by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
Grade: A
If you plan on packing up and heading home after Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror, you may be kicking yourself when you gather round the water cooler come Monday morning. The second film in Grindhouse is Quentin Tarantino's vehicular slasher picture, Death Proof. After a brief intermission, which includes hilarious fake trailers for Werewolf Women of the SS (directed by Rob Zombie), Don't (directed by Edgar Wright) and Thanksgiving (directed by Eli Roth), the high octane thrill ride takes over.
Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) is a seemingly nice guy. He visits bars strictly for the food and the conversation, is for the most part a gentleman when chatting up the ladies and is kind enough to offer up a ride when a pretty young thing is stranded. Unfortunately for the people he comes in contact with, Stuntman Mike's nice guy routine is all a ruse. In reality, the aging has-been is a serial killer, using his "death proof" car as his weapon. We meet Stuntman Mike as he stalks his prey. A group of three good looking 20-somethings in short shorts and clinging tops has caught his eye, and after a carefree night of boozing it up at a local bar, the girls discover the truth about their new acquaintance a bit too late. The psychopath then moves on, choosing a new set of unsuspecting victims. What Stuntman Mike doesn't know, however, is that his latest targets are far more formidable: two of them are stuntwomen. What happens next is quite possibly one of the best car chases ever to be caught on film, as the girls set out to revoke Stuntman Mike's driving privileges.
Where Planet Terror is a straight forward gore-fest, Death Proof starts out as a talky thriller that, in the last 20 minutes or so, gets thrown into high gear and transforms into a girl power revenge flick. The long stretches of dialogue are typical Tarantino, so I'm completely bewildered to hear that some fans are complaining about them. Much of the dialogue is reminiscent of Reservoir Dogs, the only difference being it's a group of women doing the talking. The best part about these scenes are the camera work. At one point, the four heroines chat about the past while enjoying lunch at a diner. For a good 6 to 8 minutes, the camera circles around the table in one continuous shot, capturing each girl's reaction to the story, one that proves to foreshadow events to come. It's a beautifully shot scene. The problem I think many fans might be having is that because Death Proof follows the blood-soaked, adrenaline pumping awesomeness of Planet Terror, the extended girl talk sessions feel drawn out in comparison.
Perhaps if Tarantino's film was first on the bill, the complaints would be few and far between.
Nevertheless, if you can make it to the third act of Death Proof, you will be rewarded in spades. Zoë Bell, who was Uma Thurman's stunt double in Kill Bill, plays herself in the film and Tarantino uses that to his advantage, putting Bell through the ringer. There are no green screens here, no cheating with CGI. Because the chase scene was actually shot instead of designed with computers, it feels more real and effectively sucks the audience into the story and keeps them on the edge of their seats until the final credits roll.
In all honesty, I wasn't completely sold when I first saw the trailers for Grindhouse. It didn't really seem like something I would be interested in, despite being a long time Quentin Tarantino fan. Ignoring my initial impulse to skip this movie was the best decision I've made in a long time. Grindhouse delivers a unique movie-going experience that will simultaneously shock and entertain and will no doubt have you craving a second helping of this double feature.
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