Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Planet Terror

Originally released as part of the Grindhouse double feature, Planet Terror is a 2007 horror/dark comedy written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It has Bruce Willis in it. If that's not enough for you (it's enough for me) it is also a laugh riot, has lots of splatter, and features a zombie plague caused by government experimentation. Something for everybody.

trailer:



Moria says it "attains just the right blend of tongue-in-cheek and dazzling high-energy style." Stomp Tokyo says, "Rodriguez's film is a big and enjoyably dumb action horror film that literally gives new meaning to the phrase "no brainer". I also enjoyed the film's music score provided by Rodriguez himself". Salon.com calls it "a model of cheerful, demented, cartoonishly violent excess" and says, "it was clearly made with a Zen master’s meticulousness." Slant Magazine says, "It's never potent enough to be truly iconic, but at least it's rarely boring." Rolling Stone lists it as one of the 10 best zombie movies. Empire gives it 3 out of 5 stars and says, "While this is the Grindhouse film that suffers most from being presented solo, it’s still the most fun. Watch with beer in hand and tongue in cheek for optimal effect." DVD Talk closes its review with this:
I love damn near everything about Planet Terror: its hyperkinetic pace, that cacklingly depraved sense of humor, a pitch-perfect synth score that could've been nicked straight from a twenty-six year old John Carpenter flick, the dizzingly over-the-top action... Planet Terror is just a hell of a lot of fun, leaving my face plastered with the same goofy grin my sixth time through that I had when I first gave Grindhouse a whirl. Highly Recommended.
Roger Ebert says, "What distinguishes Rodriguez's picture is the extraordinary skill of the makeup, showing us oozing wounds, exploding organs and biological horrors. The movie wants to be as repulsive and nauseating as possible." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 77%.

3 comments:

  1. I saw Planet Terror several years ago and really enjoyed it. Seemed like more of a comedy than something to be afraid of,the gore was very comic bookish.

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  2. I haven't seen this one, but I do enjoy Rodriguez's work. Will add it to my list.

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  3. yes, bob, i agree. it was campy more than scary.

    tbm, i hope you like it. my younger son and i got a kick out of it. we watched it when my husband was gone, since he doesn't like any kind of gore.

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