RUNADUN MOVIE PRODUCTION

DEATH PROOF was at the time the of it’s release the fifth feature movie by Quentin Tarantino (RESERVOIR DOGS, PULP FICTION, KILL BILL). The movie premiered on April 6, 2007 in the US/Canada and was recently released on DVD in the US on September 18, 2007. DEATH PROOF is the second movie in a double feature hosted under the title Grindhouse. Tarantino is the director, screenplay writer, and director of photography along with long time friend, collaborator and director Robert Rodriquez (GRINDHOUSE: PLANET TERROR, FROM DUSK TO DAWN, SIN CITY). DEATH PROOF is divided into two parts both of which star Kurt Russell. The first part of the movie was shot in Austin, Texas while the second was in Buellton, California. Supporting actors are Sydney Poitier, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Rose McGowan, Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Zoë Bell as herself.

DEATH PROOF is about a psychopath stuntman named, “Stuntman Mike”, who is played by Kurt Russell. Mike targets and stalks two groups of women in both parts of the movie and proceeds to kill them using his “Death Proof” car.

According to Grindhouse.com, “A grindhouse is an American term for a theater that mainly showed exploitation movies. It is also a term used to describe the genre of movies that played in such theaters. Grindhouse movies are also referred to as “exploitation movies.” Grindhouses were known for non-stop programs of B movies, usually consisting of a double feature, where two movies were shown back to back. Many of these inner-city theaters formerly featured burlesque shows, which included “bump and grind” dancing, leading to the term “grindhouse.” Beginning in the late 1960s and especially during the 1970s, the subject matter of grindhouse movies was dominated by explicit sex, violence, bizarre or perverse plot points, and other taboo content.

The editing in this movie is quite different than what everyone is used to. For instance, after the intro credits roll and just before the dialogue starts there is an abrupt jump cut to another scene as if it was incorrectly spliced or it had been repaired. Also, just as “Jungle Julia” speaks, the movie kicks back a few frames creating a small repeat of her first word giving the impression that something is wrong with the movie or projector tracking. It’s also apparent that there is dust, debris, and scratches on the movie and the audio is low in quality, as well as audible splicing. This gives the feel that the movie has been played on a projector month after month, year after year, becoming worn-down in a “Grindhouse”. Another interesting aspect of the movie aging process is it only appears in the first part of the movie. My thought is that Tarantino must have wanted the effect removed to show how well the car chase scenes were filmed because the aging filters can become distracting after a while.

Interestingly, this type of editing can be easily processed due to modern nonlinear computer editing systems. Before the era of computer editing these types of effects would have been applied directly to the master tape, which couldn’t be undone. According to Robert Rodriguez’s 10-minute movie School, “The movie aging effect on GRINDHOUSE is a series of layers of real movie print damage, artifacts, dust passes, scratches, and different brightness levels.” He goes on saying “The trick to using these effects is to keep it random”.

Sally Menke (RESERVOIR DOGS, PULP FICTION, KILL BILL) did some amazing editing throughout the movie especially at the end when the girls, Dodge Challenger, crosscuts into Mikes “Death Proof” car ending the chase scene with an abrupt crash. Mike is yanked from the car and caught in the middle with Abernathy, Kim, and Zoë? as they brutally beat him to death in a rotating circle frenzy. Some of the scenes abruptly end, pause, and slow to a stop along with supporting sound effects. This type of editing was an absolute must in order to show the rage these girls had against Mike’s actions.

The production budget on this movie was $67 million. Unfortunately, it did poorly at the box office opening at 11.6 million and grossing only 25.3 million worldwide during it’s 78 day run making this movie a flop. It was highly rated among many critics though. Ebert & Roeper gave it two thumbs up and stated, “The movie looks junkie but that’s what makes it so beautiful.” They also stated “Tarantino added a wonderful movie to the exploitation era which he loves so much.”

Along with Jeff Dashnaw’s (SIN CITY) stunt coordination, Sally Menke’s editing and Robert Rodriguez’s movie aging technique, it’s Tarantino’s dialogue, choice of music and expertise for picking the right actors to portray his genius work which really brings this movie to be what all Tarantino movies are, brilliant.

MOVIE CRITIQUE
BY D. R. HIRSCHBERG
RUNADUN MOVIE PRODUCTION