Planet Terror (18) Sin City director Robert Rodriguez brings yet another bizarre story to life in his latest offering starring Bruce Willis and Rose McGowan.

Deranged military man Lieutenant Muldoon (Willis, spearheads a biochemical attack on a quaint, backwater town and soon, the local hospital is swamped with residents covered in nasty, gangrenous sores.

Doctor William Block ( Josh Brolin) and his wife Dakota (Marley Shelton) struggle to cope with the steady flow of infected patients, all with the same lifeless, vacant stare.

Stripper Cherry Darling (McGowan) loses one of her legs in a zombie ambush and is rushed to the hospital with old flame El Wray (Freddy Rodriguez) by her side.

As the slavering undead begin to bleed the town dry, El Wray leads the survivors, including Sheriff Hague, in a do-or-die race against time to escape the apocalypse.

This was originally released in America as one half of the ill-fated Grindhouse double-bill with Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof and, as usual, Rodriguez emphasises spectacle and style over substance, with a generous splatter of gore.

The film has its fleeting pleasures including some pithy dialogue and breathless action sequences. Performances are suitably over-the-top - Willis' cheesy acting is perfectly suited to this madness - but there's nothing here to test the acting mettle. Rodriguez directs at full pelt from start to finish, but his film runs out of dramatic steam by the end of the first hour.

RATING: *** DAMON SMITH