Grindhouse Movies: They Corrupted the Morality of an Entire Generation

So, back in April or thereabouts, Quinten Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez released their homage to the old grindhouse movies of the 70s, playfully called Grindhouse. Designed as a double bill, Tarantino's car chase flick Death Proof was preceeded by Rodriguez's apocalyptic zombie movie Planet Terror. As a whole, Grindhouse was well reviewed and did poor box office. But, here's the thing: Tarantino and Rodriguez are very talented filmmakers, whereas the makers of the real 70s grindhouse pictures were not.

So, when studios decided, in the wake of this year's Grindhouse, to release en masse the grindhouse pictures of the 70s on DVD, audiences had already received a poor introduction to the actual product. Obviously, these films are not well made- acting, directing, writing, it all goes out the window. The problem is that audiences who rent these movies have likely seen the modern Grindhouse and expect something similar.

I rented a grindhouse double feature yesterday. Very prominently displayed across the front of the box was a warning, taped on by employees at the video store: "NOT THE TARANTINO MOVIE". There is glitch number one. Number two: the movies (more accurately, the filmmakers) don't know they're supposed to be bad. So, there are a lot of people trying really hard and falling really flat. It's actually a bit depressing.

The features themselves are good for laughs, but they're not funny. They are, in point of fact, quite ludicrous. But, it's okay. We have a way in this country of looking back fondly at times that probably weren't that good. In the 40s, everyone came together and supported FDR and the war. In the 50s, families stayed together and no one got past second base without a ring. In the 60s, an entire generation stopped a war (never mind that the war ended in '73). So, it's okay. We can look back at these ridiculous B-movies from the 70s and say, "they were really only meant to be fun, not serious."