The Tail Section

If you know me, then you know that I’m a horror movie nut at heart.  If you don’t know me, hi… I’m DocArzt, and I’m a horror movie nut at heart.  Not any just any kind of horror nut, mind you… the kind that grew up through the 70’s, that actually went to a Texas drive-in, MANY times, and yes, the kind that has seen more authentic Grindhouse flicks than any human being should be allowed to.   So naturally I was ecstatic to learn that Tarantino and Rodriguez were going to revise the no-budget horror and exploitation flicks I grew up on with the double bill  of Planet Terror and Death Proof, but I was even more excited to learn one of my favorite LOST stars, Naveen Andrews, would be scoring a lead role in one of them, as a testicle collecting mercenary no doubt.  So naturally I had to sneak on set and steal a copy of the shooting script. (Okay, it didn’t really happen that way.)

Aside from Naveen’s involvement, there is little of a LOST nature in Planet Terror, but Naveen fans will be pleased to know that his character, a scientist/arms dealer named ‘Abby’, gets a LOT of screen time.  And memorable screen time it is.

Essentially Abby is a scientist selling a bizarre gas to some seriously bizarre, borderline Zombie soldiers.  They breath the stuff like a drug, but to others it can turn you into a bubbling, flesh eating freakazoid in no time flat.

I don’t want to give too much of the plot away but you see quite a bit of Abby in the beginning and a lot in the end.  His role is absolutely pivotal to containing and possibly curing the zombie plague.

Overall Planet Terror is a hell of a lot of fun.  The only thing I’m mildly disappointed in is the fact that this is NOT the kind of movie that would have been made in that era.  Its pricey action sequences simply wouldn’t have fit into the budget of a genuine Grindhouse film.  So to say it is a revival, and I’m not saying anybody has said that, would be inaccurate.  Homage for sure.  Definitely looking forward to Naveen’s contribution, I could hear his voice plain as day as I read his scenes and it is going to be classic.