A go-go dancer named Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan, who’s a long way from her
Charmed days) decides to pack it in one night--which is probably just as well,
since she always cries whenever she performs, making it kind of depressing to
watch her act. Heading over to JT’s Barbecue, she runs into El Wray (Freddie
Rodriguez, who’s also a long way from Six Feet Under) an old flame who drives a
wrecker. Wray is an expert shot with a mysterious past, and as he hooks up with
Cherry once more, his shooting expertise will come in very handy. After a deal
goes wrong between a group of rouge soldiers led by Lt Muldoon (Bruce Willis,
who’s a long way from Moonlighting) and a really weird scientist named Abby
(Naveen Andrews, who’s a long way from LOST)--who collects the private parts of
people whom he doesn’t like--a strange green gas is released into the night air,
turning everybody who comes into contact with it into a rabid, flesh-eating
zombie! Looks like Cherry picked the perfect night to quit pole dancing.
Originally released with Death Proof as part of the Grindhouse double feature,
Planet Terror has also been expanded. Yet unlike Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof,
which was a more serious ode to the 1970s car chase films, Planet Terror is more
in line with the fervent SF/horror/action movie mish-mash that were released in
the grind house theaters of old. Director Robert Rodriguez has crafted a wild,
fun-loving ride that mixes copious gore and humor at the same time. The
marvelous cast, led by the superb McGowan, certainly helps to sell this crazy
premise. Having such SF/Horror genre vets like The Terminator’s Michael Biehen,
Jeff Fahey and make up effects legend Tom Savini in the cast just makes this
film even more fun to watch.
Even Quentin Tarantino, Rodriguez’s partner in crime in this Grindhouse venture,
has a hysterically funny--and really gross--scene as a soldier who’s not going
to let his decomposing body get in the way of doing what he wants to do. And,
speaking of the excess gore, let this serve as fair warning for those of you who
are timid about that sort of thing: there are no sacred cows in Planet Terror.
Rodriguez gleefully goes for the gross-out in almost every scene (often with
very funny results) and nobody, not even kids, are safe here. If you’re still
watching by the time Rose McGowan’s Cherry gets outfitted with her machine gun
leg, then it’s because you “get it”. People who are easily offended by excess
gore--among other things--should probably skip this film altogether.
The two disc DVD comes with the usual commentaries. But there’s also a special
“Audience Track” where the DVD viewer can experience watching the film while
listening to a live movie theater audience’s exuberant reactions. The second
disc contains a multitude of extras in the form of special feature documentaries.
And, before the movie starts, you can see Rodriguez’s very funny Machete trailer,
featuring Danny Trejo, a favorite actor of Rodriguez’s, as a hitman
gunning for the guy who double-crossed him (which is also played by Jeff Fahey).
The entire Grindhouse double feature will be released on DVD soon, but if you
only enjoyed Planet Terror, then this disc is well-worth getting alone.
--SF
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