The Annotated "Kill Bill" is an attempt to catalogue as best possible, the multitude of references to different "grindhouse" films placed into "Kill Bill". When possible, any and all film references will also be accompanied by a link to said film on IMBD.

This is not meant to be a completely accurate collection of notes, trivia and homages as intended by Quentin, actually some entries may very well be quite far off the mark, but that's half the fun. I don't perport to be an expert in the various genres of 70's cinema used for inspiration in the making of "Kill Bill", so this page will be updated regularly as tips roll in.

If you have a link, error to report, or an annotation to add, please send it to lost-highway.geo@yahoo.com. Be patient with future updates! And please read the "Indespensible Jappattack Interview" before sending in annotations and arguing over my non-inclusion of "The Bride Wore Black". Tarantino claims to have never seen this film! Stop bringing it up already!

Annotations (in alphabetical order)

4:3
For a short section of the film, while The Bride is waiting to be buried, the aspect ratio of the film changes from widescreen 2.35:1 to 4:3.

ACTORS

DAVID CARRADINE (Bill)
Best known as the wanderer Caine from the TV series "Kung Fu", Carradine also plays the titular character of Kill Bill.
i. In "Pulp Fiction", Jules tells vincent he wants to quit "the life" and walk the earth, "..like Caine in Kung Fu".

SONNY CHIBA (Hattori Hanzo)
Legendary Japanese martial arts actor from such films as "Streetfighter", "Sister Streetfighter", and TV shows like "The Yagyu Conspiracy" and "Kage No Gundan" (where he also plays a character named Hattori Hanzo)
i. In "True Romance", the lead characters go to see a Sonny Chiba double bill.

JUNN KUNIMURA (Boss Tanaka)
Fans of Hong Kong cinema might recognize Junn from John Woo's "Hard Boiled". Takeshi Miike fans can also see him in "Audition" and "Ichi The Killer".

GORDON LIU (Johnny Mo)
Gordon was a very popular Hong Kong martial arts actor during the 70's, appearing in many of the Shaw Bros. films. He gained worldwide fame when the film, "Shao Lin san shih liu fang", (aka "36th Chamber of the Shoalin" aka, "The Master Killer") became an international hit. Gordon Plays both Johnny To and Master Pei Mei.

ACUNA, MEXICO
The Bride goes looking for Bill by asking his adoptive father, Esteban where he is. Esteban is a pimp in Acuna,Mexico. (And is also played by Micheal Parks, the Sheriff from Vol 1) Acuna is the small Mexican town where "El Mariachi" takes place.

AIR-O
The airline used in Kill Bill vol. 1. Air-O has a place to comfortably put your samurai sword while you enjoy the flight. Also, Air-O (My guess is the "O" is for Okinawa) pheonetically sounds like "aero" as in aeroplane, if you say it aloud.

ANIME
Anime is the popular form of Japanese animated movies and TV shows that, unlike western cultures, are not intended just for children (although children's fare is produced as well). "The Origin of O-Ren Ishii" was produced by the Japanese company Production IG, who made such films as "Ghost in the Shell" and "Blood, The Last Vampire". The stylized violence of the O-Ren anime sequence is typical of such films like those mentioned above, and others such as "Fist of the North Star" and "Ninja Scroll".

BILL
1. Bill plays a flute, not unlike Kwai Chang Caine, not unlike the character David Carradine played in "Kung Fu". And actually, according to the "Making of Kill Bill Vol. 2", David Carradine says that the flute he used (at least outside the wedding chapel) was one of the actual flutes from that show.
1a. In Pulp fiction, Jules says he wants to quit the life and walk the earth, "Like Caine in Kung Fu".
2. Bill has a monologue involving superheroes and mention his love for comic books in Vol 2. Tarantino regularly infuses his scripts with references to comic books.
3. Bill says the phrase"natural born killers". Which is an obvious Tarantino reference.

BLACK AND WHITE
1. Although in the script, the black and white segments in the film are meant to tone-down the "violence" onscreen. Instead of red samurai blood shooting out of someone's arm socket, we see a gush of "oil black" (as it says in the script) blood. Apparently the japanese cut of the film has a full-colour "Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves" segment, a small colour clip of which can actually be seen in the trailer (The Bride running up the bannister).
2. Although a chunk of the Showdown.. scene is in black and white, at one point when the Bride escapes the Crazy 88 to the second level of the House of Blue leaves, to the left of the screen there is a spatter of red blood. I saw this both times I saw the film, although it goes by so fast I'm not sure if it was blood on the camera lens or not.

BRIDE, THE aka BLACK MAMBA, aka BEATRIX KIDDO, aka MOMMY
1. The Bride's yellow tracksuit is the same that Bruce Lee wears in "Game of Death".
2. The codename of "Black Mamba", while also a real snake, may possibly be a reference to the title of the film, "Black Mama, White Mama", as Uma plays the "Black Mamba", but is really a "white mama".
3. The chapter entitled, "The Blood Splattered Bride" is a direct refrence to the Italian giallo film "The Blood Spattered Bride" (1972).
4. The Bride's name is bleeped out during vol. 1 (and in the script as well), but later on her name is given. Vivica Fox has also let slip the name during an interview, but still, I don't think I should post it here in the Vol.1 annotations.
5. It has been incorrectly stated that Truffault's film "The Bride Wore Black" as being one of the many influences on Kill Bill. In actuality, Tarantino has said in a few interviews now that he's never seen it and that he is a Godardian and not a Truffaut-ian.
6. Pete from cinema of cool emailed this observation, "The Green Hornet TV show theme is actually an instrumental called "Flight of the Bumblebee", what color is a bumblebee? Yellow and Black! Just like The Bride in her Game of Death tracksuit."
7. The "black mamba" is one of the most deadly snakes in the world. Although it has been incorrectly mentioned elsewhere that it is the most deadly, that mantle is occupied by the Australian "Fierce Snake" (aka, "Inland Taipan") which has enough poison in one bite can kill 250,000 mice. (or 100 people, but the mice statistic was more fun) See this page about the deadliest snakes in the world, if you feel like learning some useless trivia about deadly snakes.
7a. Elle Driver uses a black mamba snake to kill Budd, who thought he had just killed the Black Mamba
8. Victor has emailed to say that, in vol. 2, "the Bride is buried alive & escapes by using her "lucky" straight razor that is concealed in her cowboy boot to cut through her bonds, which is very similar to the famous scene in "Reservoir Dogs" where Mr. Blonde pulls an identical razor from his cowboy boot and uses it to cut a ear off of Marvin Nash, a cop whom he has tied with rope to torture. It's ironic that the Michael Madsen is the actor who ties/tortures the characters in both films as well."
9. Xavi has observed that,"The Bride real name can be seen written in Vol.1: when she buys the tickets at Air-O, you can see a field "Name: Beatrix Kiddo" at the right side."

CEREAL
1. Appropriately enough, a box of KABOOM ceral has a gun in it. Not know if this was advertised on the box or not. Free inside! One 9mm hand cannon! Carries on the tradition of ceral in all of Tarantino's films. (Such as "Fruite Bruites" in Pulp)
2. Mal emailed to say that in a close-up of the Kaboom cereal box, it does indeed say "Suprise Inside!"
3. At the end of Volume 2, With the bride and her daughter, a box of "Lucky Charms" is prominently displayed.

CHARACTERS BY Q AND U
Q and U stands for "Quentin" and "Uma", for those of you who don't have the time to figure such things out.

CHARLIE BROWN
1. Yeah, that bald guy who works at The House of Blue Leaves does look like Charlie brown, doesn't he? Right down to the iconic black pattern going around the midsection of his yellow kimono.
2. The end credits in Vol. 2 refer to the character's name as "Charlie Brown".

CRAZY 88's, THE
1. O-Ren Ishii's gang. They're all dressed like the gang from "Resevoir Dogs", and wear "Kato masks", and even accompanied by Green Hornet music when we first see them. Bruce Lee played Kato on the TV show, marking another reference to the martial arts legend along with The Bride's yellow tracksuit.
2. Tarantino has said that since O-Ren Ishii is half Japanese-American and half Chinese, the Crazy 88's consist of 44 Japanese members and 44 Chinese members.
3. The Crazy 88's are influenced by the yakuza gang in Kinji Fukasaku's "Black Lizard". Although I've never seen that film, I doubt they drive around on black Yahama motorcycles.
4. Pete from cinema of cool observes, "At the climactic end of DePalma's 1983 cult crime classic Scarface, Tony Montana (Al Pacino) is shot in the back and he falls into a pool. At the climax of the House of Blue Leaves fight, Crazy 88 leader Johnny Mo (Gordon Liu) is sliced in half and he falls into a pool".
5. Pete from "Cinema of Cool" has sent in this fun rumor..
"This is sort of a rumor, I'm not 100% sure if its in fact true, but when The Crazy 88s are in the private room in the HOBL chatting and goofing around. One of them is telling a story/joke in Japanese and making a reference to his groin area. He is supposedly telling the "E Lois" joke Nice Guy Eddie told Mr White, Mr Orange and Mr Pink on the way to the warehouse meeting in Reservoir Dogs."
6. In Vol.2, Bill and Bud are talking about how the Bride killed all the Crazy 88's. Bud asks if she cut through all 88 of them and Bill retorts, "No. There wasn't really eighty eight of them, they just called themselves The Crazy 88.", Bud asks why, and Bill answers, "I dunno, I guess they thought it sounded cool."

DEADLY VIPER ASSASINATION SQUAD
1. Or "DiVAS". All the members are named after poinsonous snakes. No mention in Vol. 1 as to why Budd is the only male member, but in Vol. 2, it turns out that Budd is Bill's brother.
2. Vernita complains to (bleep) that she should have been named "Black Mamba", in a possible reference to "Resevoir Dogs", where characters also complain about their assigned colour-based codenames.

DEATH LIST FIVE
A little homage to Pulp Fiction, the TV pilot Mia Wallace was in was called "Fox Force Five". In Fox Force Five, Mia played an assassin who was deadly with knives and told a cheesy joke at the end of the show. Fox Force also had a similar cast of multi-racial characters as the DiVAS.

DEPALMA, BRIAN
1. One of Tarantino's favorite directors, responsible for such films as "Carrie" (see the entry about splitscreens).
2. Pete from Cinema Of Cool wrote in ti say that, "the opening credits font (and white on black look) in Kill Bill is very similar to the one used in DePalmas 1978 sci fi horror film The Fury."
3. Ian has informed me that the steadycam operator for Kill Bill is also Brian DePalma's steadycam operator.
4.Leighton Jones wrote in to say, "When I was watching "Kill Bill 2" the hand from the grave reminded me of "Carrie", which would link up with what you said about Brain Depalma being one of QT's fave directors."
5. Sean T DeLap wrote in, "A couple of connections regarding the music of Bernard Herrmann may be worth adding to your fine web site. The site identifies the influence of Brian DePalma on Mr. Tarantino. It does not mention the fact that Herrmann scored two films for DePalma- Obsession and Sisters. (The site currently mentions Sisters under the splitscreen entry). Sisters would be the more significant influence on Kill Bill, in my opinion. Since the film deals with Siamese twin sisters who are separated, there are several creepy scenes involving surgery and hospitals. The hospital sequence in "Kill Bill" echoes DePalma both visually (splitscreen) and aurally (Herrmann's music). Of course it is also worth noting Herrmann is most famous for scoring several of Alfred Hitchcock's films; and the Hitchcock influence on DePalma is extreme."
(Although I would say "Shamelessly rips off" - Smilin' Steve)

DOORBELLS
Xavi says, "There is also a shot that appears in other Tarantino movies: a finger ringing a bell. In PULP, Harvey Keitel rings at Tarantino's home, in Jackie Brown Sam L. Jackson rings at Chris Tucker's home and The Bride rings at Vernita's house, all of this shots show only a finger ringing."

EATEN ALIVE
1. Thanks to Lee for pointing out this little annotation. In "Eaten Alive" Robert Englund plays a character named Buck. And the first shot of the movie is Buck taking off his belt and saying, "My name is Buck, and I'm rarin to fuck". One could say that it's mere coincidence as not many other proper names rhyme with "fuck", then again it's very doubtful Tarantino hasn't seen Tobe Hooper's followup film to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre".
1b. The Bride refers to the local papers calling her wedding rehearsal the "Texas Wedding Chapel Massacre".

ELLE DRIVER
1. The "Deadly Californian Mountain Snake" is apparently inspired by the lead from the Swedish revenge-rape flick, "Thriller" aka "They Call Her One-Eye".
2. Elle's changing into a nurse's uniform to kill The Bride at the hospital is lifted from "Black Sunday". This also happens in "Dead and Buried".
3. Pete from Cinema of Cool sent in this annotation:
"Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) is also inspired by the character Patch from Switchblade Sisters (great movie)."
4. Pete, from "cinema of Cool" sent his one in, proving I'll post just about anything. "I dont know if you'd call this a connection, I guess its more of a weird occurence. As I was listening to the theme from Twisted Nerve by Bernard Herrmann, I noticed that part of the music in it actually sounded similar to the score Herrmann did for Taxi Driver. Particularly the brass notes (try listening to both scores back to back). Then I thought of who was whistling the song in the movie: Elle DRIVER. Taxi Driver --- Elle Driver. Coincidence or not? ".
5. The End Credits of Vol. 2 mark Elle's distinction on the list of the Death List five as "?".
6. Elle drives the black firebird from "Smokey and the Bandit"
7. Xavi also wrote in to say, "Also in Jack Rabbit's Slim's, there is a poster of "Attack of 50 foot Women". Daryl Hannah starred in the TV Movie remake.", also "When Elle Driver starts getting crazy after the Bride picks off her eye, she hits the floor like Daryl Hannah did in Blade Runner, after she was shot by Harrison Ford."

END CREDITS - Vol. 1
1. I've heard that there are two versions of the end credits. The version I saw had the "written and directed by Quentin Tarantino" title card pop up, prompting some people to get up out of their seats, only to find out there was more to the film! The rumored second version of theend credits "corrects" this by placing all the credits together, so there's no footage left after the Tarantino credit.
2. Ian has sent somegreat info on the names mentioned in the end credits. "The RIP credits at the end include: Charles Bronson, Chang Cheh, Kinji Fukasaku, Lo Lieh,Shintaro Katsu and William Witney..
Bronson doesn't need to be rehashed; revenge is a common premise in his movies.
Chang Cheh directed numerous kung-fu/revenge/assassination films from the late 40s through the early 90s, including the Five Deadly Venoms series, which featured, as far as I can tell, a team of assassins/warriors, each with a deadly specialty, and one man's search for each of them.
Kinji Fukasaku; again, no need to rehash. (Director of Battle Royal, Tora Tora Tora, etc.. Ed)
Lo Lieh - Appeared in numerous Shaw Brothers films, including Kidnap (1974) (which I just bought), and the Chang Cheh-directed 5 Kung Fu Daredevils. He's credited as a writer on Chang Cheh's Five Fingers of Death. I'm starting to think that the number 5 is significant, somehow.
Shintaro Katsu - played Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman in something like 26 films from '71 through '89.
William Witney
1. Directed numerous westerns, G-men films, Zorro movies and the "Spy Smasher" series, as well as "Dr. Satan's Robot", which is "an edited version of the 1940 Republic serial "Mysterious Doctor Satan"". What would Numero Cinquo say? (El Diablo Robotica!)
2. Pete from Cinema of Cool adds "William Witney was a director as well. Not an actor. He was the king of the Saturday morning movie serials back in the 40's and 50's (ie: Spy Smasher). He was famous for his Westerns with Roy Rogers as well (ie: The Golden Stallion). He also made a few 50's juvenile delinquint movies (ie: The Cool and The Crazy). His last film was the Blaxploitation film Darktown Strutters (1975), which was about a group of female motorcyclists."
3.MuntMarvoluss says,"I saw Q on tv and he said that he wanted to seek out his own auteurs instead of worshipping the same filmmakers everybody else was in love with, and he discovered William Witney and admired his skill. He said this while introducing the Witney film,"Cat burgler", which he said was one of Witney's more hard-to-find films. The movie stars Jack Hogan, who was also on the world war II tv show "Combat!" with Vic Morrow, and i think a couple episodes were even directed by Robert Altman. But anyway, Q has said that the show "Combat!" was one of his favorites.

END CREDITS - Vol. 2
1. there seemed to be two sets of end credits in Vol. 2. There were black and white credits that looked like they were new, matching the little introduction of the Bride driving towards her final destination to Kill Bill, and another set of credits which appeared to be more like the original set of end credits made before the film was split in two. (The black and white credits also include the largest "gaffer" credit I've ever seen.)
2. As well as giving another R.I.P credit to Charles Bronson, this time around Tarantino also thanks Sergios Leone and Sergio Corbucci. I know there were a few more, but those are the only two I can remember right now.
3. After all the credits roll, there is an outtake of Uma Thurman poking the eye out of one of the Crazy 88's from Volume 1.

FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION: JAILHOUSE 41*
1. Although I've never heard it mentioned in any of the interviews I've read, Lee has passed along that "Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41" is one of the films that Tarantino watched as one of the main inspirations for Kill Bill. The DVD of which is selling well for this reason alone.
2. Raymond has emailed to say that, "The Japanese song under the end credits is 'Scorpion's Grudge Song', the theme from all of the Scorpion films. Tarantino also used 'Flower Of Carnage' in the soundtrack which is sung by Meiko Kaji, the actress who played Scorpion (See the "Lady Snowblood" entry). Actually the plot of Kill Bill resembles the last part of the first Scorpion film ('Female Convict 701: Scorpion') wherein an escaped convict exacts revenge on her boyfriend and his business associates for using her as bait in a drug sting operation."

FETISHES
1. There are numerous shots of feet during the film (including Uma's naked feet in the "wiggle your big toe" scene, closeups of boots walking around, achilles tendons getting cut, and a whole whack of yakuzas getting their feet liberated from thier bodies), prompting the question, does Quentin have a foot fetish, or are feet just the most cinematic body part?
1a.Vol. 2 is repleat with foot shots, including one featuring a bandaid, and another where an eyeball is squished.
1b. The underside of The Bride's sneakers int he house of Blue Leaves clearly has the words "fuck u" in the tread design.
1c. Diane Phun says, "If you want a good example of quentin's love of feet, watch "From Dusk til Dawn", when there's a couple scenes: When Salma Hayek the vampire queen feeds him booze by pouring it down her leg with her toes almost in his (Quentin's)mouth, and when he stares at Juliette Lewis's (the hostage daughter) toes and thinks deep thoughts."
2. Go-Go's schoolgirl uniform.
3. Somnophila, or sex with someone who is asleep. Or in this case, a coma. Same diff.

FULCI, LUCIO
1. In Fulci's "Paura nella città dei morti viventi" (ie: The Gates of Hell, City of the Living Dead") there is a scene where a woman is buried alive. In the script for Kill Bill, when The Bride escapes her tomb, it says, " The Bride's hand breaks the surface...then like one of
Fulci's Zombies"

GONE WITH THE WIND SHOT, THE
1. When the Bride has dispatched all but O-Ren Ishii, we are given a high wide angle of the entire dancefloor littered with bloody moaning bodies. (Unlike Gone With the Wind, this time it's pretty funny. But I guess that would dependi on how much you like GWTW.)
2. Jérôme says, "There's a similar scene in a French movie with Jean-Paul Belmondo (often quoted by Tarantino as the essential Godard actor, and the inspiration behind comic characters Cobra and Blueberry) entitled "Le Magnifique". In that movie, Belmondo plays a pulp book writer whose character, Bob Sinclair, is a sort of James Bond living all sorts of crazy adventures. The movie shows both the daily life of this frustrated writer and the adventures of Sinclair (also played by Belmondo). In one scene, Sinclair and his sweetheart invade the secret cave hide-out of Sinclair's nemesis, Karpoff, and kill dozens of evil henchmen in a slapstick, but also kinda gory fight. At the end, all of Sinclair's enemies are left moaning on the floor, with blood literally flooding the place. Just like in the house of blue leaves."

GO-GO YUBARI
1. Go-Go is played by actress Chiaki Kuriyama who was in the film "Battle Royal", where she also played a deadly young woman wearing a school uniform. She apparently trained to be able to perform her own stunts using her deadly weapon of choice.
2. Go-Go disembowels the man at the bar with a short sword spilling his guts on the floor, i what looked like to me, the same fashion as a seppuku, and is a reference to a similar scene in "Battle Royal". Kinji Fukasaku, the director of "Battle Royal" told Tarantino that the shootout/standoff between the girls at the lighthouse was apparently an homage to "Resevoir Dogs"!
3. Tarantino has dubbed it "The Go-Go Ball", and is more or less a reference to "Master of the Flying Guillotine".
4. Roger Avary, co writer of "Pulp Fiction" directed a music video for one of his favorite bands, the "Go-Go's" while also winning an award at the Yubari film festival with "Killing Zoe" which Tarantino Executive produced. Could this be a making of amends to an old pal, or just a crazy stretch?
5. Beyart says, "Hey, I was jus reading your site and I was reminded of something I noticed while watching the film. When the Bride is fighting Go-go, there's a part where she's holding the leg of a table or some kind of blunt, wooden object. Go-go (I guess "throw's" isn't a really good way to describe it" she kindof redirects the mace so that it goes flying at the bride and the bride hits it back at her, only to send her spinning around to land flat on the ground. I guess it just reminded me of Charlie Brown, when he used to pitch the ball in baseball, only to have it come flying back at him to send him into a back spin like Go-go's. Of course, all of his clothes come off and Go-go's don't and any other time I would have written it off as coincidence, but with the other Charlie Brown reference that happens just minutes before it, I think that it might be so similar on purpose."

HATTORI HANZO
1. Hattori Hanzo is based upon the character of the same name played by Sonny Chiba on the Japanese TV show "Kage No Gunan" (The End of An Era, aka Shadow Warriors). Each series of the show showcased a different Hattori Hanzo, ie - series 1: Hattori Hanzo the 1st, series 2 - Hattori Hanzo the 2nd, etc. Quentin has said that he was "continuing the tradition" and that this Hattori Hanzo is the 100th.
2. I got an email from Matthew who adds that Hattori hanzo also appears in a "Shadow Warriors" video game. Which makes sense if the game is based on the TV show
3. Royal emailed to say "I think the only movie Sonny wasn't Hanzo was in
Shogun's Ninja. He played Hanzo's nemesis."

HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES, THE
1. The climatcic battle can be attributed to films such as "Shogun Assasin" and also, "Lung Hu Men" (Chinese Boxer). Tarantino showed the scene where Jimmy Wang Yu fighs 100 foes to Yuen Wo-Ping, fight choreographer for Kill Bill, who recognized his father (Simon Yuen) as one of the foes. (he has a chain)
2. Also the title of a play/film (1988) starring John Mahoney of "Fraser" about a zoo attendant who wants to write music for movies. Neither the play or the film have anything to do with Kill Bill (that I know of.)
3. F. Chong has this to say about the House of Blue Leaves.. "The entire sequence has a lot of Kenji Misumi flourishes--especially the Zatoichi moments. Someday, more folks will laud the genius of this dead filmmaker ... the guy was in his 70s when he was his most innovative."
4. Jerome says, "just before the image reverts back to color, when The Bride walks up the stairs... It's only moments before the innkeeper turns off the light and we have the fight on a blue background. Well, you see some of the Crazy 88s slowly following The Bride, one of them breaking through one of the paper walls. The black and white, the eyes of the bad guys slowly approaching, the walls breaking, and above all the sound of the dying 88s downstairs moaning in pain... All that makes me think a lot of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. But it could be just me. If that's a reference, it's certainly a bit less obvious than the other tones."
5. Pete from "A Site Apart" adds the following juicy morsel, "In older Chinese films, it was a common part of a folklore, called "jianghu" (translated means rivers and lakes) that a battle that occured in
taverns like the HOBL, the structure themselves were actually a kind of alternative world where supernatural skills were regularly displayed. Thats one of the reasons why you'll see Johnny Mo fly up the wall and see The Bride flip into the air. See King Hu's classic wuxia films "Come Drink With Me" and "The Golden Swallow" starring Cheng Pei Pei."
5. Pete from "Cinema of Cool" says, "In the HOBL, The 5678's play an instrumental called "I Walk Like Jane Mansfield". Jane Mansfield was killed in a car accident and was decapitated. Could this song be a reference to the dismemberments about to happen when The Bride goes Krakatoa on The Crazy 88s?"

JANE MANSFIELD
Xavi, a fan from Spain, made this astute observation, "In "Pulp Fiction", when John Travolta talks about the waitresses he says : "I don't see Jane Mansfield, maybe she doesn't work today" (or something similar). Maybe she is the Jane Mansfield from the song at House of Blue Leaves?"
This is indeed correct, Xavi (how cool is that name?), the 5,6,7,8's sing the song "Walk Like Jane Mansfield" duting the HOBL sequence.

LEONE, SERGIO
1. Sergio Leone is the Italian master of cinema made famous by his Fistfull of Dollars trilogy of spaghetti westerns. One of Tarantino's absolute favorite directors of all time whose stylistic stamp is homaged all through Kill Bill. Not only in the use of "Leone" closeups (as he referred to them to his director of photography.. "give me a Leone!") but also in the use of long pauses punctuated with heightened ambient sound effects (compare the squeaky windmill of "Once Upon a Time In The West" and the Japanese bamboo water clock(?) In Kill Bill) to increase the tension.
2. Leone's film "Once Upon A Time In The West" is to western films as "Kill Bill" is to 70's grindhouse cinema. It is full of scenes and characters which homage the classic westerns of Ford, Hawks and others. I'd put up an annotated page for that film, but everything is neatly described during the commentary track of the DVD, which I highly recommend buying.

LONE WOLF AND CUB
1. AKA, "The Babycart Assasin". A classic Japanese manga by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Gojima, about the Ronin Itto Ogami and his son Diagoro travelling the "way of demons and damnation" (meifumado) on his way to avenge the death of his wife and family dishonor. Itto Ogami was once the Shogun's executioner and is a samurai whose skill with the blade is unparalelled, as many a group of Japanese soldiers sent out to kill him found out en-mass. Any carnage imaginable with a samurai sword was thought up for this wonderfully violent series. The manga was (and still is) extrememely popular, and it spawned a series of very popular "Lone Wolf and Cub" films. F. Chong has emailed a heaping bowl of steamed rice worth of LW&C info. The first is about the American version of Lone Wolf and Cub, which you may have seen on TV..
"Shogun Assassin" is the chopped up version of "Sword of Vengence" and "Baby Cart in the River Styx." Basically, "Shogun Assassin" is an American redub that cuts the origin segments from the first "Kozure Okami" movie and plops them in an edited version of "Baby Cart ...." A lot of the fight in "The House of the Blue Leaves" is a direct homage to "Baby Cart at the River Styx." When O-Ren throws her dirk out of her room (through the shoji screen) and narrowly misses The Bride, this is a shot-for-shot reference to a similiar moment in "Baby Cart at the River Styx." Some of the sword style is also more than a little reminiscent of the final fight in that film (especially her two sword style--not really niten ichi ryu, but DEFINITELY like Ogami Itto's style in LW&C).
2. When the Bride's daughter B.B. is asked if she wants to watch a video with her mommy before "sleepy time", she chooses to watch "Shogun Assasin".

MR. MAJESTYK
Budd has a poster for the Charles Bronson film "Mr. Majestik" in his trailer. Budd is either a big fan of Bronson or watermelons.

MUSIC - VOL 1.
1. O-Ren Ishii's Origin (the animated segment) features a section of Luis Baclov's score to "The Grand Duel".
2. When Elle Driver walks through the hospital on her way to kill The Bride, she whistles Bernard Hermman's
theme to "Twisted Nerve".
3. The Isasc Hayes song "Run, Fay, Run" is from the film "Three Tough Guys".
4. "Battle Without Honour or Humanity", the song used in the trailer, is from yakuza epic (and appropriately titled) "Battle Without Honor or Humanity", directed by Kinji Fukusaku, whom you might know as the late great director of "Battle Royal".
5. "The Flower of Carnage" performed by Meiko Kaji. WsFrink corrects my previous entry by saying, "This song was wriiten by Meiko Kaji. It was written by Kazuo Koike ( the writer of ''Lady Snowblood'' and ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' movies), Masaaki Hirao (the composer of ''Lady Snowblood''),  &  Koji Ryuzaki".
6. The theme for the TV show "Ironside" plays when "The Bride" makes eye-contact with one of the Death List Five. It was also used in the film "The Five Fingers of Death".
7. The already mentioned theme to "The Green Hornet" appears when The Bride flies into Tokyo while at the same time O-Ren and the '88 drive around all badass. At this point, I don't think I should even have to mention who played "Kato" in that series, and mention his direct correlation to The Bride's yellow tracksuit.
8. The song "Super 16" by Neu is from the film "Master of the Flying Guillotine".
9. The music playing in the background while The Bride stands over Sophie Fatale in the trunk is The theme from "The Yagyu Conspiracy".
10. The song playing in the background when The Bride is in the wheelchair looking for the Pussy Wagon is the theme to the Isaac Hayes film "Truck Turner" (which is not available on the soundtrack).
11. Lee has written in an interesting one-two punch of a Harry Knuckle annotation. He has spotted a track from the Burt Reynolds flick "White Lightning" during Kill Bill. "The music in White Lightning that is featured in Kill Bill, is when Burt Reynolds makes his prison brake after learning his brother was murdered by the Sheriff. Again - White Lightning is a revenge film. The music is also used in the theatrical trailer for White Lightning. White Lightning (1973) is directed by Joseph Sargent, who a year later would direct The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) - is film about a bank heist where the robbers call each other Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Mr. Grey and Mr. Brown - another Taratino inspired film."
12. Pete from "Cinema of Cool" says, "The title theme by composer Riz Ortolani from Tonino Valeriis Spaghetti Western "Day of Anger" plays at a certain point in The House of Blue Leaves.". Wsfrink adds that, " the theme song of ''Day of Anger'' is heard during the fight between The Bride and the Crazy 88's when the screen changes from color to black and white.".
13. Wsfrink corrects a previous entry by sayng, ""From Man To Man" by composer Ennio Morricone, which is from the film "Da uomo a uomo" ("Death Rides a Horse") plays in the HOBL sequence as well."
14. Wsfrink also says that, "The song that is heard after The Bride kills the rapist and waits for Buck to return and slashes his ankle with a knife is the theme from the Fulci film ''7 note in nero'' A.K.A. The Psyhic" and also, "The music heard in the anime sequence when O-Ren's father is stabbed and the camera pans up to show the sword and the killer is the theme form the spaghetti western "I Lunghi Giorni Della Vendetta" A.K.A. Long Days of Vengeance".
15. Wsfrink says that, "the song that plays  after ''Super 16"  during the Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves is the song ''Police Check Point'' which is from the film ''Black Mama, White Mama''".

MUSIC - VOL 2.
1. "Goodnight Moon"- Shivaree   
2. "Il Tramonto" Ennio Morricone (from "The Good The Bad and The Ugly").
3. "Can't Hardly Stand It" - Charlie Feathers
5. "Tu Mira" - Lole y Manuel   
6. "Motorcycle Circus" - Luis Bacalov (from "Un Verano Para Matar" aka Summertime Killer) 
7. "The Chase" - Alan Reeves, Phil Steele & Philip Brigham  (is from the Rita Hayworth  film ''Road to Salina'' 
8. "L'arena" - Ennio Morricone (from the 1968 Sergio Corbucci spaghetti western, "Il Merciano") 
9. "A Satisfied Mind" - Johnny Cash   
10. "A Silhouette of Doom" - Ennio Morricone (from the 1966 Sergio Corbucci spaghetti western "Navajo Joe")
11. "About Her" - Malcolm McLaren   
12. "La Malagueña Salerosa" - Chingon (found on Robert Rodriguez's "Mexico and Mariachis" soundtrack CD, and is a previously unhead Mariachi title track)
13. "Urami Bushi" - Meiko Kaji (also heard in Vol. 1. The english translation of the lyrics can be found here - Thanks to Wsfrink for sendng this along)
14. "Three Touch Guys" - Isaac Hayes (from "Three Tough Guys" . This song is not on the soundtrack CD.)
15. Xavi notes, "In Vol.2, the song used when the bride crosses the desert to Budd's trailer is called "Sunny Road to Salina". When The Bride asks Esteban Vihaio "Where is Bill?" he says "he lives at the road to Salina"."

MY-OH-MY STRIPCLUB
Sid Haig is the bartender at the "My-Oh-My". Not only did Sid appear in numerous classic 70's films such as "Coffy" and "Black Mama, "White Mama", but he was in "Jackie Brown" as well.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA
Bill starts the legend of "Pei Mei" with "Once upon a time... in China..". (with that reference left unexplained becaue of its obviousness.) Which has a connection to the spaghetti westersn of Leone (notably "Once upon a Time in the West") bringing the line of inspiration full circle.

OPENING CREDITS
1. Ian has sent in the following annotation.. "The opening features an old-fashioned matinee "Feature Presentation" clip, taken from Grindhouse Releasing (who also released "The Beyond" under Tarantino's "Rolling Thunder" company)." Rolling Thunder is also the name of a 70's revenge flick.

O-REN ISHII
1. O-Ren's origin is reminicent of the avenging character of "Yuki" in "Lady Snowblood" (Which also heavily influences the rest of the film as well, with it being divided into chapters with interetesing titles.). Also, the final showdown between "The Bride" and O-Ren literally involves snow and blood.
2. O-Ren wears all-white during the showdown, and the climactic battle is in the snow. White is the colour of death in many oriental cultures.
3. There is a "tradtion" for characters in manga and anime to say something after the "death blow". In Lone Wolf and Cub, this happens multiple times, one example being when Itto assasinates a Bhuddist priest by cutting him straight down the middle,and before his body bisects in a spout of gore he utters, "Is this not the gateless barrier?" (LW&C Vol 2. pg. 228. Also on page 218 is one of those banboo-water-clock-things featured in the final battle with O-Ren.)
4. The name "O-Ren" comes from a part played by Etsuo Shihomi ("Sister Streetfighter") on the TV show "Kage No Gundan IV" (Shadow Warriors 4)

PUSSY WAGON
1. Although a more or less common term for any vehicle that attracts or is used to attract the fairer sex, The term "Pussy Wagon" is also used in the lyrics to "Grease Lightning" from "Grease", which stars Pulp Fiction's John Travolta.

Purple french tail lights and thirty inch fins, oh yeah
A Palomino dashboard and duel muffler twins, oh yeah
With new pistons, plugs, and shocks I can get off my rocks
You know that I ain't bragging she's a real pussy wagon
Grease lightning!

It should also be noted that "The Pussy Wagon" actually does have "duel muffler twins", and it's spoiler is semi-fin like. No French tail lights though.
2. According to the Bride in Vol.2, "My Pussy Wagon died on me".
3.LaVieBohemme wrote in to say, "Ever wonder what Quentin's thing is for Rapists and their motor-vehicles which inevitably get filched? --Zed's motorcycle--err, excuse me... Zed's Chopper and Buck's Pussywagon".And while we're on the subject, let me rhyme with you,"Zed's dead" and "MY name is Buck and I'm here to fuck'"

REAR WINDOW
During "The Origin of O-Ren Ishii" we watch O-ren assasinate a "South American General" (as it says in the script), his brains getting splattered across the rear window of his limo. In Pulp.. ehh.. we all know what happened to Marvin. Nuff said.

RED APPLE CIGARETTES
A brand of cigarettes used in Quentin's other movies. However since Kill Bill is a "movie-movie" (the kind of film that would be in a theater in Tarantino's other movies) that would make the comically gigantic Red Apple Cigarette poster in the Tokyo Airport product placement.

REVENGE
A common motif in many Spaghetti Westerns, Samurai films and Kung fu films is the desire for the lead character to get revenge. In Kill Bill, Not only does the Bride seek revenge for the attempted killing of herself and the killing of her husband and daughter, but the origin of O-Ren Ishii is also a revenge-based tale, as well as the inevitable revenge on The Bride for the killing of Vernita Green by her daughter Nikki. In the script, Go-Go has a sister, Yuki (named after Lady Snowblood) who seeks revenge for her sister, although so far this seems to have been cut from the film.

"REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD"
. . . Old Klingon proverb
1. This is a reference to the sci-fi revenge flick "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan", where the phrase is first uttered and attributed to the Klingons, although I believe it comes from the novel "Les Liasons Dangereuses".
2. "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" (1782) is by Pierre Ambroise Francois Choderlos de Laclos (1741-1803). In it's original French, the expression is, "La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid." The American movie based on the book "Dangeous Liaisons" stars.. Uma Thurman! Jérôme was kind enough to send in this link that provided the additional info.
3. Wsfrink adds that in, "Death Rides A Horse", Ryan (Lee Van Cleef) says (to Bill (John Phillip Law):

"Someone once wrote that revenge is a dish that has to be eaten cold....The way you're going you'll end up with Indigestion"

SHAW BROTHERS ZOOM
A shaky snap-zoom used a lot in the Shaw Brothers Kung-Fu films. Usually used to zoom in on a face, or the eyes.

SHAWSCOPE LOGO
The "Shawscope" logo used to precede the anamorphically-shot Hong Kong Kung-Fu action flicks produced by the legendary Shaw brothers at Shaw Studios. Gordon Liu, who is in both Vol. 1 and Vol 2. of Kill Bill (as different characters), appeared in many films with the Shawscope banner.

SHERIFF, THE
1. The Texas sheriff who inspects the grisly aftermath of The Bride's wedding is played by Michael Parks, the same actor that plays Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in "From Dusk Till Dawn". According to the Kill Bill Production notes, Parks is "reprising" his role. which means that "From Dusk Till Dawn" and "Kill Bill" are in the same "movie-movie" universe. If that is the case, "Kill Bill" either takes place before "From Dusk till Dawn" or Sheriff somehow survived his run-in with the Gecko bros. (Jérôme has emailed to say, "According to From Dusk Till Dawn 2, that I saw just last week, the Sheriff was dead.") that would mean Kill Bill takes place before FDTD.
2. The Sherrif's son (James Parks, Micheal Parks' real son) is the same character (Deputy McGraw) in "From Dusk till Dawn 2".
3. D.K. Holm, of Moviepoopshoot.com adds another new annotation. "One reference I don't recall being mentioned anywhere else refers to the Charlie Chan series. Michael Parks, as the sheriff in El Paso, calls his deputy son number one, in homage to Charlie Chan's numerical designations for his obstreperous progeny, and the son calls him 'Pop', just as the kids in the series call their dad Chan."
4. Cory Chatham was kind enough to write in, "I'm not sure if this is correct but the beginning shot of the sheriff driving to the scene of the crime is very similar to sheriff driving to the car accident in the original "Gone in 60 Seconds", complete with all the different sunglasses."

SOPHIE FATALE
1. A femme fatale with a literal last name.
2. Actress Julie Dreyfuss is a big celebrity in japan and can speak English, French and Japanese fluently.
3. Her cellphone ring is "Auld Lang Syne". Some of the familiar lyrics of which are:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

SPAGHETTI WESTERN FLASHBACK
If you've seen any Spaghetti Westerns, this is self explanatory. Usually a sepia tone flashback of The Bride remembering what was done to her... and by whom.

SPLITSCREEN
Pete from Cinema of Cool emailed this annotation:
"The split screen sequence is inspired by Brian DePalma, one of QTs filmmaking heroes. DePalma frequently uses split screen in his thrillers (Sisters, Dressed To Kill, Carrie)" . This makes a lot of sense, especially after having read the American Cinematographer article which lists "Carrie" was one of the many films Tarantino suggested to Robert Richardson for visual research.

SQUARE
Uma makes the "square" sign in both "Pulp Fiction" and "Kill Bill". Since Quentin has said that "Kill Bill" does not take place in his regular "universe" but is more like a movie the characters in those films would watch. Perhaps in that alternate universe, Mia Wallace is the actress playing "the Bride".

SUNSET
The strange firey orange-red sunset outside the airplane is apparently an homage to the opening of "Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro" (Body Snatcher from Hell).

SUZUKI, SEIJUN*
1. Siejun Suzuki is a well known and respected Japanese director who made the influential gangster flicks "Tokyo Drifter" and "Branded to Kill". F. Chong sent an email mentioning that Although Tarantino dressed the Crazy 88's in reference to his own film Resevoir Dogs, he actually borrowed the look for the characters in Dogs from Suzuki's film "Tokyo Drifter". Although I personally think, (as do a lot of other people) that the dogs' look comes from John Woo's "A Better Tomorrow"
2. Royal has mentioned that in Tokyo Drifter, "The final scene in this Japanese Mod/Crime movie not only took place in winter, but also in a nightclub."
Tarantino, having been questioned on the influence of Suzuki's films (Branded to Kill in particular) on the House of Blue Leaves sequence says "To me that was more something in my brain from Japanese cinema in general than Suzuki stuff in particular, but I do know what you are talking about."

SWORDS
1. The Bride carries Hottari Hanzo's finest blade (the "Sword of Vengeance" according to the script) with a lioness etched into the blade near the hilt. "If on your journey you should meet God, God will be cut.". The Hilt is jet black with the Hanzo clan symbol on it. "Sword of Vengeance" is also the proper title to the Lone Wolf and Cub movie series.
2. Bill also has a Hanzo sword, except on the scabbard of his sword, as well as having the Hanzo clan symbol, also has the image of a devil's or demon's face.
3. In this movie-movie universe, there is a place to put your trusty sword on Air-O flights, and on motorcycles. It's also just fine thank-you-very-much to walk around carrying a sword, much like the gunslingers carrying their pistols or rifles around town in Spaghetti Westerns.
4. Alex has written in a very interesting correction to the description of "The Sword of Vengeance" as having a Lioness etched into it (as it says in the script). "I'd like to point out one tiny little error, though, if I may. In the section dedicated to Hattori Hanzo's final blade, the Sword of Vengeance, you've published that it has a lioness engraved on it. Actually, this animal is not a lion, but rather a Shiisa, a legendary guard dog, and a symbol of the Okinawan people. If you visit Okinawa, you will likely see many Shiisas, both carved in stone, or pictured on all the touristy arts and crafts."
5. Bud's Hanzo sword says "To my brother Bud, the only man I've ever loved".

TOKYO
1. Tarantino apparently supplied a tape of the movie "Furankenshutain no kaijû: Sanda tai Gaira" (War of the Gargantuas) to get the desired look of the model of Tokyo's skyline.
2. According to the Fangoria interview, Tarantino has said that they rented the Toho Tokyo model set from the most recent Godzilla prodcution. "So in Kill Bill youll see that crane that you always see silhouetted against the skline of Tokyo Bay."

TRUNK SHOT
A familiar signature shot from inside a car trunk appears in most of Tarantino's films.

TWO PINES WEDDING CHAPEL
OK, I think I'm going out on a really lengthy limb here, but "Two Pines" was also the name of the Mall in "Back To The Future" (It later became "Lone Pine Mall" after the second pine was driven over by a certain time-travelling DeLorean.)
If you look closely in Kill Bill, there actually don't seem to be any pines at all.

YAGYU CONSPIRACY, THE
1. The dialogue Sonny Chiba gives about "If you want revenge, you have to be willing to kill God or even Bhudda himself" is paraphrased from a speech Chiba would say at the beginning of "The Yagyu Conspiracy"
2. The music playing in the background while The Bride stands over Sophie Fatale in the trunk is The Yagyu Conspiracy theme song.
3. The Yagyu clan is the central enemy of the "Lone Wolf and Cub" series. (see the above "Lone Wolf and Cub" entry)
4. Royal sent this in about the Yagyu, "The Yagyu Clan in LW&C were the Shogun's personal assassins. The Onimusha games follow the Yagyu family line with the third installment staring a French Hitman voiced by Jean Reno. (Leon?)"

YOJIMBO
The popular wandering Ronin potrayed by Japanese icon Toshiro Mifune in the Akira Kurosawa films "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro". "Yojimbo" (the film) also has a direct lineage to "Kill Bill", besides being a samurai flick, as it was later re-made by Sergio Leone into the classic Spaghetti western, "A Fistful of Dollars".

ZATOICHI
The blind masseuse/swordsman. Zatoichi was a popular samurai character from a series of Japanese films, so popular in fact, he even teamed up in a film with the very popular Yojimbo character in the film "Zatoichi vs. Yojimbo". In the Kill Bill script, there is a description of the Bride taking down some of the Crazy 88's with a Zatoichi-like SWISH-SWISH-SWISH! Zatoichi was recently remade, to much acclaim, by Takeshi "Beat" Kitano.
2. Royal has mailed in the following annotation, "It is common in all of the Zaitoichi (Blind Swordsman) for the final scene to be almost devoid of sound. The final standoff was sort of like that."