Directors Index: Rodriguez, Robert

Robert Rodriguez directed this bizarre and fun twist on the horror genre (from a clever screenplay by Quentin Tarantino). George Clooney and Tarantino are Seth and Richie Gecko, a couple of badass criminals on the run in Texas. They hijack a family (led by now faithless ex-preacher Harvey Keitel and lovely young daughter Juliette Lewis). The band of outlaws takes to a Mexican strip bar called the Titty Twister (an absolute triumph of production design!) and finds that they are not in Texas anymore (well...duh!). Soon, this motley crew is forced to face down an army of vampires (including Salma Hayek as queen stripper Satanico Pandemonium!). This sleaze-o-rama grade-zilch horror story is preceded by a good hour or more of well-written if cliched crime movie material (Stockholm Syndrome, anyone?). Still, the performances and Rodriguez's loving treatment of the genre elevate the material to near-art.

Robert Rodriguez's extended and unrated DVD release of his half of the horror/camp double feature "Grindhouse" (the second half is Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof") is as gory, goofy and fun as a zombie film can get. The film stars Rose McGowan as Cherry Darling, a go-go dancer who (at the urging of those around her) thinks she ought become a stand-up comedienne. Freddy Rodriguez (formerly of "Six Feet Under" and perhaps atoning for the dreadful "Harsh Times") is El Wray, a wrecking-truck driver with a penchant for fancy footwork, knives and general violence. When a mysterious outbreak hits the small Texas border town, turning the local populace into flesh-munching zombies, it's up to Cherry and former lover Wray (and a small band of survivors) to fend off the evil invasion. Marley Shelton and Josh Brolin (who had a great year in this film, alongside Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah," Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" and-of course-the Coen Brothers' "No Country for Old Men") are standouts among a stellar B-movie cast, truly getting into the over-the-top spirit of the cliche's they are playing. Rodriguez too brings his entire cinematic bag of tricks to bear on a grade-zilch horror movie parody. By itself, it's entertaining, but along with Tarantino's work, makes "Grindhouse" a one of a kind must-see!