What a brilliant idea Grindhouse was; two of the world’s most enthusiastic directors collaborating on a double bill throwback to the glory days of midnight movie exploitation. Guns, gore, girls and great looking cars fuel Quentin Tarantino’s and Robert Rodriguez’s action-packed, retro-style double whammy, and with a selection of fake ‘Grindhouse’ style trailers from some of the world’s leading young horror directors, Grindhouse surely delivers everything you could want from such a venture and more. So why did it go so horribly wrong?
Evidently, US audiences simply weren’t ready for a three-hour long bad taste opus focusing on the kind of ludicrous nonsense you’d only have seen during the 70s at urine-scented flea pits dotted around New York’s City’s Eighth Avenue. During the first days of Grindhouse’s release, audience members were apparently leaving halfway through, failing to comprehend the double bill concept, and punters were supposedly complaining about the scratchy print and missing reels, again, completely missing the point of the ‘Grindhouse’ experience. As a result of the disappointing reception in the US, us Brits didn’t even get the chance to see Grindhouse in all its double bill glory, and instead were treated to a pointless split release, with longer and far duller versions of Planet Terror and Death Proof.
It’s a huge shame, as something like Grindhouse can only really work at the cinema (ideally at a grotty little theatre around the midnight hour). Watching the movies on the big screen, complete with the fake trailers and a rowdy and riled up audience, is without a doubt the best way to watch Planet Terror and Death Proof, and while Momentum’s Blu-ray package certainly impresses, it simply feels a little underwhelming in the home environment.
The problem is, neither Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror, which focuses on a town plunged into bloody chaos when a deadly virus is unleashed, nor Tarantino’s Death Proof, which tells the story of a psychotic stuntman with a penchant for mowing down young girls with his ‘death proof’ car, are very good movies. And of course, they’re not supposed to be. The films are ridiculous, often dull, sometimes badly written, occasionally tedious and always unnecessarily violent, which is the entire point. The films that Grindhouse so lovingly set out to replicate are of questionable quality, but these are the films that Tarantino and Rodriguez hold in such affectionate and high regard. However, while we can forgive the flaws of their love letter to exploitation film in the riotous and high frenzy atmosphere of a packed cinema house, at home, the films are exposed as the remarkably average movies that they are.
While spectacular in its presentation and breadth of special features, this Blu-ray release (exclusive to HMV) can never capture the magic of the cinema itself. However, Momentum’s hi-def package certainly gives it a go. Finally, we can now see the two films together as intended, and certainly, with each film shorter and proudly sitting side-by-side with the gloriously deranged fake trailers providing a wonderfully entertaining halftime show, this is a far more entertaining experience than the previously released separate editions.
Though perhaps missing the point of the ‘Grindhouse’ presentation, the films look gorgeous in hi-def and boast terrifically vibrant colours, spectacular detail and a loud and proud 5.1 soundtrack. The special features are a fan’s wet dream too. In addition to the previously released extras, we now have the fake trailers with ‘making of’ featurettes and commentaries, plus an excellent hour-long interview with Tarantino and Rodriguez. Add to the mix tons of featurettes, a brilliantly effective ‘Audience Reaction Track’ on Planet Terror and a seriously badass ‘Hobo With A Shotgun’ trailer, and you have yourself one of the finest Blu-ray packages yet.
Ultimately, Grindhouse is an event that really needs to be experienced at the cinema, and with any luck, it may well achieve cult status and make regular midnight appearances much in the same vein as Rocky Horror. But, for the time being, we’ll just have to make do, invite the mates around, crack open the beers and try to recreate some of that depraved exploitation debauchery in the comfort of our own homes.
Overall Verdict: While it’s an experience that can only really work on the big screen, the Grindhouse Blu-ray experience goes all out to recreate the magic of a midnight movie in the comfort of your own home.
Special Features:
Trailers (Optional Commentary on ‘Thanksgiving’ With Eli Roth and Co-Producer/Actor Jeff Rendell)
Commentary With Robert Rodriguez
Audience Reaction Track
Intermission Cards
Extended Werewolf Women of the SS Trailer (With Optional Commentary from Rob Zombie)
‘The Making Of Werewolf Women of the SS’ Featurette
Extended ‘Don’t’ Trailer (With Optional Commentary From Edgar Wright)
‘The Making Of ‘Don’t’ Featurette
‘Don’t’ Storyboard Gallery
‘Don’t’ Poster with ‘Don’t’ score by David Arnold
‘The Making of ‘Thanksgiving’ Featurette
‘The Makeup Effects of Planet Terror’ Featurette
‘Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute Cooking School’ Featurette
Interview with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez
‘From Texas to Tennessee’ Featurette
‘Hobo With A Shotgun’ Contest Winner Trailer
‘Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute Film School’ Featurette
‘The Badass Babes of Planet Terror’ Featurette
‘The Guys of Planet Terror’ Featurette
‘Casting Rebel’ Featurette
‘Sickos, Bullets and Explosions: The Stunts of Planet Terror’ Featurette
‘The Friend, The Doctor and The Real Estate Agent’ Featurette
Poster Gallery
Comic Con 2006 Featurette
‘Stunts on Wheels: The Legendary Drivers of Death Proof’ Featurette
‘Sally Menke’ Featurette
‘The Guys Of Death Proof’ Featurette
‘Stuntman Mike’ Featurette
‘Finding Quentin’s Gals’ Featurette
‘The Hot Rods of Death Proof’ Featurette
‘Baby It’s You’ Featurette
‘Zoe Bell’ Featurette
Death Proof Extended Music
Reviewer: Lee Griffiths
CLICK HERE to buy Grindhouse at HMV.com
