Machete

The latest from producer and co-director Robert Rodriguez is a gory blast, a film that knows what genre fans want, and isn’t afraid to deliver it. Having found its origins as a fake trailer in the tragically underrated Grindhouse, this schlock-fest headed by the gloriously haggard Danny Trejo as the title character delivers the strain of meat-headed fun that other summer offerings like Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables and the Rodriguez-produced Predators, which costarred Trejo, only hinted at. Trejo plays a hired killer framed by a sinister political advisor (Jeff Fahey), who wants to get a senator (Robert De Niro) reelected. After he’s framed, Machete goes on a bloody rampage that makes Sly Stallone’s most current offering look like Yo Gabba Gabba! Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Don Johnson, Cheech Marin and Lindsay Lohan costar.