Planet Terror

Planet Terror (2007): After an experimental bio-weapon is released, turning thousands into zombie-like creatures, it’s up to a rag-tag group of survivors to stop the infected and those behind its release.

This is the other part of Grindhouse, the first being Tarantino’s Deathproof. This is in the horror/splatter b-movie camp, which is not a genre that I am crazy about.

The visual look is even more scratched up than Deathproof and there is a “missing reel” fake out complete with a message in its place.

The gore in this film was a little bit too much for me, which would have been fine if the rest was entertaining. Instead I didn’t find those scenes very enjoyable, not even the dancer with a machine gun leg.

All the cool scenes are in the trailer, everything else actually does not look cool, but goofy. Like watching Cherry walk with her gun/leg I felt sorry for her, not attracted to her. Some of those scenes don’t even make sense, which is part of what Grindhouse is about, I just didn’t like it.

The main actors were disappointing too. Rose McGowen did not impress me here, anything I might have enjoyed about her character was not thanks to her acting. I liked Freddy Rodriguez in Six Feet Under, but I was a bit disappointed here. Maybe this just wasn’t the right role for him.

There are some scenes that get the right balance between campy fun and stupidity (especially in the first half), but once all hell breaks loose Robert Rodriguez just loses this balance.

Not a film I would recommend, especially if you’re not a fan of gore.

Rating: 2 Stars