Rodriguez and Tarantino’s “Grindhouse”

Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s ”Grindhouse“ is being touted in ads as “the movie event of the year.”

The well-reviewed, double-feature “Grindhouse” is a three-hour plus re-creation of a night at the movies in the early seventies, or thereabouts. While it has been heaped with praise, others say it’s no “Cabaret,” “The Godfather” or “Sounder.”

Rodriguez and Tarantino contribute segments to a “double feature” complete with trailers and “local” advertisements, that recalls the seedy B-movies of three decades ago. Those low-budget horror, martial-arts and crime stories - filled with action, violence, sexuality and overacting - brought audiences to nonmainstream theaters, or “grind houses.”

Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror,” which leads off the film, has the verve and energy of top grind-house fare. It’s a horror tale set in the director’s beloved Texas, where a biochemical phenomenon is turning people into flesh-eating zombies.

Tarantino’s “Death Proof” comes next. In a road-chase story in the vein of “Vanishing Point” or the original “Gone in 60 Seconds,” a group of randy Texas girls (McGowan among them) fatefully meets a hard-driving stranger named Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell, enjoying himself immensely). Back-roads mayhem ensues.

“Grindhouse” opens in theaters on April 6, 2007.

Check out the trailer for “Grindhouse” below:

Bookmark this Story | Share with a Friend

COMMENTS