I wanted to start a post which deals with Kill Bills pop culture references. Anything you can find that is related to Kill Bill, either from movies, comic books, TV, etc you can post here. The first thing I have is a reference to the super hero Captain America. Now we all know that Bill’s Deadly Viper Assassination Squad have snake codenames. Look what I found:
“Serpent Society by Ben Herman
Roll Call: Anaconda, Asp, BLACK MAMBA, Black Racer, Boomslang, Bushmaster, Coachwhip, COPPERHEAD, COTTONMOUTH, Death Adder, Diamondback, Fer-De-Lance, King Cobra, Princess Python, Puff Adder, Rattler, Rock Python, SIDEWINDER, and one very psychotic Viper.
First Appearance: Captain America 310
What’s Their Problem? The Serpent Society is an organization of snake-themed criminals. The group was established by Sidewinder, who envisioned a trade union for costumed mercenaries, complete with access to a wide variety of resources, a guaranteed pay scale, and insurance, medical, and pension plans (sounds better than depending upon HMOs). Sidewinder was also able to promise that members of the Society need never fear prison since his teleportation powers would be available whenever a jailbreak was needed. The group met with a fair amount of success, accepting contracts from various criminal and subversive organizations. Later, the Society was infiltrated and taken over by the Viper, who used it to advance her nihilist agenda. After she was defeated and sent off to prison, the Society returned to its mercenary roots. Sidewinder, stung that many of his teammates had thrown in with the Viper, left the group. He passed on the mantle of leadership to the Cobra (Marvel’s first-ever snake-related villain), who adopted the guise of King Cobra to suit his new position.
Believe It Or Not: Captain America himself is on rather good terms with a few of the Serpent Society’s former members. This started when Diamondback couldn’t bring herself to kill Cap because she thought he was a real hunk (she also tried to seduce Wolverine at one point). Poor Cap soon found the oversexed Diamondback tagging along on his missions, although they eventually formed a close friendship. Diamondback’s friends Asp and Black Mamba quit the Society after it tried to execute DB for consorting with the Avengers. The two subsequently aided Cap on a couple of cases. Cap also helped Sidewinder pay his daughter’s medical bills. However, the rest of the Society would just as soon kill Cap as look at him.”
1. Chapter 10 of Kill Bill is entitled “The Blood Splattered Bride”. There is a 1972 B horror film called “The Blood Spattered Bride”. It is about a newly wedded couple who are haunted and tortured by the ghost of a dead woman.
2. The Lonely Grave of Paula Schultz is Chapter 8 of Kill Bill.  There is a 1968 movie with the title “The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz” a romantic comedy starring Elke Sommer as Paula and Bob Crane as BILL. The movie is a rip off of the Hogans Heroes TV show. An interesting fact not connected to Paula Schultz, but there was a Exploitation film called Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS, shot on the same set as Hogans Heroes.
3. In the script The Bride (Uma Thurman) states that “she went on what the movie advertisements refer to as a Roaring Rampage of Revnge”. There is a 1971 Exploitation film called Bury Me an Angel (a female revenge film) in which the movie tagline reads : “Shes a Howling Hellcat Humping a Hot Steel Hog on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge!”
4. In Kill Bill there is a character named Pai Mei. Hes a 150 year old Kung Fu Master. The sole survivor of The White Lotus Clan. The character Pai Mei appears in several Shaw Bros Kung Fu films www.shawstudios.com  from the 1970s-80s including “Fist of the White Lotus”. Pai Mei means “White Eyebrow”.
5. At the beginning of Kill Bill there is a quote “Revenge is a dish best served cold”. This quote is from Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan. It is an old Klingon proverb which Khan (Ricardo Montalban) tells to Admiral James T. Kirk.
6. In the film, Bill tells The Bride that Pai Mei is “Nietzches psalm personified if he doesnt kill you, he will make you stronger”. At the beginning of the film Conan The Barbarian (1982), (A film like Kill Bill that also focuses on swords and gore) this quote is used. Yet another connection Kill Bill has with Conan is the references to snakes. In Conan the group that killed Conans parents and village have a large logo that has 2 serpents facing each other. The main leader played by James Earl Jones turns into a snake in the film. In Kill Bill, Bills organization is called The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, and all the members have snake codenames.
7. Hattori Hanzo was an ancient Samurai warrior in Japan in the 15th century. The character Hattori Hanzo was also on a TV show that QT and his friends would watch in the 80s. (Thanks to Jeff for the info).
8. The character Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) may have several origin inspirations. I have connected her character to these following films: 1. They Call Her One Eye (1974) a Swedish Exploitation female revenge film, in which the main character loses her eye due to her cruel pimp poking it out with a scalpel she wears a patch. 2. Switchblade Sisters (1975) A Exploitation female gang film in which one of the main characters is named Patch, who has only one eye and wears a patch over her eye. 3. Escape From New York (1981) An urban adventure film starring Kurt Russell as anti-hero Snake Plissken. Snake wears a patch over his eye as well and like Elle is one mean mofo. Elles codename is California Mountain SNAKE.
Vega,
YOU
ARE
THE
SHIT!
[quote]The character Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) may have several origin inspirations. I have connected her character to these following films: 1. They Call Her One Eye (1974) a Swedish Exploitation female revenge film, in which the main character loses her eye due to her cruel pimp poking it out with a scalpel she wears a patch. 2. Switchblade Sisters (1975) A Exploitation female gang film in which one of the main characters is named Patch, who has only one eye and wears a patch over her eye. 3. Escape From New York (1981) An urban adventure film starring Kurt Russell as anti-hero Snake Plissken. Snake wears a patch over his eye as well and like Elle is one mean mofo. Elles codename is California Mountain SNAKE.[/quote]
And dont forget Kill Bill’s very own, Sonny Chiba in THE YAGYU CONSPIRACY as well!
Check out my avatar for proof! ;D
[quote]Vega,
YOU
ARE
THE
SHIT![/quote]
vince is what Harry would call a Geek, or Joblo a “Schmoe”. i mean, he’s the dude if it comes down to movies… i think.
[quote]
And dont forget Kill Bill’s very own, Sonny Chiba in THE YAGYU CONSPIRACY as well!
Check out my avatar for proof!  ;D[/quote]
Hey Laydback, welcome to the board!
I have been seriously considering working on a book about the influences of QT, but Vega is unintenionally showing me that I, quite possibly, might be way out of my league here.
Of course your not way out of your league!
You just don’t have to take his comments too serious.
Everyone looks at things in different ways. That what makes life interesting, hell, that’s why this board even exists!
Just write your goddamn book and credit this site. Than his Vega-ass won’t be kicking yours anymore.
BTW, from who did you take that quote, courage is a handicap?
I mean, courage has no handicap.
It’s 4 in the morning, okay? Just finished reading another “book about Q”.
Well I guess what I do is try to think like QT thinks. He is a pop culture expert, so I look at his films and little details pop up sometimes. Its all in there, you just gotta use your pop culture beans. 
Courage has no handicap, that is fucking hilarious. I got that quote from this stupid bitch at my cousin’s graduation. She was talking about how they “finally did it” and ended her speach with that quote. I laughed my fucking ass off. A couple old people said I was disrespectful. I think the later you get in life you realize that high school means nothing.
Vega, keep these things coming man. I really enjoy them.
Ehm, I never mentioned this before because I thought everyone here would know, but concerning Chapter 4, everyone has only talked about the different movies or popsongs that have Blue Leaves or Houses of Leaves in them…what about Showdown ? I for one know of some Dolph Lundgren action movie called Showdown in Little Tokyo…I don’t doubt for a second that you’ve all heard of it, but do you think it’s a reference to that ? Or is there lots of way cooler movies the Showdown bit refers to ?
I dont think Showdown at House of Blue Leaves is any specific reference to any movies. It might be, but I think its just the title QT came up with for that chapter. Ive seen Showdown in Little Tokyo, I dont think thats connected to it either.
I think it is actually inspired by the Old West showdowns, but its in Japan instead of the Old West.
Showdown in Little Tokyo…that’s a good movie.I like the fight in that bath house.I miss the times of all those wild action movies from the 80’s/early 90’s.
I hope Kill bill will spark a revival in violence and exploitation! Sadly with the ridiculous censorship in the US/England,it will take a minor miracle.
9. “Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?” is the name of a 1983 film starring B-movie veteran Karen Black as a woman whose husband has left her so she takes up with another man. From the reviews I can just tell that this film is one of QTs favorite romantic comedies. I dont know what it has to do with the Kill Bill chapter of the same name though. Maybe it has a connection because that whole chapter has almost no action, just dialogue mostly, until the end of course.
CAST: KAREN BLACK, MICHAEL EMIL, MICHAEL MARGOTTA, MARTIN HARVEY FRIEDBERG, LARRY DAVID AND INTRODUCING FRANCES FISHER.
1983 90 min. Color R.
Zee (Karen Black) is walking up and down Manhattan streets, talking to herself and to the husband who has just left her. At a sidewalk cafe she runs into Eli (Michael Emil) and a very unlikely, funny and touching relationship develops between two lost souls in the big city.
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“‘CHERRY PIE’ IS A UNIQUE , MEMORABLE AND DARING FILM - AS FRESH, SWEET AND PIQUANT AS THE EDIBLE IN ITS TITLE, AS LOOSE AND UNEXPECTED AS LIFE, BUT AS SHAPED AND WITTY AS A GREAT SHORT STORY. IT IS WITHOUT ANY EASY COMPARISON IN THE WHOLE RANGE OF AMERICAN MOVIES. Karen Black is as good as the women who posed for August Renoir’s nudes: We feel the whole person - nervy but serene, eccentric but vulnerable, merry and pained, naive and profound. Her performance deserves to be counted in the list of great film work by American actresses!”
-DAVID THOMSON, SIGHT AND SOUND
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I was just watching Full Tilt Boogie on my newly arrived From Dusk Till Dawn Collector’s Edition import DVD (HELL YEAH ! ;D), and in the opening credits I noticed it was “an L. Driver production”. Hmm…that’s exactly the name The Bride carves on the cross under which she buries Elle Driver, isn’t it ? That seems a bit too much of a coincidence not to be a reference, I’d say.
I think this is one of the most interesting topics on the board, thanks to VicVega.
I dunno if this is new or not… but Candy Ralston (Uma uses this in the script as an alias) is a nod to Candy Rialston (who was in Joe Dante’s Hollywood Boulevard). We all know Tarantino’s a Dante fan (see his introduction to Harry Knowles’ book where he mentions meeting him when he was 18 years old!).
Also, Candy Rialston was an influence on the Melanie (whose last name happened to be Ralston) in Jackie Brown.