Father and child sit together smiling while looking at a smart phone.

Want more recommendations for your family?

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for entertainment inspiration

Parents' Guide to

Planet Terror

By Charles Cassady Jr., Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Rodriguez's gory zombie Grindhouse tale.

Movie NR 2007 105 minutes
Planet Terror Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

See all
age 16+

Based on 9 parent reviews

Sam M.
Sam M. Parent of baby-year-old
June 27, 2017
age 17+

Campy Fun

Lots n lots of gore. Very over the top and doesnt even pretend to look realistic. Those at home with Left 4 Dead 2 will be fine. A jar of mutant testicles get smashed scattering theme everywhere. Pretty icky. Some boobs in a couple of scenes. Not too explicit Sex scene. Plenty of F words but not the worst language ever.
doctorrockso
doctorrockso Adult
January 6, 2015
age 15+
See all 9 parent reviews

What's the Story?

PLANET TERROR is set in Texas, where a group of military men under the command of Bruce Willis try to steal some kind of gas bio-weapon, which is released into the air. People all over town wind up infected and crowded into a hospital, where they mutate into pus-oozing, cannibalistic, zombie-like psychopaths, while a number of untainted civilians come to fore as the main characters -- chiefly a tow-truck driver named Wray (Freddy Rodriguez), who's actually some sort of legendary commando-gunfighter living under an alias; his foulmouthed, estranged lover Cherry (Rose McGowan); Dr. Bill Block (Josh Brolin), the hospital's nasty chief surgeon; and his medic-wife Dakota (Marley Shelton).

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (9 ):
Kids say (11 ):

Though shot digitally, the campy Planet Terror re-creates the look of ultra-cheap, mismatched, faded film stock; emulsion scratches; bad splices; and missing footage. Planet Terror originally visited theaters in a two-part concoction called Grindhouse that was an attempt by directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez to re-create a double-bill of the shabby exploitation movies of bygone days. Planet Terror is Rodriguez's contribution, a tribute to zombie-horror gorefests of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Rodriguez puts his typical high energy into the exercise, as well as indulging in what makes grindhouse movies so fascinating to their adherents. Lots of people die in excruciating and tasteless fashion. Pets die. Children die. (In his DVD commentary, Rodriguez states that exploitation filmmakers would do anything to get a reaction from their audience, chucking out all sense of right and wrong in the process.)

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the movie's intentionally shocking material. Why would the ultra-violence and butchery of this film be considered entertaining? At what point do viewers become desensitized to this type of barrage of violence and gore? Is the excess meant to be funny? Do you think films like this one only appeal to a certain audience? Who is that audience, and why are they drawn to material like this? Are the vintage '60s and '70s exploitation movies that this one was inspired by still relevant today? How would you characterize the women in the movie? Are they victims or heroines? How does their sexuality work for and against them?

Movie Details

Inclusion information powered by

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate