Movies That Bombed That Shouldn't Have #1

Welcome to a new feature, where I will talk about a good movie that didn't deserve the poor business it did. 2007's "Grindhouse" was a collaborative effort between Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, and it was a tribute to the cheap, low brow Grindhouse films of the 50's, 60's and 70's. These were low budget, badly acted movies, often shown two at a time, probably because no one would want to pay to see just one of these cheapies. "Grindhouse" was actually two movies, "Planet Terror" an insane zombie movie directed by Rodriguez, and "Death Proof", about a sadistic stuntman terrorizing some young women directed by Tarantino. These guys really went the extra mile, making the "film" look cheap and scratched, even going so far as to have other film makers crate fake trailers that would play before each movie. The trailers were just as much fun as the movies themselves. I will say this, that "Grindhouse" is not for everyone. "Planet Terror" has a large amount of gore, and "Death Proof" gets a bit too talky at times, but that is expected from Tarantino. But overall, the experience of the films as a whole is very enjoyable. They were made not to be taken seriously, and that's why the gore didn't bother me. Part of the problem, I think, was that a lot of people just didn't get what they were trying to do with the movie. If you know what the old Grindhouse movies were like, then you knew what to expect from this. Even if you didn't they were just good, fun films, and most film critics liked it (not that film critics know anything, but don't get me started on them). Another part of the problem was the release date of the movie. It was released on Easter weekend, a time usually reserved for more family friendly type fare. The critically slammed "Are We Done Yet" did better than this movie did on its opening weekend. One complaint I heard about this movie was that people seemed to think that the film makers could not decide if they wanted to be funny or scary. But that was the thing about Grindhouse films, they were cheap and poorly made, and were usually laughable as they were trying to be scary or dramatic, and that's what both of these movies were emulating. I think in the end, most people just didn't get it. I saw this in the theaters and I loved it, and so did anybody else I knew who saw it. I highly recommend seeing "Grindhouse", but the experience is best seeing it in its original form, as one long double feature, complete with the fake trailers. Both films had separate DVD releases, and both come with extended footage, but I would not recommend seeing them until you see the original full length double feature. Apparently, the low gross of the movie has not discouraged the notion of a sequel, which is very rare in Hollywood, but in this case, I would welcome another one. Definitely a movie that deserved a better fate than it got.