Care for a swim? Credit: Richard Whittaker

Last night, local hero Robert Rodriguez explained that, before he and Quentin Tarantino started making their upcoming Grindhouse, they made the cast sit through two movies – Italian giallo classic Torso and Lucio Fulci’s ultra-squishy walking-dead pioneer Zombie. So before their faux-double-feature’s release in April (and Rodriguez’ panel discussion Grindhouse 101 this morning), what better way to bring grindhouse to the masses than a public screening of the two movies that meant so much to them?

So here’s a few hundred people gathered in Republic Square last night, watching a zombie fight a shark. Now that, my friend, is entertainment

This article appears in March 9 • 2007.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.