Planet Terror (2007)

 

It's no secret that Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are buddies and that they share a love and interest in obscure films, especially the low budget exploitation fare that is absolute cheese yet also absolute gold a lot of the time. So when they decided to collaborate on a double feature that would pay loving tribute to all the trappings of this phenomenon, expectations were, well, divided. 

I mean, most people don't care about grindhouse cinema, or else it would never have been so underground now, would it?

Tarantino made 'Death Proof' and Rodriguez this one and Rodriguez by far has the better film of the two, even if 'Death Proof' has a brilliant car chase at the end. You just have to sit through two hours of boredom first.

Rodriguez chose the horror route and it is great to see him use every cliché in the book and still make it all enjoyable as hell.

In an abandoned military base close to a town, a mysterious gas escapes that turns nearly everyone who comes into contact with it into a pus-riddled zombie lusting for flesh. We get an eclectic cast of characters that are thrown into the meatgrinder and try to survive. There's Cherry Darling, a gogo-dancer who loses her leg during an attack but eventually replaces her leg with a piece of wood and finally a machine gun; El Wray, a mysterious guy who turns out to be epically good with guns; an overly serious police chief and his brother who runs a run down barbecue house and a woman who desperately wants to get away from her abusive husband. Somehow, all their stories eventually connect and they form a loose band that shoots, stabs and explodes their way to safety, losing several members along the way. 

The plot is threadbare (intentionally so), but the dialogue and characters are so wonderfully quaint and fun, you can not resist having a good time. 

Something which also works in this film's favour, is the excellent gore and brutality. The special effects' team have really outdone themselves with icky stuff that is way too sophisticated for a film that is supposed to be low budget (but isn't, of course), but there are definitely moments where you will be repulsed. 

It's great stuff.

If you are a gorehound and familiar with either Rodriguez or Tarantino, you'll love this. If not, then this is most likely not going to be your cup of entrails.