Death Proof is a movie about a bunch of sexy girls and a scar-faced aging stuntman who wants them all dead. And he kinda succeeds, up until he chances upon a trio of tough girls played by Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms, and Zoe Bell. That is it. This is the basic simple plot. Then why even bother watching it you say?? Well the answer is… drumrolls please… the master craftsman Mr. Quentin Tarantino. This man is a genius!
The movie is the director’s tribute to the B-grade slasher films. And what a tribute it is!! To begin with, a slasher film is like an exploitation film… a film that typically has a psychopathic killer who stalks and kills a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner. Such movies were released in the US as a double feature in theatres that were called Grindhouse. This movie too was released as a double feature along with Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror in an extremely chopped and trimmed version. But I seriously suggest you watch the extended version.
From the title sequence to the climatic car chase sequence, the movie has a very seventies feel to it. The dialogues aren’t great; they aren’t meant to be. For most parts of the movie the entire cast happily gossip on just random things. But I think having great dialogues would not have any additional impact on the movie either. So this is really not a negative. It actually makes the movie weirdly engrossing.
To bring about the whole B-grade slasher movie look, Tarantino, who is also the cinematographer of the movie, has manipulated the movie reels ingeniously. Starting from the title sequence, where he inserts the unofficial movie title Thunderbolt in a very very obvious manner, to the many slasher movie posters used as art work, this movie is a serious homage that only someone with Tarantino’s talent and resource could actually do. I love the way he has scratched the reels to give it an old/cheap movie feel and the way he shifts the movie from colour to black and white and then back to colour.
The movie is so wonderful artistically that I can gush and rave about each frame! Tarantino purposely has snipped a few seconds right in the middle of the movie, just a few minutes before the intermission. I think that was a touch of absolute brilliance. You are left wondering what happened. True, it does not in any ways alter the course of the story… but that deliberate omission just leaves an impact on the viewer…. you are left thinking who said what and why. And the funny thing is… as a viewer you know from the start, this is not a movie where who said what and why matter!
The actors are all good in their roles and Kurt Russell is seriously scary. He looks scary… so you are skeptical of everything he says and does; but then there are times when he seems so genuinely sweet. He is really one frightening villain! And the girls are all nice, unique and if you are a girl… seriously intimidatingly sexy.
And how can I talk about a Tarantino movie and not talk about the music! Well… like every single movie of his, this movie too has a perfect soundtrack. Most of the songs are something I have never heard; but now they are something that I will definitely store on my iPod. I cannot end my review without mentioning two things – the lap dance given by Vanessa Ferlito and the crash sequence. The lap dance… well its HOT… actually that is an understatement… its super hot! And the crash sequence is gory… its superbly shot and edited.
So my verdict… Death Proof is a Tarantino masterpiece that should be seen! At least according to me. I know people either love his movies or seriously hate it. And this one is the same. There is no mid way. Love it or hate it, for me it is a killer!
-Bella
3 of Spades 