I'm certain many people walking into a showing of Grindhouse are doing so, because Quentin Tarantino's name is attached. I would venture to say that many of these people could probably care less about Robert Rodriguez's story, and may not even know who he is. Probably not many, but his name is certainly not as recognized or respected as Tarantino's. The problem is that people don't realize or understand the concept of Grindhouse. They're not familiar with the films from which it draws its inspiration, nor are they familiar with the type of theatre from which the film draws its structure and title. This is too bad, as the film draws much of its charm from this principle.

That's not to say that the film relies heavily on this characteristic. In fact it's quite the contrary. Grindhouse is a phenomenal film, in and of itself. The film is so incredibly entertaining throughout its entire 3-hour-plus running time, that even after sitting in a less than crowded, yet terribly uncomfortable movie theatre for its duration… I didn't want to leave. I wished for more. I was so enthralled with what was taking place that I was genuinely unsettled when the film ended and I was forced to return to reality. It does nearly everything right, and very, very little wrong. It is as close to perfect as a film of its type could be expected to be.

Before I get into any particulars regarding the film itself, I'd like to provide a little history regarding the certain inspirations of the film as a whole. So, for those who are unaware, ‘Grindhouse' is a term that refers to a theatre which specialized in many types of exploitation flicks. Much like the films found in our Video Nasties list. These films generally carried an abundance of violence, nudity, explicit sex, and an overall mean spiritedness, generally toward women, though there are numerous films depicting a woman exacting her revenge on reprehensible men. The films from which Grindhouse draws its inspiration are the kind of films which I have an incredible appreciation for. Films which strived to push the envelope, for one reason or another. The attempted to gain audience reaction through any manner of shock, generally achieved through graphic depictions of sex or violence, or perhaps just pure tastelessness.

The reason why Grindhouse is so successful in its attempt to recreate the experience of watching a double feature of tasteless (in a good way) cinema, is because the directors, both Tarantino and Rodriguez, are movie fans. They are fans first; directors second. They have an incredible appreciation for these films, which are more than partly responsible for crafting them into the filmmakers they are. They understand the underlying themes of films like, I Spit on your Grave, and Thriller, and can exploit them within their own creations. Tarantino has made homage to many of these films in his previous works, most notably Kill Bill, so Grindhouse should be an eagerly anticipated work from an incredibly inventive filmmaker, who is finally paying a full-on tribute to the films that fashioned his tastes throughout his younger years. I believe, for this reason, Death Proof is a more successful film than Rodriguez's Planet Terror, if only slightly.

Planet Terror is a zombie picture of sorts, in which a small group of people are forced to fight an ever-growing zombie population. The film goes to all extremes in depicting graphic zombie attacks, and humans dispatching zombies in very violent ways. Blood flows in a very excessive manner, limbs are removed and broken. There is all manner of graphic violence on display here, and this is certainly the films strongest point. The film is so much more enjoyable thanks to its level of violence. It creates the same type of atmosphere of the many 70's films which attempted to push their violence quotient to the next level. The film is a series of violent events that build to an unbelievably lousy explanation that is more than appropriate within the context of the film. Planet Terror glorifies its own excesses, and is incredibly fun because of it.

Tarantino's Death Proof is a much more serious film (in the sense that it is more grounded in reality), and doesn't depict graphic amounts of violence. The exception to this being perhaps the most violent (and impressive) car crash ever filmed. There are no zombies or supernatural creatures, there is only a single man terrorizing women with a car, reinforced to withstand countless punishment. The film is certainly a Tarantino film, complete with his trademark sequences of perfectly written dialogue, extended shots capturing entire conversations in a single take, and the obligatory camera angle from under the trunk or hood of a car. Death Proof is involving from beginning to end, and is a completely different film from Planet Terror. Kurt Russell is amazing as Stuntman Mike, and nearly everything about the film is perfect. Death Proof may be my favorite Tarantino film to date, in terms of pure entertainment.

What takes the film even further beyond greatness, are the fictitious film trailers that both precede and bridge the two films. Rodriguez's trailer for Machete (a spin-off trailer for Danny Trejo's Desperado character), is particularly sleazy; Rob Zombie's Werewolf Women of the S.S. recalls the Nazi sexploitation genre of the Video Nasties days. The trailers from Eli Roth (Hostel) and Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) are equally impressive, pulling us into their own twisted interpretations of horror days past. There is an additional trailer however, titled Hobo with a Shotgun, which is a truly independent work, and in many ways is the trailer most reminiscent of true grindhouse cinema, due in part to its incredibly violent subject matter, and it's genuinely low budget. The trailer was submitted by a duo of Canadian filmmakers to the South by Southwest international Grindhouse trailer competition, and won. It fits remarkably well alongside the works of the aforementioned directors contributions.

My only complaint, and this is a very, very small complaint. For all the effort that went into the productions appearance – artificial film grain, cigarette burns, and even the appearance of missing reels (which I'm sure was a very rare occurrence, even in the cheapest of theatres) - the intention of creating the appearance of a uniquely worn reel of film seems to become less of a priority as the film progresses. Tarantino's film in particular begins with audio hiss, poor sound editing, overlapping frames, and all sorts of other issues you would expect to see in a grimy 70's theatre, yet soon becomes a much more polished and professional, even modern looking film. However, it is entirely possible that I may have just not noticed these things, as I was incredibly involved in the events transpiring onscreen. Also, who the hell wants to watch a poorly edited film with an excessive amount of cracks and pops… I loved Grindhouse, and I don't believe we'll see a better film this year.