Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Rose McGowan, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Zoe Bell
Classification: 18
Cinema has been playing out the same old rituals since Psycho came along in 1960 and changed the way people had been viewing films. In came set showings, no admittance once the film had begun, and eventually, we even lost the old 'A' and 'B' feature films set up. Fast forward to 2007, and Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez sought to change all that.
With their 'Grindhouse' double bill, the two directors sought a return to the old grindhouse cinema of the 1970s, with two films showing back to back, glorifying horror, gore and downright terror. Sadly the enterprise sank in the US, so it was decided that Rodriguez's effort, Planet Terror, would be jettisoned, along with the 'fake' trailers that separated the two films, and that Death Proof would be released separately.
It's a shame, in a way, since Grindhouse could have had a major impact on the way horror film in particular is screened across the world. Instead, the focus is placed squarely on Death Proof as being Tarantino's fifth film, and I can't help feeling that something is lost along the way. Still, Tarantino is finally given a chance to prove himself, without the homages to past directors or specific films.
Instead, Death Proof is one giant 'thumbs up' to the grungy, grainy, low-budget horror that graced screens three decades ago. Kurt Russell is Stuntman Mike, a psychopath with a stunt car that he claims is "100% death proof". After stalking a group of girls in Austin, Texas, he ends up pursuing a second group of females in Tennessee. His biggest mistake is his choice of target, since two of the three he chases are stuntwomen, and therefore more than capable of holding their own in the final showdown.
The plot really is that basic - Tarantino scraps the temporal shifts and non-linear narratives of his previous films to give us a good old-fashioned suspense flick. Unfortunately, he falls into his usual trap of making films that are far too 'talky'. His reliance on dialogue leads the audience to begin to fidget, cheering every time Russell strides onscreen like a car-driving Angel of Death. While the lengthy conversations heighten the suspense and so make Russell's appearances all the more enjoyable, sadly, they're also too few in number.
Russell is a fine psychopath and his almost charming, rugged demeanour makes him a wonderful villain - it's nice to have him back. The girls all put in fine performances, from Rose McGowan's perky and ultimately too trusting blonde bombshell Pam, to Rosario Dawson's gutsy makeup artist Abby. It's ironic in a way that grindhouse cinema was traditionally the realm of exploitation, and women were little more than objects to be sliced up and served up for a largely male audience - yet in Death Proof, Tarantino has proved he has a deft touch in writing female characters, creating a slew of women we can rally behind.
For all it's dialogue-heavy faults, I'm actually glad Tarantino made Death Proof, because in so doing he has managed to create some of the finest car chases ever committed to film. The last half hour or so of the running time is pure car chase, and it's a winning blow for women drivers everywhere! Perfectly recreating the grainy, jumpy footage of 1970s horror cinema, Tarantino has revealed himself to be an exceptional action director, and while it's a shame that Death Proof loses some of its sting in not being released alongside the more gore-orientated zombie flick Planet Terror, it does prove a point that there are a few more tricks up his sleeve just yet.
Rating 4/5