GRINDHOUSE at the Duke's

A few years ago when Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez decided to make a homage to a style of cinema known as 'Grindhouse', the people involved with the marketing basically pussied out on the idea. The thought of showing two films back-to-back with trailers for 'fake' films (but now real...see Machete!) was clearly too bizarre and complex for them (and therefore a mainstream audience) to understand. Which is pretty dumb considering that both Tarantino and Ridriguez are two of the most influential, interesting, talented, smartest and successful filmmakers to come out of America since the early 1990's and both continue to prove themselves in their respective fields.

As a result Tarantino's Death Proof and Rodriguez's Planet Terror were released separately, and both films were largely shunned by critics and audiences, even though both are awesome movies in their own rights and even more so as the originally intended double feature.

Death Proof is an essential accompaniment to the works of Quentin Tarantino. The film is about a psychopathic stuntman going on several killing sprees in his 'death proof' car, specifically targeting attractive young women. The film perfectly displays Tarantino's sense of aesthetic style and production design, with dialogue and conversational sequences that flow in such a way that are unique to Tarantino. There is also a remarkable high speed chase sequence that is more invigorating and stimulating than anything from a Jerry Bruckheimer movie!

Planet Terror is Rodriguez's answer to all the gross out zombie movies of the 70s and 80s. A sexy, slimy, steamy action movie on the premise of a failed military experiment involving a nerve gas that turns most of Texas (and then the world) into flesh-eating-puss-filled zombies! And only a small band of survivors can stop the outbreak and save mankind!....including a chick with a machine gun as a leg! Full of in-jokes and references to films and the style that inspired it, Planet Terror is a perfectly executed salute to a form of film making that was largely misunderstood...with its tongue firmly in its cheek.

The term 'Grindhouse' is used to describe a type of cinema in inner cities in the 1970s that were mostly seedy dives that showed low budget, ultra violent and explicitly sexual indie movies.

Needless to say it's hard to find such places nowadays outside of the various red light districts of the world cities, but Brighton's Duke of York's is going back to it's seedier days (for one night only!)

You can see Rodriguez's and Tarantino's 'Grindhouse' how it was originally intended on Friday 27th August at 11.45....at NITE!

Get tickets now!...www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Duke_Of_Yorks/film/Grindhouse/