Planet Terror

Planet Terror is a homage to the trash that used to play at drive-ins back in the 70s, particularly, its a zombie film. Being a lover of zombies I was stoked when I sat down to watch it. The movie delivers everything a fan of the horror-comedy-action genre could want, over the top action, over the top gore, and at times over the top acting. We follow a few main characters, all of which are enigmatic and end up having connections that no one would have seen coming, which reminded me of the low budget films that used to come out back in the day, where the director would try to weave in so many subplots the whole thing becomes silly (and a lot of fun)...

The movie is heavy on gore and there's a ton of beautiful women, therefore its a visually pleasing film to watch, especially with the premature aging effect they use to make the movie seem old.

Another factor I was excited about was Micheal Biehn, I haven't seen him in an action oriented roll in a while and it was good to see him back in action (whatever happened to him anyway?). The plot is fairly simple, a zombie outbreak in which the survivors are the cure for the zombie infection and have to survive.

Its a really fun movie, and is the better half of Grindhouse (Death Proof seemed like a very ODD chick flick). I recommend it highly to anyone who likes zombies...

Everyone I know loves this movie, including my Girlfriend. Yes, it has it's gross-out moments, but they are all so over the top that they aren't all that disturbing. The whole movie is supposed to be grimy and cheesy so if you expect a slick Hollywood blockbuster you might be disappointed. If you are a fan of MST3K movies then check this one out. It's an amazing recreation of a movie they'd watch! I mean that as a compliment. I found Death Proof to be slightly Borning until the last 20 minutes. But, in this movie, it's almost all non-stop action! There are also some really funny cuts, dialog and special effects. This movie is not to be taken seriously. Turn down the lights, get some popcorn and enjoy the ride!

Everyone who thinks Grindhouse was a mindless piece of cinema and completely useless needs to shut up.

And as for telling people who like this movie to get a real brain, get off your high horse.

These movies were supposed to trashy and gory and cheesy, that's what makes them so great. Being immature and ridiculous everyone once and a while just for the hell of it is fun, and that's the spirit these movies were made in.

get the sticks out of your you know where people. It's not like I'm putting them on a pedestal with movies like Schindler's List, I enjoy them for the pure enjoyment of it.

these movies are brilliant for what they were made for. It's not like

While Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof seems to be a much more authentic representation of 1970s grindhouse pictures, Robert Rodriguez' Planet Terror is more of a loving caricature of 1980s zombie splatter films. Nothing in the film is played straight, and virtually every scene is accompanied by a wink and a grin at the audience.

If Tarantino's effort is accused of being slow (or deliberately paced, depending on your opinion), Planet Terror never even thinks about slowing down. From the exploitative opening credits through to the final frames of the film, this is a roller coaster ride of a film that doesn't let up.

With Planet Terror, Robert Rodriguez continues his "everything and the kitchen sink" mentality when it comes to his film-making by throwing everything at the wall just to see what sticks. While it sometimes feels like this technique gets in the way of Rodriguez finding a true film-making voice, it works quite well for a film like Planet Terror where there's no room for subtlety.

The cast that Rodriguez assembled is a glorious ensemble of bygone action heroes, horror icons, and Rodriguez stock actors. They all bring their parts to life in a cartoonish sort of way that fits the tone of the movie beautifully.

While the uncut DVD edition of Planet Terror doesn't change the film drastically in any way, it definitely improves the film. It gives the film smoother transitions and fills in some gaps in the plot (though that missing reel is still there and will always remain there as one of the many comical winks at the audience). The large cast of characters are also given more beats here and there that help fill out their personas a little more. All in all, this uncut version simply allows the film to breathe a little more, rather than having to jump frantically from scene to scene in an effort to make the 84 minute running time.

At the end of the day, Planet Terror isn't going to win any awards, and it's certainly not meant to. It's simply an extremely enjoyable guilty pleasure of a film that virtually anyone with the stomach for it can probably have a good time with, especially if you're a horror fan. Take a couple of classic John Carpenter films like The Fog and Escape From New York and throw them into a blender with a couple of classic zombie splatter films like Evil Dead 2 and Dawn of the Dead and you've got a pretty good idea of what Planet Terror is like. And at the end of the day, you could definitely have a worse combination of films to pay loving homage to.

For some reason the original double feature movie of Grindhouse combining Planet Terror with Tarantino's effort was never released in the UK! Regardless, i was still curious to watch both efforts, and the first of which I've had the chance to see is Planet Terror.

It's simply about a small town that comes under attack from a virus which when it affects the town-folk makes everyone into zombie like creatures (e.g. attacking others to infect them also, appearances become inhuman etc etc). Add into this mix a Go-Go girl, her ex-boyfriend (an expert at gunslinging), a doctor with a cheating lesbian loving wife-cum-doctor and a bunch of others and you have your pulp fiction movie.

Story wise its crazy but surprisingly its still quite fun. Dialogue isn't too bad, and is very entertaining. The film never really twists but plays along for the action as that's the main gist of the whole thing. Explosions, mass shootings, more explosions, zombie pulverising and even more shooting are the order of the day.

Most importantly this has been filmed in the style of the old b-movies, with grainy pictures and a couple of homages to old b-movie filming (including a comical starting fake preview of a film called "Machete").

Overall, I very much enjoyed it. Switch off and you'll like and enjoy it. Worthy of a good night out.