With the extended edition of PLANET TERROR hitting stores this week, I am centering another This Weekend's Film Festival around the theme of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's GRINDHOUSE. Unlike the past lineup, which featured road/chase flicks, this one focuses on flesh eating and embodies the essence of grindhouse films. This will be the bloodiest and most disturbing lineup thus far. Most of the films will be films I recommend, but two will be films I didn't recommend. One of those films is one of the most controversial films ever made. The second is one of the most ridiculous zombie movies ever made. The two better films in the lineup are an homage to grindhouse fare and an old school grindhouse production that has risen to the heights of a horror classic. This Weekend's Film Festival isn't for the weak at heart -- or the weak stomached either. Be warned, you might be offended... but that's part of the grindhouse experience.
As I did with the lineup built around DEATH PROOF, I'm kicking off the Festival with its inspiration -- PLANET TERROR. Check back soon for my review of the extended cut, but you can find out what I thought of the theatrical cut in my original review of GRINDHOUSE. Unlike Tarantino's film, Rodriguez's zombie epic is a spoof of the grindhouse experience. He crams every convention he can into its running time. Multiple plotlines converge as a disease turns people into pussy, melting flesh "sickos." The central character is unlucky go-go dancer Cherry Darling, played deliciously by Rose McGowan. She has a combative relationship with the knife-wielding tow-truck driver El Wray (Freddy Rodriguez). The director fills the production with over-the-top iconic moments. From Cherry's machinegun leg to syringe-gun toting anesthesiologist Dr. Dakota Block to scientist Abby's sick collection in a jar, there are more original images in this movie than 10 films. Ridiculous, but fun and cool, moments are obviously what Rodriguez loves about grindhouse films. Their freedom to go for the most absurd idea, and then take it to another level. He does this over and over again. That's what makes it so much fun.
The Saturday flicks are the challenging ones. The ones that could get me angry letters. The ones that I warn viewers of before they enter into them. However, it would very safe to make a grindhouse lineup filled with great or easily acceptable films, but that doesn't capture the entire grindhouse experience. If you think you can't handle it then substitute the Saturday lineup with two zombie flicks you find great. I suggest DAWN OF THE DEAD and DEAD ALIVE, which may be too gory for some as well.
The first Saturday film is Lucio Fulci's ZOMBIE. In my original review of this film, I gave it one and a half stars. I said, "this film skirts by being unwatchable by the skin of its teeth." However, it's been over two years since I first saw it and it still stays in my mind. Fulci, in some circles, is listed as one of the Italian masters of horror. I wouldn't put him there, but I think that status made me expect something more from this film going in. Therefore, I was very disappointed. After re-reading my review, I thought to myself I have to watch this film again, because it might be worth a reevaluation as a BOMB rating. A film that defies judgment because it's so bad it's good. There are two scenes that stick in my mind clearly. A zombie fights a shark underwater. Please, think how absurd that notion is and know that it is totally gratuitous to the plot. Additionally, a beautiful woman's eye is slowly brought closer and closer to a splinter. The scene makes you squirm for sure and Fulci doesn't let the audience off the hook in the end. Part of the grindhouse tradition is to shock. Fulci pushes the boundaries of screen gore here. Fulci is making a zombie film for the gore fans. Story is really secondary when a film's purpose is to present great gore, which this film succeeds at grandly. This film never goes for the tongue-in-cheek level that PLANET TERROR does, but at times it's just as absurd.
The second Saturday film is Ruggero Deodato's CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, a film that was banned in more than 60 countries. I get nauseated every time I think about it. I closed my original review with this -- "It's sad that too many of its shocks were needless and excessive. It's understandable why this film is so debated, because there is a good movie buried within. The film walks the bleeding edge, but cuts itself too deep too many times in the process." The story follows a professor as he searches the jungles of South America looking for signs of a missing film crew that went looking for cannibals. He finds their film and brings it back. We watch in horror as the evils of the film crew unfold on screen. The found footage gimmick obviously influenced THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Like the make-up effects in ZOMBIE, they are first rate. One woman is impaled from anus to mouth. It's so believable that Italian judges made the filmmakers bring the woman to court to prove that she was not really murdered. The film graphically depicts sodomy, cannibalism and rape. It actually shows real animal slaughter. Deodato claims the film is a commentary on unethical methods in documentaries and TV journalism. This theme is there, but his own desire to shock undermines his point at every turn. By making use watch the "found footage" at the end, we are asked to watch a virtual snuff film. The violence is so real that it's disturbing and exploitative, and makes one think about gratuitous violence in film. This film represents both the good and bad of extreme grindhouse cinema. You won't forget it, but don't blame me because you can't. Enter at your own risk.
Like PLANET TERROR, the opening Sunday film, EVIL DEAD 2, is a spoof of horror films. However, its satire is subtler. Someone unaccustomed to the conventions might see this as a straight campy horror flick, however, director Sam Raimi takes things to delightful extremes, thus skewering and subverting genre clich?s along the way. The plot is standard Ash, played perfectly by Bruce Campbell, and his girlfriend head out to a secluded cabin in the woods where they encounter all kinds of ghouls and demons. Filled to gallons of gore, the film takes things pushes things very over-the-top and never comes down. Focusing on its purpose creates consistency. Think about how ZOMBIE tries to play things too serious, while EVIL DEAD 2 winks at the crowd as it piles on one absurd event after another. Ash's chainsaw hand is a predecessor to Cherry's machinegun leg. Once again the film is a great example of make-up effects. Some of the special effects are dated, but have a charm that film fans will love. When it comes to humorous horror, EVIL DEAD 2 is one of the best. Check out my original review to learn more about this groovy flick.
Closing this week's lineup is an old school zombie film. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD would have been called a B-movie in 1968, but its pushing of the boundaries of screen gore its also the granddaddy of grindhouse flicks. I said in my original review, " In [director George Romero's] use of gore, he has purpose. The flesh eating is first reported on the radio then confirmed on TV, finally gruesomely taking place on screen in one sequence, building the sense of chaos growing. It's still unsettling today and must have been appalling upon its original release." Romero is an innovator in the world of screen gore. But he uses it often sparingly, knowing that gross stuff is not scary, but the threat of gross stuff is. Often grindhouse films were allowed to deal with issues that mainstream films didn't dare to touch. Romero presents a black hero, who is still allowed to be a flawed human being. The horror master's zombie films stand as a symbol of their age. LIVING DEAD dealt with racism. DAWN OF THE DEAD was commercialism. DAY OF THE DEAD was '80s militarism. His recent LAND OF THE DEAD dealt with the growing divide between rich and poor. Romero shocks in more ways than just with flesh eating zombies, but, unlike films like ZOMBIE or CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, his shocks deliver chills and smarts. There is a difference between an exploitation film and a movie that just exploits ugliness.
Here it is a lineup presenting a wide view at what grindhouse cinema is really like. This doesn't nearly cover the expansive range of what makes a flick part of the grindhouse. Some sub-genres like the Nazi-sexploitation films have no redeemable value. To see a great list of the vast array of grindhouse genres, check out Rotten Tomatoes' Grindhouse A to Z (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/features/special/2007/grindhouse/). Now if you chose to accept the challenge drive to the rental store, update the Netflix queue or visit Zap2It.com for your local TV listings. If you hate me after this lineup, please post a comment. If you love it, you're a sicko... but one after my own heart and you can tell me all about it as well.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
