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Grindhouse

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez happily provide viewers with blood, guts and splatter — not to mention a stripper with a machine-gun leg

A A A Comments By Blake Whitaker Thursday, Jan 1 2009

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Grindhouse, the 2007 double feature from directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, takes its name from a term for American movie theaters in the 1970s that showed horror and action B-movies. Rodriguez has said they intended to produce a film of that style that actually lived up to its poster art; the result is a pair of flickering features that simultaneously surpass and embrace their crude inspiration. Tarantino’s Death Proof involves a murderous stuntman (Kurt Russell) getting his comeuppance at the hands of three women who would make any right-thinking man reconsider trying to kill them with his 1969 Dodge Charger. Rodriguez’s Planet Terror tells the story of a town overrun by zombies and the group of humans that goes up against the monsters and a nefarious army unit (with Rose McGowan as Cherry Darling, a go-go dancer whose prosthetic leg is a machine gun). Phony trailers — the highlight of which is Eli Roth’s nearly NC-17 gore-fest Thanksgiving— add to the violent, sexual fun. Check out the original theatrical version (with guts and splatter intact) at 11:55 p.m. River Oaks Theatre, 2009 West Gray. For information, call 713-866-8881 or visit www.landmarktheatre.com. $9.50.
Fri., Jan. 2, 11:55 p.m.; Sat., Jan. 3, 11:55 p.m., 2009