Robert Rodriguez literally stumbled into the gore. His new project with Quentin Tarantino, “Grindhouse,” was born of an old movie poster that inspired him to try something modern audiences never have experienced: A double feature.

According to a New York Times article, for Rodriguez's part of the feature, a biochemical spill in a small town outside of Austin quickly infects residents, who rush to the hospital. Bodies begin to disintegrate, and the infected turn into ravenous zombies out for human flesh.

Rodriguez talked about the new movie last month in his office at his Troublemaker Studios in Austin.

Are horror films getting more popular?
They come and go. They might burn themselves out and disappear. They're riding a wave now that I thought was maybe over last year or two years ago. But now they're still sticking around.
“Grindhouse” is zombies and a slasher guy, but he has a car instead of a knife. They're really cool, interesting ideas and different.”

Was “Grindhouse” always going to be a double feature directed by you and Quentin Tarantino?
No, it was going to be two features that I was going to direct myself. I came up with it in 2003. I have a bunch of ideas in my idea file that are sort of half-written. I thought, “I'm never going to get to all of these things. I need to start putting them together somehow.” So I found a couple. One was a zombie script and one was a thriller. I thought, “I should do them as a double feature. That would be really great. People have never seen a double feature, except in the old days, and most people don't remember that.” It seemed like a really new idea. I had an old double-bill poster that was my inspiration. Then I kind of forgot about it and went and did “Sin City.”

Then I went to Quentin's house to show him his scene in ‘Sin City' he directed; I saw the same poster on his floor that was on my floor. I said, “I've got that same poster at home.” I said, “Wait, I had an idea for a double feature.” He said, “I love double-features.” I said, “Yeah, I know. I was going to direct two movies. But you should do one, and I'll do the other.” He said, “Oh, we've got to call it ‘Grindhouse.'.” It was that quick. We were suddenly more excited about that than the scene he shot in “Sin City.”

You grew up in San Antonio after the heyday of the old grindhouses. You said during the South by Southwest question-and-answer session that the drive-ins were about as close to a grindhouse as you got growing up.
I remember we'd get in the car, my brothers and sisters, and we'd go to the Mission Drive-in and others. We'd go see Doug McClure double features or anything. It was just so great having the little speakers and sitting on top of our parents' van and looking at the other screens. They'd say, “Don't be looking at other screens.” “Oh, we won't.” One of them was showing “Alien.”

You've even coined a term called “grindhouse filmmaking.”
Instead of saying guerrilla filmmaking, you would say, “Oh, it's grindhouse.” That means don't sweat the details that much. Look at the bigger picture. You don't have the time or money to worry about (the
little stuff). What's the main impression you're trying to get across?

Quentin Tarantino's a little older than you. Did he educate you a little bit on the old grindhouses?
Absolutely. He showed me a bunch of them.

What movies do you remember he liked the most that really representing the grindhouse style?
Different genres. He showed me Lucio Fulci's “Zombie,” which is great, “Rolling Thunder,” which I'd seen before but really love. It was shot in San Antonio. William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones. Great movie. The guy has a hook for a hand. I think I have that beat with my machine gun-leg girl. I mean, some of these movies were just really great movies. They were just considered exploitation.

What is it about zombies that you love or that fascinates you the most?
I just remember when I was a kid and George Romero's “Dawn of the Dead” came out. I was like 10 years old, and I couldn't go. No one under 17 could get in. Then when I finally saw it, I thought it was a great zombie movie.
I like fantasy films. Those are fantasy films. They're horror films but they're fantastical. I love creating your own reality. All my movies are like that.

Will you still do family films?
Yes, absolutely.

Will we see more “Spy Kids?”
I don't know if I'll do another “Spy Kids.” But I like creating kids' films. I did something called “Sharkboy and Lavagirl.” My son and I can't go anywhere without people coming up to us saying, “My kids watch that movie over and over. My son thinks he's Shark Boy.” That is a great feeling to have, to just know that you're inspiring very, very young children already with cinema with movies that you make.