Death Proof (2007)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring Kurt Russell, Zoë Bell, Tracie Thoms, Vanessa Ferlito, Rosario Dawson, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Rose McGowan, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jordan Ladd, Marcy Harriell, Quentin Tarantino, Omar Doom, Eli Roth, Monica Staggs. [R]

Tarantino’s bald-faced homage to exploitation trash is a “high-octane slasher movie,” where the killer is a predatory stuntman played with greasy relish by Russell, and his weapon of choice is his “death-proof” car that he uses to stalk and destroy young women. Kurt’s terrific, Quentin’s giddy stylistic pastiche is infectious, and the white-knuckle driving sequences are a glorious roar, but in between the peaks are considerable valleys, with repetitive and inconsequential girl-talk draining energy rather than prolonging suspense; it’s a topsy-turvy world of cinema when the weakest aspect of a Tarantino picture is the dialogue. Tongue-in-cheek nature extends (doubtlessly) to its artificially scuffed print and missing frames and (probably) to its crass product placement—anyone in the mood for a Big Red??—but its most amusing treat is saved for the endgame B-movie gender role reversal as the victims become the bullies and vice versa. Initially released as part of the Grindhouse double feature alongside Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror before being packaged separately in the international markets and on home video as an extended cut; Michael Parks and Marley Shelton appear briefly here as their characters from the first half of that double bill.

71/100