The first thing I thought when I watched the TV spots and trailers for Grindhouse was pretty similar to what I heard in the elevator today: “Gun leg? Puh-leaze.”

However, once I went to the movies with an enthusiastic friend on Monday, to my own astonishment, I found that I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I will warn you, the entire experience runs over three hours, but you will be so thoroughly entertained for most of it that you’ll leave the theatre dazzled by how dark it’s gotten outside since you entered.

Also, I want to clear up the fact that Grindhouse is indeed a double feature of two moderately long films, since there seems to have been some confusion on this topic.  In addition to the main features, however, the audience also receives a slew of hilarious and original faux trailers for movies you wish would be produced.

But to the films themselves. First up is Robert Rodriguez’s offering, a zombie flick with all the hallmarks of the classics, titled “Planet Terror.”  Generally, this seems to have claimed the coveted fan favorite spot over the second movie, and I must admit that I adored it as well.  Basically, the plot breaks down pretty simply: the military accidentally unleashes a gas that infects the entire population of a town, turning them into flesh-eating pus monsters.  The handful of survivors who discover that they are immune to the virus must escape not only the zombie-ridden community but the military as well.  Hilarity and cheese ensues.  

Perhaps the best part of “Planet Terror” is how ridiculously over the top it is.  From repetition of clichéd lines like “I never miss” (delivered at just the right moment at the end for a hilariously cheesy moment) and “two against the world,” to the gratuitous, graphic violence (that I would have appreciated in 300), to the grainy quality of the film itself, the movie delivers everything you could possibly want from a classic B rate living-dead flick.  In addition, a star-studded cast filling unique, quirky roles makes for an engaging romp in the post-apocalyptic setting.  Besides Freddy Rodriguez as the quiet, moody lead with a mysterious past and Rose McGowen as his provocative stripper (excuse me, Go-go dancer) girlfriend with a heart of gold, the film offers a pair of homicidal babysitters, a mad scientist who likes to collect testicles, two brothers arguing over a secret barbecue recipe, and a disgruntled doctor upset with his cheating wife and her Fergalicious lover, among others.  After watching their exaggerated comical interactions throughout the crisis, suddenly a woman with a machine gun for a limb seems somewhat probable.    continue >>