ROBERT Rodriguez's bloody valentine to '60s and '70s horror films was originally released in America as one half of the ill-fated Grindhouse double-bill (with Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof).

Planet Terror shoots to kill as a standalone feature on this side of the Atlantic.

It's frenetic, fast-paced entertainment with obvious nods to Roger Corman and the flesh-crazed work of George A Romero.

As usual, Rodriguez emphasises spectacle and style, embellished with a generous splatter of gore and entrails.

The film is set in a quaint backwater town, which has the misfortune to be the epicentre of a biochemical attack launched by deranged Lieutenant Muldoon (Bruce Willis).

Soon, the local hospital is swamped with residents covered in nasty, gangrenous sores.

Doctor William Block (James Brolin) and his wife Dakota (Marley Shelton) struggle to cope with the flow of infected patients.

"Looks like a no-brainer," a medic tells William, pointing to a recent admission.

"What does that mean?" asks Dr Block.

"No brains," adds his colleague.

Sexy stripper Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan) loses one of her legs and is rushed to the hospital with old flame El Wray (Freddy Rodriguez) by her side.

"I was going to be a stand-up comedian," she sobs revealing her missing appendage.

"Some of the best jokes are about cripples," replies Wray soothingly, affixing a rifle in place of the leg to give Cherry some invaluable firepower against the slavering undead.

Wray leads the survivors in a do-or-die race against time to escape from the zombie apocalypse but the advancing hordes sure do like the taste of human flesh.

Rodriguez directs at full pelt from start to finish but his film runs out of dramatic steam by the end of the first hour, leaving the majority of the overblown action to his feisty heroine.

  • See it at the Empire.