Grindhouse: Planet Terror and Death Proof Reviews: Cherry Darling Needs A Sequel!

"Grindhouse" was originally created in 2007 as a double feature tribute to the grindhouse theaters of the 1960 to early 80s (which played ultraviolent, ultragory, ultrasexy and often ultrabad exploitation films). For your kiddies, this was a time before the internet, before DVDs and before VHS. You had to actually go OUT and search for things that scratched your fancy-- be they pornos, violence content, fetish material, etc. Imagine that?

See IGN's top 10 grindhouse films here and Flavorwire's list here The most recent example of the genre is the (now sadly canceled) SyFy series "Blood Drive". I LOVED it. See my reviews here I seriously hope NetFlix (or someone) picks "Blood Drive" up for at least one more season.

"Planet Terror" was written/directed by Robert Rodriquez and "Death Proof" by Quentin Tarantino. They went to a lot of trouble to give the films a throwback quality. The video is often grainy. At one point (when a sex scene is getting hot and heavy) a note appears apologizing for losing the next reel. Too funny. There are also four fake B movie trailers including one for "Machete" (which later became an actual movie). The other trailers were created by Rob Zombie, Eli Roth and Edgar Wright ("Shawn Of The Dead"). Great addition!

My favorite of the two movies is "Planet Terror". Rose McGowan stars as go go dancer and wanna be comedian Cherry Darling. Other famous faces include Josh Brolin and Marley Shelton. They are an unhappily married doctor couple-- William and Dakota Block. She's got some mad syringe skills. There's also a brief appearance by Bruce Willis. Tarantino also makes a brief appearance and is credited as "rapist #1". Number One has some serious nether region oozing problems. It's totally gross but really funny at the same time.

One of the things I like about the show is it gets right down to business and doesnt spend much time setting the tone. The plot is pretty simple. A deadly gas created by the government named D2 (code name: Planet Terror) is accidentally-on-purpose released into the atmosphere. Everyone turns into zombies in short order. There are a few rays of hope though. If you're infected, keep inhaling the gas to avoid mutating. But how long can that last? A certain number of people are also immune. Can an antidote be created?

Cherry loses her leg because... well... zombies. It's first replaced by a wooden table leg and later by a machine gun/grenade launcher. Yes, you read that correctly. There's lots of zombie killing. Cherry becomes the defacto leader and starts a new community in Mexico. She has dead boyfriend Wray's baby. So life goes on even during/after the zombie apocalypse. Who's up for a Cherry Darling sequel? I'm ALL in. I love Rose McGowan in everything she does.

"DeathProof" takes considerably longer to get to the action. Like "Planet Terror" it also has several famous faces. Kurt Russell stars along with Rosario Dawson. Stuntwoman Zoe Bell plays herself. She also worked with Tarantino in "Kill Bill". Speaking of QT, he also makes an appearance.

The plot is as follows. A guy (referred to as "Stuntman Mike") targets cars full of women and kills them in horrible ways. We never learn why but he uses his souped up car (I think its a 69 Chevy Camaro) which he refers to as "death proof" to do the deeds.

Rose McGowan makes an early appearance but suffers a tragic fate. Mike gets rid of one set of girls. Later he comes upon a second. The car chase scenes are excellent-- especially since Zoe is stuck on the roof of one the entire time. Mike soon learns he should have left these gals alone. Maybe he should pick on some less active ladies next time. Oops, there wont be a next time.

Grade: 4 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). If we were evaluating "Plant Terror" alone, I'd definitely give it five Monster. It's great zombie killing fun. Rose McGowan and her machine gun leg seriously kick ass. "Death Proof" is fun too--once it got started. It's too dialogue heavy in the beginning. It almost loses those of us with ADHD. It could have benefited from different editing choices. Zoe Bell definitely stands out in this one though. More of her please.

"Grindhouse" didnt do well at the US box office back in 2007. Upon overseas release, it was often chopped into two separate films. Maybe it wasnt released at the right time. I think the audience's appetite for grindhouse movies might be greater now-- but what do I know. I personally enjoyed the experience and would like to see more.