Quentin Tarantino bears his fangs in From Dusk Till Dawn and gives David Martin a chance to rave about the genius of cross genre films. Oh and Salma Hyak dancing with a huge snake…
Tarantino has a penchant for delivering dialogue so sharp it draws blood. Normally this would just be a figure of speech, but in From Dawn Till Dusk its a literal reality. The brilliance of Tarantino’s writing is that he incorporates every type of film he has ever enjoyed and his knowledge of the medium is awe inspiring. Witness what he does with the common or garden “heist gone wrong” movie in Reservoir Dogs, its poor genius! He actually has you on the side of the criminals and when poor Tim Roth is shot you find yourself cheering!
Tarantino brings all his considerable skill to bear on the vampire movie and what a movie he delivers! Seth and Richie Gecko (inspired by the Frog Brothers from classic eighties vampire flick The Lost Boys) have just robbed a bank and are making for the rendezvous with El Ray. On the way they pick (ok kidnap) doubting Paster Jacob and his two children (Kate and Scott). After successfully making it over the Mexican border they arrive at their meeting place a bar wonderfully called The Titty Twister and then hell breaks loose. The bar is home to a group of blood thirsty vampires that prey on the lorry drivers that pitstop there. What a place to make a drop!
What elevates From Dusk Till Dawn from the normal vampire film is Tarantino’s script and Robert Rodriguez’s hell for leather direction. From the opening shoot out at the liquor store to the gore spattered finale the break is never pressed and its fall on gas all the way. Add to this inspired casting of George Clooney as Seth, Harvey Keitel as Jacob and Tarantino himself as the deranged Richie and you have a movie that kicks vampire butt. There are also barn storming performances from horror veterans Tom Savini (Sex Machine), Cheech Marin (Chet Pussy) and Danny Trejo (Razor Charlie). But it’s the demonically beautiful turn by Salma Hyak (Santanico Pandemonium) that really pulls the crowd. Trust me you will never see a table dance like this one and it comes with added trouser snake.
From Dusk Till Dawn is part road movie, part horror and all comedy. I never tire of watching it and neither should you. From Dusk Till Dawn has spawned two (inferior) sequels but a much better Netflix original tv series. The series focuses on the events of the first film in much more detail and highlights the psychology of the two brothers. I would also recommend you give the series a go as well.
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Photos Courtesy of DannyTrejoOnline. Wikipedia and Empireonline
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