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Client: Dimension Films
Creative Agency: Big Spaceship

When two directors as infamous as Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriquez team up for back-to-back sleazoid exploitations films, you know that the movies are going to be so hot that the screen might actually burst into flames. So how do you make a site that harnesses these legends' greased lightning and puts the "sick" back in "dis-sick-gusting"?

Our idea was to create a Grind House theater straight out of the 70s, the same sort of sordid cinema you stepped into off 42nd street, if those filthy forums were ever haunted by zombies and mass-murdering muscle car drives. Users can browse the lobby, check out the can, adjust the radio, and of course, as in any quality movie theater, grab a sub-machine gun and blow stuff up.

Stylistically, we wanted to capture the degraded film feel from the Grind House movies of yore, just like Planet Terror and Death proof do. We also wanted to give the (quite literally) rabid fan community tools to play with and pass along to friends. Budding filmmakers can step into the directors chair and edit the trailer for the Grind House movie they want to see on the silver screen. Designers can create a movie poster for their own sleazoid flick. And for all the aspiring torturers and zombie-hunters, we made the Scream Machine, a device that gives users an arsenal of weapons to wield on a captured zombie. Users can send the spine-tingling symphony of ghoulish screams on to their family and friends (and, of course, mom).
-- Big Spaceship

Some movie studios think that showing the funniest, saddest or most exhilarating scenes in their movies will get people to buy tickets and rent DVDs. Show Jim Carrey making a funny face, Angelina pouting her lips or Owen Wilson doing both at the same time and surely that will attract people like mosquitoes to a blue light. They're right…partially. What really makes movie websites work -- and all sites for that matter -- is the ability to interact with the movie, because the viewer then becomes an active participant, as well as a passive viewer.

That's why I love The Weinstein Co.'s site for "Grindhouse." Sure the look and feel is eerie and dark, but would you expect anything less when Rodriguez and Tarantino get together? The ambience and stylistic transitions draw you in, and the sound keeps you in the mood. But the best part about this whole site is the ability to create your own trailer and poster. Sure it's been done before, but it works well as a way to familiarize you with the tone and possible storylines of the movie. It's kind of like writing or highlighting notes in a textbook: you're engaged and more likely to remember the movie or, better yet, get your viral on and send to a friend.

Way to grind it up.
-- Matt Wright, director, online video strategy, HowStuffWorks

I must admit I'm absolutely not a fan of horror movie, so it was a "mission impossible" for the site to convince me to watch "Grindhouse." However, looking at it from a technical point of view, my feedback is very positive.

Big Spaceship created a very rich experience, paying great attention to the details in the design, as well as in the transition effects. The loading at the beginning for example is very simple but brilliant; perfect for a site introducing a movie.

On the other hand, I'm a little bit disappointed by the navigation. They should have created a clearer path to take the user through all the content. Everything starts well when we pass the cinema's door, but then we get kind of lost and it requires some effort. This is a pity because there's a lot of content to discover, which I think fans of the genre will definitely enjoy. But there's the risk of them not finding it in the muddled organization of the site.
-- Martina Zavagno, editor-in-chief, Adverblog