The better half of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s doomed Grindhouse project, Planet Terror is an extremely gory old school splatter fest which is more in tune with the films of George Romero than today’s zombie movies, and more than delivers on it promise of B-grade gore and action packed thrills.
Staying in line with the exploitation films which it enthusiastically pays homage to, Rodriguez deliberately lowers the quality of his film by inserting a grainy picture and scratchy sound, while taking out several scenes during key moments.
The film features great make-up and special effects via old school techniques and carefully placed CGI. Also, Rodriguez’s script - although chock a block full of corny dialogue- is devoid of the pretentious ramblings found in Tarantino’s Death Proof and is all the better for it.
The plot is simple: a small Texan town must contend with a military bred virus which turns humans into flesh eating zombies.
Playing the inhabitants of said town is a cracking cast; Rose McGowan brings sass and smouldering sexuality the role of Cherri the stripper (sorry, Go-Go dancer) who has a machine gun attached to her leg stump, Freddy Rodriguez kicks butts and takes names as the mysterious one man killing machine El Wray, and Josh Brolin is creepily sinister as a jaded husband turned murderous zombie.
For off the cuff, adrenaline filled action movies, it is hard to go by the films of Robert Rodriguez, and Planet Terror as a standout in his filmography, and is worth watching alone for the faux trailer of Machete (which stars the bad ass Danny Trejo). |