Replicating not only the look and sound but also--and most importantly--the ambiance of the double-feature specialties of the drive-in movie theaters in the 1970s, filmmakers Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino took a gamble with their bloated co-effort, "Grindhouse"--the first half a messy splatter flick ("Planet Terror", which unspools in the manner of George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead) and the second a psycho action-thriller ("Death Proof", which draws upon a number of inspirations, from "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry" to "Satan's Cheerleaders"). Neither film (augmented with 'worn' reels and sloppy jump cuts, plus actors and characters who appear in both episodes) is particularly good plot-wise; however, both movies are incredible solely as visceral experiences, offering a lot of fun for select audiences. In "Planet Terror" (originally entitled "Project Terror", which made more sense), mass quantities of a deadly biochemical gas are released into the air, turning citizens into marauding zombies; an unlikely band of survivors fights back, led by a cocky-cool modern-day gunfighter and his stripper-girlfriend, who turns the horrible loss of her right leg to everyone's advantage. There's much to enjoy here visually, yet the plot-mechanics and characters fail to emerge due to Rodriguez's garbled script, which is quite funny intentionally on occasion but is more often than not just plain dumb. **1/2 from ****
Review of Planet Terror
