The following video is a compilation of trailers for the Grindhouse double feature by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. It also includes all the faux trailers that were made for the films.
Planet Terror (Robert Rodriguez)
A no-holds-barred horror/sci-fi/action mashup about a plague outbreak that turns citizens into cannibalistic murderers; it's heavy on the gore and explosions but also features a terrific cast of A players (Freddy Rodriguez, Naveen Andrews, Marley Shelton) and B-movie vets (Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, Tom Savini) and the indelible image of Rose McGowan as a stripper whose torn-off leg is replaced by a high-powered machine gun.
Death Proof (Quentin Tarantino)
A homocidal maniac named Stuntman Mike murders young women in staged car accidents using his "death-proof" stunt car. The film stars Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Rose McGowan, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Tracie Thoms and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, with stuntwoman Zoë Bell as herself. It pays homage to the slasher, exploitation and muscle car films of the 1970s.
Werewolf Women of the SS (Rob Zombie)
According to Zombie, “Basically, I had two ideas. It was either going to be a Nazi movie or a women-in-prison film, and I went with the Nazis. There’re all those movies like Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS; Fräulein Devil; and Love Camp 7 - I’ve always found that to be the most bizarre genre.” Zombie is also quoted as saying “I was getting very conceptual in my own mind with it. A lot of times these movies would be made like, ‘Well, you know, I’ve got a whole bunch of Nazi uniforms, but I got this Chinese set too. We’ll put ‘em together!’ They start jamming things in there, so I took that approach.”
Don't (Edgar Wright)
The trailer was produced in the style of a 1970s Hammer House of Horror film trailer. According to Wright, "In the 70s, when American International would release European horror films, they'd give them snazzier titles. And the one that inspired me was this Jorge Grau film - in the UK, it's called The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue. In Spain and in Italy, I think it's called Do Not Speak Ill of the Dead. But in the States, it was called Don't Open the Window. I just loved the fact that there isn't a big window scene in the film, it's all based around the spin and the voiceover not really telling you what the hell is going on in the film". During editing, he scratched some of the film with steel wool and dragged it around a parking lot to make it appear neglected by wayward projectionists.
Thanksgiving (Eli Roth)
This horror opus was produced in the style of holiday themed slasher films like Halloween, Silent Night - Deadly Night, April Fool's Day and My Bloody Valentine. The trailer stars Jeff Rendell as a killer who stalks victims while dressed as a pilgrim; Jordan Ladd, Jay Hernandez, and Roth himself as his intended victims; and Michael Biehn as the Sheriff. The design for the titles in Thanksgiving was based on a Mad magazine slasher parody titled Arbor Day. Excerpts of the score from Creepshow were used in the trailer.
Machete (Robert Rodriguez)
Rodriguez wrote Machete in 1993 as a full feature for Danny Trejo. "I had cast him in Desperado and I remember thinking, 'Wow, this guy should have his own series of Mexploitation movies like Charles Bronson or like Jean-Claude Van Damme.' So I wrote him this idea of a federale from Mexico who gets hired to do hatchet jobs in the U.S. I had heard sometimes FBI or DEA have a really tough job that they don't want to get their own agents killed on, they'll hire an agent from Mexico to come do the job for $25,000. I thought, 'That's Machete. He would come and do a really dangerous job for a lot of money to him but for everyone else over here it's peanuts.' But I never got around to making it". The trailer was made into a feature film which was released in September 2010; a sequel, Machete Kills was released in 2013.
Hobo with a Shotgun (Jason Eisner, John Davies, Rob Cotterill)
Some screenings of Grindhouse (mainly in Canada) also featured a fake trailer for a film titled Hobo with a Shotgun. The trailer, created by Dartmouth, Nova Scotia filmmakers Jason Eisener, John Davies, and Rob Cotterill, won Robert Rodriguez's South by Southwest Grindhouse trailers contest. David Brunt plays a vagabond with a 20-gauge shotgun (changed to a 12-gauge for the actual movie) who becomes a vigilante. In the trailer, he is shown killing numerous persons, ranging from armed robbers to corrupt cops to a pedophilic Santa Claus. It was only available in certain select movie theaters in the United States and Canada. In 2010, the trailer was made into a full-length feature film starring Rutger Hauer as the hobo, with Brunt playing a dirty cop. The film was released in 2011.