Ian: Hey Will! What do you get when you breed Kill Bill with Sin City, add a healthy splash of the Evil Dead series, and divide by Mystery Science Theatre 3000?

Burke: You get one of the most kick-ass blood-and-guts movies I've seen in a long time! Grindhouse is the love child of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. It's actually two movies combined into one, complete with some hilarious fake movie trailers in between the two. First up is "Planet Terror" by Robert Rodriguez, followed by Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof".

Ian: Tarantino, of longtime fame for his American classics Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction, continues his exploration into the extremes of cinema alongside fellow grit-and-grime director Robert Rodriguez, who earned popular acclaim for his work on Frank Miller’s Sin City. While there is some overlap between the styles of these two avid fans of “Grindhouse" movies -a style of run and gun/sexploitation films of the ‘60s and ‘70s- there remains more than enough room in the lost (buried?) subgenre for each director's character to shine.

Burke: Robert Rodriguez and "Planet Terror" kick things off with some good old fashioned zombie mayhem. I've always had a thing for zombie movies, and this one really hit the spot. It was bloody, it had gratuitous nudity, and the writing was over-the top cliché. I thought it was a great introduction to the Grindhouse feeling.

Ian: There really wasn't a single blunt, in-your-face stereotype of the George Romero strain that Rodriguez failed to use, abuse, and take to new heights. The movie involves a whole fleet of characters, but centers around the activities at the aptly-named "Military Base." When a group of shady paramilitary men led by the iconic tough guy Bruce Willis arrive on scene to make an equally shady deal for a certain dangerous chemical substance, flesh-eating carnage ensues.

Burke: The good guys are led by Wray (Freddy Rodriguez) and Cherry (Rose McGowan) -two former lovers with a cloudy past. They lead a rag-tag gang of survivors through zombie-land and rediscover love. The acting is pretty good, but I really enjoyed the camera effects Rodriguez uses. The film warps and fades as if it was from the ‘70's, complete with a missing reel gag. All in all, I thought that this movie did an excellent job creating the atmosphere of a dirty old Grindhouse movie.

Ian: Both directors have their "Reel Missing" moment, and Rodriguez's is a classic. Tarantino's movie actually ends up making a little less sense, just because R.R.'s is plot driven, and the patented Tarantino dialogue doesn't provide as much continuity. His movie involves the legendary Kurt Russell as "Stunt Man Mike", whose uses/is used by his "Death Proof" car to kill less-than-innocent trios of Indy film girls. Yeah. I know. The metaphysics of this movie make just a little less sense than its physics, but the result is actually a simpler and somehow satisfying complement to "Planet Terror." I think I may even have preferred the second film... I think...

Burke: I think part of the problem is that you've just sat through a whole movie, and guess what? There's another movie right after it. I think the pacing of this movie would have made it a better opening movie. But it is definitely worth it. Stunt Man Mike carries the film completely through its first part, but once we get to the final car chase, wow. This ending rocks my socks off; it’s absolutely amazing.

Ian: There's certainly no doubt that viewers needs to prepare themselves for a full 3:15 ride. This may be challenging, but unless you were the one person in the theatre yawning at the end of The Return of the King, and you have any appreciation for what it is that the 'Q' and company are doing, it's worth the stay. Your run will be made easier by the short intermission, featuring three short fake previews.

Burke: There are four total movie trailers, "Machete", "Thanksgiving", "Don't", and "Werewolf Women of the SS". Danny Trejo (The knife wielding Mexican from "Desperado" and "Once Upon a Time in Mexico") stars in "Machete" as a Mexican assassin. Robert Rodriguez directs this one as well, and I thought it was funny as hell.

Ian: “Thanksgiving” was absolutely devastating. It had more gratuity and nonsense packed into a minute and a half than any other part of the movie. All in all, these movies give you the dose of high-voltage current needed to carry you from Rodriguez's bloody peak, through Tarantino's gradual burnout. This movie is everything it should be, though certainly not an iota more. Thumb raised uncomfortably far up; a savage three stars.

Burke: It’s an awesome experience; just make sure to bring a sack lunch to make it through.

Ian: Oh yes. Make sure to bring your sack. That is a prerequisite.