Robert Rodriguez on DeBaser: grindhouse thrills, splatter spills

The Profile

American filmmaker known for energetic, DIY-inflected genre movies. Broke out with El Mariachi (1992), then helmed Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, the family-friendly Spy Kids series, Sin City, Planet Terror (within Grindhouse), Machete, and later Alita: Battle Angel.

Born 1968 in San Antonio, Texas. Founder of Troublemaker Studios. Breakthrough with El Mariachi, famously made for about $7,000. Frequent collaborator with Quentin Tarantino and Frank Miller; co-directed Sin City (2005) with Frank Miller (special guest direction by Tarantino). Also composes and edits many of his films.

DeBaser’s reviews of Robert Rodriguez tilt positive on Planet Terror, mixed on From Dusk Till Dawn, and skeptical about Machete and The Faculty. Expect gush over grindhouse aesthetics, splatter excess, and gleeful trash. Highlights include praise for stylized gore and retro B-movie flair, with some pushback on plotting and dialogue.

Notable Quotes

❝ Disappointment. I walked out of the cinema unsatisfied.

❝ A crazy movie, but top-notch; Sheriff Hague asks Wray : "But who are you? Who are you really, I mean? I'm nobody, and the easiest thing to remember if you don't forget it first".

❝ Planet Terror is pure entertainment! A bold film that doesn’t take itself seriously and couldn’t care less if it will be a flop or not! This is cinema!

❝ The positive aspects of the film are completely nonexistent, which I consider one of the most aberrant things to hit cinemas in the last 15 years. To be avoided.

❝ A masterpiece of exaggeration, even the fake (at least until 2010) "Machete" trailer at the beginning, better the two minutes of that than the 100 of the real one in my opinion :-)