Kurt Russell Is a Sinister Sicko in This Underrated Quentin Tarantino Thriller

Few action stars are as celebrated as the legendary Kurt Russell. One of Hollywood’s finest, this actor has awed viewers for decades with his portrayals of some of cinema’s greatest heroes. Whether he’s scoring goals in Miracle or stopping bombs in Escape from L.A., he’s someone you reach out to if you want to emphasize just how valiant your protagonist is — an image that Quentin Tarantino’sDeath Proof ruins perfectly.

Even for a Tarantino joint, this film is experimental, with the segmented storytelling and ominously funny tone creating a deeply intriguing — if not constantly shocking — movie. Russell’s status as one of cinema’s most beloved action stars makes every sick act of his Death Proof counterpart feel even more horrifying. To turn this icon that so many viewers love into a terrible serial killer creates a scary, unsettling watch, and in doing so, makes him one of Tarantino’s best antagonists ever.

Kurt Russell Has Never Been as Evil as He Is in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Death Proof’

Kurt Russell is one of the most famous action stars of all time. From Escape from New York to Big Trouble in Little China, Russell has a dazzling movie career filled with explosions and valiant acts of saving the world. And that doesn’t even touch on how influential he’s been to the world of horror; his role as R.J. MacReady in The Thing is remembered as one of this genre’s best protagonists. He’s able to take on many kinds of nuanced roles, yet almost all of them largely place the man on the side of good. As the fearless protagonist, he’s the person who does the hard things necessary to save the day, and, in the end, looks so freaking cool while doing it. Basically, this is all the complete opposite of Death Proof’s Stuntman Mike McKay.

Death Proof is set in an arid Texas town, the harsh weather acting as the perfect backdrop as viewers follow multiple groups of young women trying to survive the heat — and the creepy man following them in a souped-up 1969 Dodge Charger. The plot follows two of these groups, both offering various likable personalities that all have the immensely bad luck of running into Russell’s character. Initially, Death Proof’s premise appears more laughable than legitimately frightening; hearing about a stuntman who tricked out his car so that no matter what damage it takes, the driver’s seat will be okay, and then using said car to kill people is a wild idea even for a director like Tarantino. Yet the film quickly shows just how petrifying this power could be in the wrong hands, offering disgustingly gory details as Mike rams his car headfirst into others, completely massacring everyone inside while he rests easily with a front-row view. These scenes are horrifying in themselves, but the movie’s true horror comes from the aggravatingly evil personality of the car’s owner.

‘Death Proof’ Shatters the Heroic Image of Kurt Russell

While Death Proof’s entire ensemble is stellar, it’s how Russell draws on his past and perverts it for this role that makes the movie so terrifying. Stuntman Mike is a mockery of the performer’s career, being demoted from a leading action man to a jealous stuntman who is luckily still blessed with the charm that has made his actor so successful. One of the most sickening aspects of the film is seeing him use that charm; before murdering characters that the plot works hard to make you love, Mike begins easy conversations with them, delighting them and the audience with his relaxed confidence and ability to say exactly the right thing. It makes the way he revels in torturing and murdering these women with his car that much more terrifying, with one scene showing him deliberately driving erratically to throw Rose McGowan around his car as the woman shrieks in bloody terror. Mike is Russell’s usual character in the worst possible timeline, turning an “Action Leading Man” into a sexist, bloodthirsty creep, literally using the tools of his cinematic trade to commit one horrific kill after another.

There’s such a grimy feeling in watching Stuntman Mike manipulate and murder women — an unease that reaches an extreme catharsis as the latter half sees him finally see retribution. Just as the film satirizes Russell’s role as an action star, it twists the genre’s norms further by presenting a group of badass women who possess all of the strength that Mike lacks. These Final Girls are a truly all-star cast, with Rosario Dawson, Zoë Bell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Tracie Thoms making up this quartet, who, similar to Mike, also work in cinema, with two of them being stuntwomen themselves! As the group recognizes Mike’s malice and begin to turn the tables on him, audiences see his Kurt Russell bluster fade, unveiling the sniveling man beneath as his usual tricks don’t work, and he falls apart in a childish rage. This is where the film really excels, as it strips away the action star’s usual traits to reduce his heroic image into a miserable figure with no real strength outside of a deadly car.

Kurt Russell Has Never Had Another Role Quite Like ‘Death Proof’

While Russell is definitely one of the best parts of Death Proof, the actor certainly isn’t the only thing making this jaw-dropping premise so enjoyable to watch. As mentioned, the women that surround him are all astounding in their roles, with the actresses who make up the early acts especially stressing the emotional core of this film (and its underlying horrors). It’s not a coincidence how many of these characters are involved in making movies, and using one of the medium’s brightest stars in such a twisted version of his usual fare caps off what is both a celebration and deep mockery of the entire industry. Kurt Russell has never had another character like Death Proof‘s Stuntman Mike and, because of his excellent acting and the film’s terrifying themes, he is absolutely one of the legendary actor’s best.

Death Proof is available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.

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