10 Heinous Movie Degenerates

10. Death Proof - 'Stuntman' Mike

Played with considerable aplomb by Kurt Russell, Stuntman Mike is a filthy degenerate killer who likes to make young women die by the means of his car which is death proof according to the title. First of all he stalks a group of young women in a bar. One of the girls - Jungle Julia - is a DJ who promised her listeners that if they run into her friend Arlene and say 'butterfly' they will get a free lapdance. Of course Mike who has been following them goes up to Arlene, says the magic word and demands a lapdance. Arlene is reluctant but eventually does give Mike a very sexy lapdance. Mike offers a lift home to a drunk girl. There is no seat-belts in the passenger seat and he speeds up and then brakes - throwing the girl out of the window and killing her. He then goes after the girls in the bar who are now in a car and drives straight at them - killing them all but surviving himself as his car is death proof for the driver. Over a year later, Mike happens to be in a shop when three young women come in. He is intrigued by them and follows them as they pick up their friend Zoe - a stuntwoman. Zoe insists that the girls drive a nearby car so that she can play Ship's Mast - a game in which she rides the front of the car when it is going at top speed, hanging on by two leather belts. Stuntman Mike starts off on the road, ramming the girls' car in order to dislodge Zoe and kill her. She disappears and Mike is happy, but because she is a stuntwoman, she managed to hold onto the car to the girls' delight. They decide to kill Mike and set off to can his ass. A criticism frequently levelled at Death Proof is that it is boring with groups of young women yakking away about nothing and long periods of time before there is any action. I can tolerate the chit chat, but the screen really comes to life with Kurt Russell's Stuntman Mike character. Russell makes Stuntman Mike a villainous degenerate who targets young women with his cars. Unfortunately, Mike is not on screen enough, nor is his characterisation fleshed out, but Russell does have a very strong screen presence. I think he did his best with the material he was given. Most people detest Death Proof (including Tarantino himself) but I thought it was fun.