Chad

clckworang

Wow. It had been a long time since I had seen it, probably since the Blu-ray was first released. I don't think this has aged all that well. I remember when Grindhouse first came out, it seemed very "Oh, cool. Look at how well they were able to replicate the look of those old movies," and now that we've seen its like so many times, this just feels like it's trying so hard. It feels overdone to me. The missing reel and the very conspicuous "film" effects just seem to be screaming for attention.

That doesn't mean it's not without its fun. There are some good effects, and it has an interesting cast. I know the leg gun is the iconic image from the movie, but I always found it dumb - and not in the fun B movie way it was intended. Overall, like a lot Robert Rodriguez's films, it seemed like it should have been better than it was, though.

Gobear

Planet Terror is a bad film. Not "so bad it's good," just bad. Grindhouse would have been more interesting if Tarantino and Rodriguez had genuinely tried to make low-budget horror films for real instead of self-absorbed, star-studded campy rubbish. What would they have come up with if they had a George Romero budget of under $5 million, hired unknown actors, and wrote a good script? Carnival of Souls, The Blob, and Night of the Living Dead are enduring classics that were made with practically nothing. Let's see Tarantino and Rodriguez try to make good movies for pocket change.

And can we give Edgar Wright whatever he needs to make "Don't" a reality?

Undeadcow

Clever premise but the self indulgent humor and intentionally bad elements are distracting when (like Gobear said) I'd rather just watch a straight bad or good film. I remember liking Death Proof a lot more than PT. Here there's more emphasis on barbeque than zombies and the constant oddball 'jokes' are annoying. Maybe I'm too young to relate to PT's 'homages' because stuff like the missing reel are things I always had to read about to then understand the gag PT is referencing; but it also seems like a film less directed at older people given it's odd humor. I do kind of like the ending with the couple.

numbercrunch

I had fun revisiting this one. It's been awhile. It is very over the top, but I don't think thats a bad thing.

Trevor

I never liked this one all that much, only suggested it since it’s interesting in it’s ‘gimmick’ back at release and of historical note, so seemed a potential one Chad would pick for us. It’s passable entertainment with some fun moments, and 100 times better than it’s partner film.

exharrison

I find the film effect gimmicks fun, but maybe for a shorter feature. I feel like most of what I really enjoy in this 10 years later could be fit into a 30 minute feature. The film effects, the silly action scenes, references to missing reel. It would all be more fun to me with a smaller investment. Over the course of a full movie, it is "that is fun" spread a little too sparsely with some of it wearing thin with time to spare. I like that this exists because it is cool that they made an homage to those features, but I'd rather it had been treated as let's make a short showcase of fun gimmicks instead of making the gimmicks run for so long.

Toddarino

I’ll be in the minority here and say I really enjoy this. It’s fun, stupid and there’s things I don’t like about it, but this is one of my favorites from the challenge so far.

pacaway

^^^

Exactly! There's definitely flaws, but I like a lot of it. So many interesting characters helped me like it. And Rose, com' on!, she's so charismatic in this. Yes, the gimmicky "missing reel" is funny only the first time (and not at all for some, I guess), and you get tired of the scratchy picture, but it was an attempt to try something different and bring nostalgia into it... I found most of it easy to ignore. Overall, another one I looked forward to revisiting this month and it did not disappoint. I guess I forgot enough of it that it held my interest.

It retains its 4 out of 5 stars from the first time I saw it in 2013.

jholmes

Great cast in this and plenty of style. It was fun enough. It reminds me of a 12-year-old's idea of the perfect movie--lots of gross out humor, girls, and guns. But hey, nothing wrong with that!

I found myself wondering how they did Rose McGowan's gun leg. She looked *so uncomfortable* trying to move around on it or lift it to swing it around, like it was heavy and awkward, but surely it wasn't really there? Maybe that was an acting choice. lol

WillieMLF

Yes, it was outlandish. Yes, the whole Grindhouse experience made it a bit tedious. I watched it with the audience track, and that was kind of fun. At times it felt like everyone was in on the joke, including the actors. I'm not sure if the true Grindhouse experience involves the actors playing it straight.

The one thing I really liked about this was the effects. The shooting effects have the zombies getting blasted apart. Very nice.

I think Gobear makes a good point about trying to make a good film with very limited resources, rather than some overindulgent, wink, wink, nudge, nudge inside joke.

I think jholmes is on to something regarding the perfect movie for a 12 year old, that's why I really like it.

exharrison

I suspect they braced her knee gave her some kind of boot. I think you would get the same clunky heavy response from someone wearing the type of range-limited knee brace they give you after surgery with it locked into place and an ortho boot.

rbrown498

When I saw this in the theater on opening weekend as part of Grindhouse, I thought that this was definitely the lesser of the two features. I'm coming around to it, however, and now think that it's a least the equal of Death Proof, if not just a tiny bit better. I agree with a lot of the comments above (both positive and negative), but for me, the film's good points outweigh its shortcomings. Is it great cinema? No, but it wasn't designed to be. Sometimes films are just made for the sheer fun of it, and this one seems to be one of those films. I don't begrudge it that in the least.

My subset film rankings for the Challenge thus far:

1. Battle Royale
2. Carrie (1976)
3. Curse of the Demon
4. Slither
5. Tower of Evil
6. Witchfinder General
7. A Bay of Blood / The Spiral Staircase (averaged together)
8. Planet Terror
9. Silent Madness
10. Slumber Party Massacre II (based purely on its out-of-left-field aesthetic)
11. In Search of Darkness
12. Road Games
13. Cure
14. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II
15. Grave Robbers (Ladrones de Tumbas)
16. The Severed Arm
17. Fade to Black
18. The Mortuary Collection
19. Cutting Class

Trevor

Yep, would have been more fun if made with a really low budget. But still a fun ride, and brings the average of the two Grindhouse halves up a few points.

Stealing rbrown’s subset ranking idea:

Curse of the Demon, 8/10
The Phantom Carriage, 8/10
Carrie, 8/10
Fade to Black, 8/10
Cure, 8/10
Battle Royale, 8/10
The Spiral Staircase, 8/10
Slumber Party Massacre 2, 7/10
A Bay of Blood, 7/10
The Frighteners, 7/10
Road Games, 7/10
Slither, 7/10
Witchfinder General 7/10
Planet Terror, 7/10
The Mortuary Collection, 6/10
Cutting Class, 6/10
Prom Night 2: Hello Mary Lou, 6/10
In Search of Darkness, 6/10
Tower of Evil, 5/10
Grave Robbers, 5/10
Silent Madness, 5/10
The Severed Arm, 4/10

wishbone

I doubt many of the actors would have signed on if this movie had tried to be more than the fun and over-the-top horror it is. Fun re-watch.