Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Grind House
"GRIND HOUSE." To this day, this movie makes me say, "Wow." I never enjoyed slashers, and I don't think I ever will. Movies like "Saw I," "Saw II," "Saw III," etc. were too much for me (yet, I still managed to watch most of them...). It's just too brutal. For me, clever horror films have just the right mix of gore, mystery, and suspense. So when my friends begged me to go watch "Grindhouse" with them, I flat out rejected them. After I had watched Tarantino's "Hostel," I was expecting another disgusting slasher film. At this, I was a silly high school kid who hadn't begun appreciating Tarantino's works. Even though I knew it was a parody of poorly made '80s style horror films, I didn't think my stomach could take it. But, as you probably all know, your friends always somehow convince into doing stuff you hate.
Yet, thank God I watched that film. I think "Grind House" is one of the greatest films I have ever watched, to this day. It seemed so unintentionally hilarious at times it caught me off guard. I would even dare to say it might be better than "Kill Bill." For those who haven't watched this masterpiece, "Grind House" is literally a parody of a grind house, a theater that would show two shoddily made exploitation films back to back. The fake movie trailers in between the two films are probably one of the most hilarious things I have ever watched.
I think I realized I liked "Grind House" because it wasn't a typical slasher film with gore and guts just for the aesthetics (although Tarantino does often use them in that manner). It was a parody of the violence that we find so hilarious. It made me really wonder why I found violence so hilarious, when in fact shooting people and sawing off people's legs are no laughing matter. Even now, this question haunts my mind: Is society slowly changing us to laugh off and be numb to the violence?
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The first part of Grindhouse, Planet Terror, was pretty good. It played with B-movie cliches and was pretty entertaining as a homage to the genre. But Tarantino's Death Proof stood out especially to me. Although the story isn't really as compelling and original as his other films (it's obvious that Tarantino approached this as sort of a side project compared to his other movies), I still really enjoyed it. The ending is just pitch-perfect and was SO very satisfying to watch. Its extraordinarily violent, with the girls just beating the crap out of Kurt Russell (and Kurt Russell's over-the-top screams are hilarious), but I really can't help myself in enjoying every second of it and ESPECIALLY the part where they jump up in celebration and the film freeze frames in the end. I left the theater cracking up hysterically...
ReplyDeleteI personally think Robert Rodriguez's portion of Grindhouse is the best part of the film. Tarantino does a good job, but something about how Rodriguez directs a film really drew me to the Planet Terror section. The fake trailers really add to the film as a whole too, as they make you pay close attention to the entire movie. I hate traditional horror movies, but Grindhouse is good because it gives you a little humor and parody. All in all, this is a good film with a really good cast.
ReplyDeleteSociety is definitely not immunizing us against violence. Many worse violent things were socially acceptable in the past like public executions, bull fights, floggings, stonings, crucifixions, duels, and the british navy.
ReplyDeleteThe fake trailers are great.