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Psycho and QT's Death Proof (2007)

posted 7 years ago by ecarle (14979)
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I' m a big fan of Quentin Tarantino("QT") and I find his connections to Hitchcock quite strong...even if QT seems to have been rather dismissive of Hitchcock's "trademark famous director status."

QT's films have been crime thrillers and Westerns and very little like Hitchcock's "sedate" films(Rebecca, Suspicion, To Catch a Thief), but both men certainly intersect in the ability to shock and excite audiences(Psycho/The Birds/Torn Curtain/Frenzy begat Reservoir Dogs/Pulp Fiction/Kill Bill.) Hitchcock had , and QT has, the ability to excite their audiences and fans into "can't wait" mode for the next movie. They were/are auteurs who blended the exploitational with the artistic.

QT works in a more violent age than Hitchcock did. Psycho and Frenzy merely "set the stage" for the gory excess of QT, and I have to take that gory excess with a grain of salt(I personally believe that QT has a screw loose in certain ways, and a sadism streak that he disguises as "violent action.")

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I watched QTs "Death Proof" the other night on cable, and it was a bit of a revelation to me.

First of all, I realized that I had not seen "Death Proof" in almost 10 years -- since I first saw it in 2007(as part of a "exploitation movie double bill" with Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror." -- the package was called "Grindhouse";) I've kept up with reviewings of ALL of QT's other movies much more regularly than that -- either seeing them on cable, where they turn up a lot, or pulling out a DVD and watching it.

But I don't HAVE a DVD of Death Proof.

I think that Death Proof's being "attached" to Planet Terror(and some fake and gory trailers in between) is what kept me away from buying a copy. Did I want the entire Grindhouse double feature package? Did I just want Death Proof? Which VERSION of Death Proof did I want(the one I saw in 2007 is 27 minutes shorter than a later release.)

QT has said of his "Eight" films(which is somewhat off -- Kill Bill is two movies that QT counts as one) -- that "Death Proof" is the worst one. And I think he's right. But like they said of Hitchcock -- QT at his worst is better than most directors at their best.

My ten-year old memory of Death Proof is that, rather unfairly, the pages and pages of QT dialogue that he wrote for TWO sets of young multi-racial women was the least entertaining and most boring such dialogue QT ever wrote. Was it because women said the lines? Because NON-STAR women said the lines? Was it because QT couldn't write for women?(I reject that on the basis of Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown and Kill Bill alone)

Well, something went wrong, that's for sure.

"Death Proof" is Psycho-esque in several ways: Its about a serial killer(Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike.) The story "splits in two," with two separate casts in Part One and Part Two "linked" by a few people in both parts in both films (Norman and Sam in Psycho; only Kurt Russell in Death Proof.) And its ultra-violent -- as Psycho was considered in 1960 but as QT could hype to ultimate levels in 2007.

As much as a lot goes wrong in Death Proof(the dialogue among the ladies, says I, and some real problems with pacing)...a lot goes right. Kurt Russell for one thing -- that great unsung second tier star who is almost reaching Jeff Bridges' level of "unsung cult stardom"(Oscar is about all that's missing.) And, an absolutely fantastic final 30 minutes of car chase action, for another. Funny how after QT took a six-year break between Jackie Brown and Kill Bill 1, he came back as a great ACTION director. Maybe that's what he needed the six years to become.

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[–] ecarle (14979) 7 years ago

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Though it is not quite this "pure," it can be said that Part One of Death Proof is the more "usual" QT: a whole lotta talk, a lot of which is very fun to listen to and brilliant in the conception -- as when Kurt Russell uses a full-on John Wayne impression to say that when he says "In my book, you're OK" HE ACTUALLY HAS A BOOK.

And then Part Two has that incredible stunt driving sequence -- anchored not by the cars moving so fast and crashing into each other so much as by the INCREDIBLE stuntwork of New Zealand stuntwoman Zoe Bell hanging onto the hood of a car by two -- and then only one -- strapped on belts as it moves at top speed. However "really secure" Bell was with those straps, that car is MOVING -- and its clear she could have been hurt or killed had the car crashed.

But there's also a lot of talk(again, among young women) in Part Two...and Part One climaxes with the "horror action" of Stuntman Mike's first on-screen killings -- one woman IN his "Death Proof" car as a passenger, and then four women "in one blow" when he hits their car with his "Death Proof" car. The carnage is gory and grim, but the excitement is palpable -- the four women in the other car die as they reach the Karoke climax to a sing-a-long to some catchy, obscure rock song on the radio.

About that "Death Proof" car: I figure that QT had learned about such "movie cars" and hatched his horror idea accordingly. A "Death Proof" car is one that is so heavily rigged and protected that the stunt driver can survive, with moderate injury only, a crash into ANYTHING ("I can drive 125 miles straight into a brick wall," Kurt brags.)

Thus can Stuntman Mike drive head-on into the car with four women and kill them while sustaining minor injuries, but also -- Stuntman Mike kills a female passenger whose seat has been rigged with NO protection. As Stuntman Mike says to her:
"I told you this car is Death Proof, and it is. Its 100% Death Proof. However, to get the full benefit, honey...you really have to be sitting in MY seat."

Whereupon he swerves, brakes and steers the car to make sure that the passenger(Rose MacGowan) is slammed against every steel wall of the passenger side until she is dead, her neck broken and her face a bloody mass.

The "violence against women" in "Death Proof" is acute and disturbing. We are in Frenzy territory here, there are no male victims as in Psycho -- and Michael Parks as the same sheriff he played in "KIll Bill" here notes that he believes Stuntman Mike gets off sexually only DURING the killings(ala Bob Rusk in Frenzy.)

But just when you think that QT is a woman-hating sadist himself, he offers a "flip the tables" finale in which the SECOND set of potential female victims -- which includes two tough stunt ladies -- pursue a sniveling, whining, crybaby Stuntman Mike all over creation in their car...and then pull him out of his crashed car for a final "fatal beatdown" that should have feminists applauding everywhere. (The physicality of how the ladies beat Kurt to death reminded me of " Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill.")

That beatdown, coupled with the incredible car chases, coupled with the ultra-gore of Russell's first murders (the car crashes in Part One) coupled with... a LOT(if hardly all) of QT's trademark curlicue dialogue...makes "Death Proof" memorable enough. I liked it a lot this time around.

[–] ecarle (14979) 7 years ago

(FINAL) "The Grindhouse Experiment"

Its funny about the QT career. Jackie Brown in 1997 is the last "purely stand alone" feature in QT's canon before "Inglorious Basterds" a full 12 years later in 2009.

In the 12 years in between, QT took a full six of them OFF -- amazing when you think about it.

Then, he gave us a movie in two parts: "Kill Bill 1" (2003) and "Kill Bill 2"(2004).

Then he gave us "half a movie OF two parts": "Death Proof" as the second feature after "Planet Terror" in "Grindhouse"(2007." Worse yet, "Death Proof" divides INTO two parts.

The "Grindhouse" experiment was for QT and his best buddy Robert Rodriguez to "re-create" the crumminess of grindhouse exploitation films by PURPOSELY stomping the film stock until it was filled with hair-like lines, tears, reel breaks, soundtrack jumps...just total garbage to look at and listen to. As a technical matter. The actual acting and writing and staging was Grade-A.

Moreover, the "Grindhouse" double-bill came complete with some fake trailers and even a very funny "commercial" for "Acuna Boys Mexican Food.' Not to mention absolutely tear-inducing nostalgia bumpers with such phrases as "Coming Soon," "Also" and my favorite "Get MORE out of Life...Go TO a Movie!"

That the "sweet nostalgia" of the bumpers was raped by the atrocities portrayed in the fake Grindhouse trailers was..part of the weird, sick "X-rated" charm of Grindhouse.

The trailers included "Machete"(which actually became a movie and then a sequel), "Nazi Werewolf Women of the SS," "Don't!"(quite witty, by Simon Pegg: "Don't! Go in the house!" "Don't Go..Up the Stairs!" "Don't! Go in the basement(why, that's Psycho right there) and "If you are thinking about going to this movie alone...Don't!")

...and "Eli Roth's Thanksgiving," a "Halloween ripoff" which just might make you vomit in your mouth a little bit. (Roth appears in "Death Proof" and I think he was a bad influence on QT, gore-wise.)

Intriguing: QT is willing to shoot most of Part One of Death Proof with all the soundtrack glitches, rips and tears of "the Grindhouse experiment"(including a great bit where a lap dance scene disappears with a "reel missing" explanation -- the projectionist took it for private arousal) -- BUT: once Part Two of Death Proof gets going, the images are clean and clear and professional. In short, QT would only go with the joke so far. (Note in passing: the big car chase at the end rather reminds me of an old B 70's movie called "Stunts" with QT favorite Robert Forster in the lead.)

Though I am now happily caught up again with Death Proof(and liking it a lot more than in 2007), I think I will leave "Planet Terror" back there. It was, as I recall, just too dumb and gross to enjoy..with QT enacting a character who, uh, male member becomes something gross and gooey to attack people with.

QT is in Deathproof too, offering this memorable exchange with Rose MacGowan:

Rose: Who is this guy?
QT: Stuntman Mike.
Rose: What does he do?
QT: He's a stuntman.

Ha.

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For a last "this isn't THAT OT" connection between Grindhouse/Death Proof and Psycho, I would opine that both films have A-list directors having fun with the promotional tropes of the exploitation market. QT went for the 70's grindhouse genre, but Hitchcock went for the William Castle 50's exploitation, right down to his trailer and the "no one admitted after Psycho begins" promotion. With both movies, the audience is invited to enjoy the tacky presentational aspects along with some great filmmaking, dialogue, and acting.

PS. I realize now that I have NOT seen all of QT's work. I need to get to see that other 27 minutes of Death Proof, which includes "the missing lap dance scene" and more great dialogue for the Great Kurt Russell(of whom QT lists my favorite movie of 1980 -- Used Cars -- as one of Kurt's best roles! Yay! But also: Elvis, Escape from New York, The Thing, Silkwood, Tequila Sunrise, Poseidon, and of course, The Hateful Eight.)

I am on my way to find those 27 minutes.

[–] ecarle (14979) 7 years ago

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BTW, the classic and almost Hitchcockian QT dialogue in "Death Proof" comes when Kurt's Stuntman Mike...having finally lured Rose MacGowan into his Death Proof car to "drive her home," edges to the street from the parking lot and this is said:

Kurt: Which way you need us to go? Left or right?
Rose: (Cutely) Right!
Kurt: Well..well, that's too bad. Because you had a 50/50 chance of going left or right. And we're both goin' left. Now, if you'd been going left, too, it would have been some time before you would be scared. But since you were goin' right, and we're goin' left, I'm afraid you're gonna have to be scared...(grim face and voice)...IMMEDIATELY.

Whereupon Kurt races the car onto the street and begins his "slam murder" of MacGowan. That exchange up there above is probably THE classic QT exchange in this movie..and very much his great "horror dialogue" in his canon so far.

THAT said, it is much earlier in Part One of "Death Proof" -- at the bar of a TexMex dive with QT as the bartender, that a handsome macho Kurt(albeit with a big scar down his face) and a blonde, sexy perky MacGowan exchange all sorts of flirty dialogue at "maximum top levels" of line delivery. I just LOVE watching good actors act at a level where one laughs and smiles just to hear them say the lines and just to look at them say them. Indeed, I'll say that any/every scene with Kurt Russell interacting with Rose MacGowen is "pure four star entertainment" in Death Proof.