SEE! TWO GREAT MOVIES FOR ONE LOW PRICE! TOGETHER IN ONE SMASH EXPLOSIVE SHOW

The idea behind GRINDHOUSE a double feature of two separate movies that are played together in a run down theater (grind house) or at the drive in. Mainly exploitation films form the early 1970’s and late 1960’s. I’m a big fan of horror, exploitation, b-movies and cult films. So I was really looking forward to this film. So we figured the best place to see GRINDHOUSE would be at the Boulevard Drive-in in Kansas City, Kansas. This place has been in operation since the 1950’s and little has changed. So we showed up early it was opening weekend of the drive-in season and I had the weekend off for some concerts. It cost $7 to see GRINDHOUSE and the HILLS HAVE EYES 2, a hell of a deal. The theater has DTS sound through your radio as well as the old school speakers that go in your window, we used both for added effect. I hadn’t been to a drive-in movie since the late 1980’s when the one in Ottawa shut down. Trips to the drive-in turned into renting video tapes and waiting a year or two for the movie to show up on cable tv. None of this six months later and the thing is on dvd. Cable t.v. and my parents buying a VCR turned into our movie viewinINDHOUSEg, I have three brothers and a sister so It was cheaper then going to the movies. (this helped kill off some theaters, but there are four drive-in’s a hour away in each direction from my house. That’s a little weird but cool.) I still have fond memories of going to the grocery store stocking up on cheap candy and heading out to the hill on the south end of town where the drive-in was. Laying in the back of a AMC Gremlin with a hatch back. I recommend everyone try to make it out to one at least once. Relive or experience the past. Grab a couple boxes of junior mints find the most run down theater you can and enjoy (by now it’s probably hard to find one even showing it, I should have typed this on opening week). The drive-in has a announcement the film is supposed to look scratched up, have missing scenes, and bad sound in parts.

Finally the movies first up is PLANET TERROR by Robert Rodriguez. Action packed, goons, guns, girls in miniskirts, infected mutant zombies, and lots of blood and gore. How could you ask for more. Cherry Darling a go go dancer (Rose McGowan) wants to quit dancing and become a standup comic. She quits her job and by chance meets up with a old boy friend Wray at a BBQ place. The two are in a car wreck and get attacked by infected creeps and Cherry gets her leg ripped off. All hell is breaking loose, mad scientist, corrupt army soldiers, chemical weapons are released. The infection is spreading, not a zombie film but similar with the infected people out for blood. Good characters and story. The settings are also great a hospital, deserted army base, and BBQ joint. The film also has good music. I have a soft spot in my heart for a good zombie film. Add PLANET TERROR to the list. Apocalypse, end of the world as the infection spreads. This movie is great overall a bad ass film. Lots of guns, lots of infected people getting shot, some comedy and plenty of gore. Contains one of the best lines of dialogue written. “I’m gonna eat your brain and gain your knowledge”. Also watch for the minibike scene, it’s good for a laugh. Some John Carpenter film references and lots of influences.
Faux trailers for WEREWOLF WOMEN OF THE SS by Rob Zombie, a ILSA SHE WOLF OF THE SS style film that looks great if they would leave out Nick Cage. Eli Roth’s THANKSGIVING a slasher film with lots of skin, DON’T, by the SHAWN OF THE DEAD guys another fun and intelligent trailer.
DEATH PROOF the second film is by Quentin Tarintino. I have never been a huge fan of the Tarintino way. This one has some of the worst dialogue ever typed. As well as the most annoying cast of girls ever assembled in one location. This film has too much meaningless dialogue and not enough action. A few gruesome car crash scenes but misses the point. As usual Tarintino is always ripping off old movies but all ways leaves out the female nudity that was a big part of the real exploitation films. It takes more then a shot of a girl in tight shorts dancing at a juke box to equal a shower scene form a WIP film. Hell even Kurt Russell can’t save this one, (all the press says he plays a bad ass serial killer, but his character is a loser that turns into a pussy the second things don’t go his way). I saw GRINDHOUSE twice and left half way through this one the second time. The Weinsteins golden boy just lost some points.
The two films have scratches and missing reels, audio glitches, and scratches to give the appearance of movies that have been through the grind house film circuit. Overall PLANET TERROR is required viewing and DEATH PROFF is not. Together with the fake previews it’s a good time. Check it out, the DVD release is to be two separate films. DEATH PROFF is on dvd 9-18-2007 & PLANET TERROR comes out 10-16-2007. I'm sure we'll see a future release of the way this played in theaters. This one tanked money wise in Hollywood eyes. With weak box office returns, It was a little over hyped. It was one of the few films I was actually excited about seeing. In a way not a big surprise, the people that care about grind house films saw it, the mall teen crowd didn’t. It also shows the slowing of cult DVD release another bad sign of the times. This one also has a lot of merchandising that is sitting in a warehouse (remember all those LITTLE NICKY Macfarlane action figures? Where are they now?) The second time I went to see this was three weeks after it’s release, I wanted to see how it played in a theater vs. a drive-in. It was like a private screening as the only people in the theater was my brother and I. Oh yeah the effects are by KNB Effects so you know they are great.