Grindhouse/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Alternate Character Interpretation: Are we really supposed to feel sorry for Dakota (who was cheating on her husband and whose irresponsibility got her son killed) just because she's a battered wife?
  • Non Sequitur Scene: Jungle Julia's terse text messages to Chris Simonson, whoever he is, borders on this. It doesn't come completely out of nowhere, but it is a very strange, mood-breaking scene.
  • Complete Monster - Stuntman Mike. It's heavily implied that killing women with his car is the only way for him to receive sexual gratification.
  • Crosses the Line Twice - At least.
  • Designated Hero: Both films feature examples of characters behaving in morally dubious ways. Planet Terror has Dakota getting over the grief caused by the absolutely stupid death of her son to get Distracted by the Sexy Cherry awfully quickly, while Death Proof has the "let's leave our friend behind to possibly get raped by Jasper solely so we can take a joyride in a classic car".
    • And then act like Heroic Sociopaths in their quest to track down Stuntman Mike. After a while, it's easy to feel a bit sorry for the guy, Complete Monster that he is
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: In Planet Terror, where the biologist's your head may asplode!
  • Ear Worm: The "Coming Attractions/Feature Presentation" theme.
  • Esoteric Happy Ending: "Death Proof" ends with the second group of girls getting vigilante justice on Stuntman Mike...by straight up murdering him on the road, in broad daylight, with possible witnesses to the act and a body to dispose of. Hope life imprisonment was worth killing the guy instead of just letting the cops haul him off, ladies!
  • Fetish Fuel: The legs and feet appearing in Death Proof (see also Author Appeal and Foot Focus). And then there's the lapdance scene.
    • Also, here's Lee on the subject of her ex-boyfriend. "He likes to watch me pee." (and Lee holding her crotch as she rushes to the bathroom)
    • Werewolf Women of the SS?... Max Mosley's blood pressure just spiked.
    • Anything that happens at the go-go bar in Planet Terror.
  • Heroic Sociopath: Kim, Abernathy, and Zoe can come off this way, given the pure animal joy that they seem to be experiencing making Stuntman Mike's life miserable
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: According to Planet Terror, Bruce Willis killed bin Laden by shooting him in the head. This movie was released in 2007, four years before that would be a reality.
  • It Gets Better - Death Proof. Just sit through the first half. Brave through that and it gets better, we promise.
  • So Bad It's Good: Played intentionally.
  • Squick: The scene where Bill is checking out the guy who got bitten has another doctor looking at incredibly disgusting pictures of medical problems from soldiers returning from Iraq. This is before the really gross stuff starts.
  • Tempting Fate: Some more egregious examples cross over into Too Dumb to Live territory.
    • Planet Terror: Dakota Block leaves her son in a car with a gun. Honestly, the outcome is too obvious to be particularly surprising or heartbreaking.
    • Death Proof: "Jungle Julia" doesn't wear her seatbelt (in fact, none of the girls riding with her do) and only seems to be able to ride in a car if her foot's hanging out the window. When Stuntman Mike takes them out, we're treated to a shot of her severed leg hitting the asphalt.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Badass?: Consider the two groups of women Stuntman Mike meets: the first group do nothing particularly wrong and they get killed. The second group act like idiotic irresponsible jackasses and we love them because they are supremely Badass.
    • Even within that second group of girls, Lee is the only one who isn't a badass. They're more than willing to leave her behind.
  • The Woobie: Awful things constantly happen to Dakota Block in Planet Terror.
    • Jerkass Woobie: And yet, she is the reason her son died and didn't seem too concerned about her son's death.