Being Film #16 for Hooptober 2024
Outside of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood… I don’t think there’s a more personal, more fanboy love letter to movies in Quentin Tarantino’s filmography than Death Proof. With overt callouts and structural similarities to the films he loves, much of this is readily obvious. But in making his Grindhouse genre offering not only working within the exploitation genre but also the car film, Tarantino luxuriates in the fetish of real honest to go stunt work. It’s there where I think this movie really shines the brightest.
THE QUICK SUMMARY: It’s a tale as old as time: four hot girls dance in a bar, tease the guys and get ready for a girl’s weekend at the lake when they fall into the sights of a killer. Not to worry: Stuntman MIke’s car is death proof, except you really need to stop getting into weird dude’s cars, you know? Shit ain’t safe…and it’s just as not safe to drive with your leg out the window, whether Stuntman Mike causes it to break and fall on the road, you know? YOU KNOW?! Anyway you’d think that be the movie, but QT also saw Psycho and has a whole other thing up his sleeve. Anyway, viva La Zöe Bell, and hooray for old fashioned car chases as Tarantino indulges in way too many foot fantasies that it threatens to derail the whole movie!
I’ve seen Death Proof at least half a dozen times, and it still surprises me when I realizes he switches the film’s look halfway through. And to the film’s benefit: while the first half with Jungle Julia and Butterfly works well with the more pulpy, scratched film look, the second half which I’ll simply call the “Chris falls in love with Zöe Bell” section looks fantastic, like a proper 70s film whose negative is still in great shape. I really like the structure of the film, being two separate mini films that echo different genres but narratively still fit together. If I’m being honest I greatly prefer the second half of the film – although directed with his usual panache and flair and sporting some truly great moments, it feels (with one exception) very “been there, done that” upon rewatches, especially as most of the imitators echo that style more than Tarantino’s Vanishing Point homage.
What does really work is Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike. I never would have pegged him as a great fit for Tarantino, but he is fearless as Stuntman Mike, willing to get super weird and creepy, and willing to use that Olympian reserve of charisma for horrific effect, and then play a complete 180 degree against it in the second half. It’s fun to see Rose McGowan make another appearance in a very different role (though the Babysitter Twins show up in what looks to be the same characters), and I always enjoy more Michael Parks.
But for me it’s all about the second half, and the introduction to the world of Zöe Bell, who so charmed me in this I feel the same crush I got back in 2007 burning. She’s a natural, awkward and athletic and beaming presence – it’s no wonder QT got her in front of the camera. The pairing of her with Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thomas makes for some insane chemistry, and as soon a Bell gets on the roof of the car – even before Stuntman Mike shows up for the enormous set piece – the film goes to 11.
Could I do without all the foot stuff? Yeah. Did Mary Elizabeth Winstead get kinda squandered here? Again: yeah. Did any of it ruin my enjoyment of Death Proof?
Nope. Not at all.
Cinema Dual 
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