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Finally the other half of the double bill Grindhouse makes its way to these shores, a month and a half after Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof. While it would have been nice to see the original two-parter as the directors intended, at least we have been given the opportunity to savour the delights separately with extended cuts of each film (albeit without the comedy fake trailers, which were apparently worth the ticket price alone). Stylistically, the scratched print is consistent through both films, although is much more prominent in Planet Terror, and both films are just lightweight excuses for the directors to indulge themselves. Rodriguez's film, however, is quite different from QT's - it's a splatteriffic zombie horror-comedy, with lashings of over-the-top violence and a generous helping of hilarious one-liners and sight gags. Basically, it's a 100-minute-long gimmick, but it's also a raucous and fantastically entertaining jaunt.
We are treated to one trailer that existed in the Grindhouse cut, that of Machete, which plays before the feature. It's basically 3-minutes of mayhem that foreshadows the film that follows, but has the added benefit of Voiceover Man. There's a rumoured direct-to-DVD full-length Machete feature in the offing, but that may be a step to far - the one-joke concept could easily start to feel tired if stretched out. And anyway, Planet Terror does the job perfectly well, providing consistent and constant laughter due to its wanton absurdity. All the actors are clearly involved just to have fun, and thankfully this is not an Ocean's Twelve instance of feeling left out of the joke. Numerous genre stalwarts and famous names show up, and Rodriguez obviously enjoys sending up their personas (Tarantino himself makes an appearance, and it is one that will not quickly be forgotten). One of the most commanding presences amidst the bedlam is that of Michael "I deserved a better career" Biehn, the James Cameron favourite who starred in The Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss.
Rodriguez also composes the score, and it's a perfect homage to John Carpenter's 80s synthesiser compositions. The deliberate print damage is a novelty that wears off at times, but at others works in the film's favour, such as the "missing reel" that gets Rodriguez out of a narrative corner in an inspired way. The obvious use of CGI is a giveaway that this has a relatively high budget compared to the grungy exploitation flicks that it attempts to imitate, and is occasionally jarring. In this respect Tarantino's offering, with its 100% real stunts, feels like a far more authentic homage, but it's so hard to stay mad at a film when it puts a smile on the face with as much zeal, enthusiasm and undeniable passion as Planet Terror.
The summary
Planet Terror is fast food in film form - you know it's bad for you and provides only brief gratification, but damn, it's great while it lasts.
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