a dark, warm, accessible place in a harsh, cold environment, street people would congregate there. They were not safe places to go. Once inside, you had to protect yourself and keep alert, making sure that you didn’t sit down wind from a bum or let the rats get into your snacks. The unapologetically vulgar movies weren’t safe either. They could be considered the modern equivalent of the Roman Arena, although the analogy only goes so far. It’s unlikely that members of the Senate made the trip downtown to the Clark Theater to see Five Fingers of Death and I Drink Your Blood. As home video took over, the Grindhouses couldn’t compete and disappeared. 

The Trailers 
At the beginning and in between films, we’re treated to a variety of authentic vintage theater announcement clips, along with authentic looking ads and trailers for other Grindhouse movies that don’t exist – yet. There’s been some talk that sequels to Grindhouse would be composed of the very “coming attractions” advertised in the trailers, with Rob Zombie taking up the reigns to complete Werewolf Women of the S.S., Eli Roth serving up holiday horror in Thanksgiving, Edgar Wright providing all the shocks for Don’t, or Rodriguez returning with Danny Trejo as Machete (a film that looks remarkably similar in plot to the current Shooter). Trailers made for Grindhouse 2 might then spring up as features in Grindhouse 3, etc. The trailers are all hilarious (as is a spot-on ad for a “local” eatery, complete with unappetizing photos of menu items), so it’s only a matter of choosing which ideas could also work as full features. 
 
Death Proof 
Tarantino’s half of the bill is both more and less successful than Rodriguez’. His is the more serious film, but to keep it within the concept he has to both strengthen and undermine his own ideas. While Rodriguez set out to make an intentionally silly, over-the-top gorefest, Tarantino chose a more linear creation combining elements of horror and car chase thrillers. Death Proof emulates Psycho in a way – or to be more precise, emulates the hundreds of pictures that emulate Psycho, from Last House on the Left to Torso and on and on – in introducing lead characters, dispose of them when they intersect and define the villain, then introduce another set of leads to carry on, this time with the viewer informed of the danger they’re in.   
 
All the Tarantino trademarks are included, from Red Apple cigarettes to his foot fetish, and those that cringe at QT’s acting should come forewarned that he takes minor roles in both movies, so deal with it. Oh, and let’s not forget the Tarantino dialogue, which is present in overabundance.

“You know the dialogue I’m talking about?” 
“Do I know the dialogue you’re talking about? Let me tell you about the dialogue you’re talking about. Don’t you think I know about the dialogue you’re talking about?” 
“Don’t I think you know about the dialogue I’m talking about? Here’s what I know about the dialogue I’m talking about: here’s a whole long story about the dialogue I’m talking about, with geeky references to obscure exploitation movies and a lot of awkward slang and cussing thrown in, usually based on a story I heard in a bar once or swiped from a comic-book. Blah blah blah. That’s what I know about the dialogue I’m talking about! Can you hear me over the juke box?!?” 
 
There’s a lot of this in Death Proof and whereas in Tarantino’s other movies it can be charming and entertaining on its own terms, here it often grates due to the fact that it pads out the picture while we wait for the “good stuff”. Additionally, there’s the fact that Tarantino’s cast is comprised mostly of women “of color” (more than half of whom are surely doomed), and Tarantino doesn’t write realistic dialogue for women any more than he does for anyone else because these are all pretend women made to be how QT wants to imagine them. As we get to know characters played by Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Monica Staggs and Sydney Tamiia Poitier (amusingly credited simply with her father’s name in a tribute to stunt casting) as they enjoy a night on the town, visiting several bars in Austin, we naturally fear for them, as we know they’re in a horror film and they don’t. We resent Tarantino’s manipulation and wish he’d get on with the killing. We know, subconsciously at least, that QT is drawing us into a more serious second feature because there’s less trickery, not as much distracting splices and scratches to take us out of the picture. 
He pays off big with Kurt Russell, who gives an incredible performance as broken down Stuntman Mike, a charming psychopath whose weapon of choice is a sinister stunt muscle car rigged to protect the driver in all possible ways, but leaving any passengers extremely vulnerable. Having snuck this creepy character into the background of a story about young women dealing with dating, etc., QT uses Stuntman Mike to put the hammer down on all of them. 
 
This makes the viewer very edgy and impatient as we move into the second half of the picture, meeting another quartet of young women on a day off from the “cheerleader movie” they’re making in rural Tennessee. Stuntman Mike survives the wreck that capped off the first half, and both he and his car have healed and are ready for more victims. The quartet is made up of starlet Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who wears her cheerleader costume on her day off), makeup girl Rosario Dawson, and stuntwomen Tracie Thoms and Zoe Bell. If you don’t know who Bell is, check out the documentary Double Dare, which chronicles how this spirited New Zealand lass became one of the top stuntwomen in the world. Better yet, check her out in Death Proof, where she pretty much plays herself and does some things that will have you on the edge of your seat. But first we have to squirm while QT has us get to know these girls a bit more, while catching glimpses of Mike stalking them in the background. This sets up why three of the girls leave Winstead behind (in a situation that has the makings of a spin-off Grindhouse movie) to joy ride in someone else’s vintage muscle car, putting themselves in a very vulnerable and hair-raising situation just at the moment Stuntman Mike strikes. Perhaps Mike should have chosen someone other than his own kind to mess with. The climactic action sequence moves from one thrill to the next and is as beautiful to behold as it is outrageous.  
 
The Conclusion 
Grindhouse succeeds brilliantly at its mission, delivering the Grindhouse movie experience to a new generation, flaws and all. The only way to better reproduce the experience is to see it in a drive-in, unless you can find a dank old movie pit still surviving in the 21^st century (maybe try another country). In 2007, one can’t but wonder how the program will play on DVD, but it would be the height of irony if they produced a “restored and remastered” edition with the films digitally cleaned up. It’s not necessary to go in with any knowledge of the era in tribute here, but it helps – while I was in a screening listening to characters in Planet Terror making reference to director Bob Clark, he was on his way to a fatal car accident not dissimilar to the ones in Death Proof. If you’re green, visiting the Grindhouse may turn out to be a rewarding new addiction for you, so get ready to fill up your Netflix queue. 

Copyright © 2007 Brian Thomas, author of the massive book VideoHound’s Dragon: Asian Action & Cult Flicks, available now!