The first time I saw Planet Terror was when it was part of the Grindhouse Double Feature with Death Proof. That was also the last time I saw it until last night. At the time of my first viewing, I remember feeling like it was fun and campy, but ultimately too cheesy for my taste and nowhere near as good as Tarantino’s Death Proof.
All these years later, after a good re-watch, I think it’s one of my favorite zombie movies ever. And I think it’s better than Death Proof, though I need to view that again before saying for sure. Okay, it’s not on level with Return of the Living Dead for me, but it gets pretty damn close. It’s better than Dawn of the Dead, Zombieland, World War Z, and 28 Days Later. Though I love Romero and what he started, it’s better—as an experience, not its historical significance—than Night of the Living Dead. In this moment, less than twenty-four hours after viewing the film, the only zombie flicks I consider better than Planet Terror are Return of the Living Dead and 2010’s The Crazies, which is a severely underrated flick.
But, hey, I like my zombies cheesy and campy and gory as fuck.
In case you haven’t seen it, the plot of Planet Terror is this: A scientist creates a new bio-weapon that turns people into pustule-covered zombies, and he sells it to the military. When the chemical is set loose in Small Town, America, it’s up to a rag-tag team of survivors to battle the zombies and anyone else who gets in their way.
Probably the most iconic image from Planet Terror is that of Rose McGowen mowing down zombies with her machine gun leg. Indeed, these shots are fucking awesome, no matter how ridiculous. So what that she apparently doesn’t have to pull the trigger to fire her AR-Leg. And so what that her AR-Leg appears to have an endless supply of ammunition. It’s badass and you know it! But Rose’s character is only one part. Every character in Planet Terror is one to remember. Bruce Willis, Josh Brolin, Freddy Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey, Marley Shelton, Naveen Andrews, Fergie—they’re all great!
But probably the best thing about the flick is the over-the-top gore. I mean, if someone got shot, it was accompanied by a big splash of blood. That scene where Josh Brolin squeezes the abscess on an as-yet-unknown zombie’s tongue, thus bursting the abscess and sending its inner nastiness splattering all over his glasses . . . that was excellent! Then when our gang of heroes is trying to escape the town, they pile into a couple of vehicles and start driving through a never-ending supply of zombies . . .blood and guts are spraying all over the damn place!
I don’t know why I didn’t love Planet Terror the first time I saw it, but I love it now. Maybe my taste has changed over time or perhaps I simply wasn’t in the mood during that first viewing. Or, who knows, it might be one of those flicks that requires multiple watches to fully appreciate it. But I love the campiness and crazy amount of gore. The intentional flaws and crumby camerawork are fully appreciated, a loving devotion to those low-budget exploitation films of years prior.
PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!
Gore - 8
Special Effects - 8
Nudity/Sexuality - 6
Wow Factor - 6
Acting - 5
Fear Factor - 2
Story/Plot/Originality - 6
Cinematography/Atmosphere - 8
Sound/Music - 6
Fun Factor - 10
Nice! Planet Terror scores a 65 on the PHEMSA. That’s already guaranteed to be one of the top-rated films of 2023. Petal and I watched it on the Roku Channel, though I believe it’s available on Amazon as well.
I rewatched this the other day and also went from it being a movie that I thought was quite cool to be being an awesome movie.
I think it's because I understand the tropes Tarrentino is playing with better now. I really enjoyed it and need to know the recipe for that sweet, sweet barbecue sauce.