Ah, Halloween. What a wonderful time of the year for costumes, candy, and great movies. Gee, what should we watch? Vampires? Zombies? Werewolves? Blood? Well, for this Ten Days of Halloween W/O led by our host JiggyJay, I opted for Vampires. Bloodsuckers who like to suck the blood of humans to create the ultimate vampire army. Along the way, they have to battle humans and avoid all sorts of things like the sun, crosses, and getting stabbed or shot in the heart. Well, my vampire movie that I chose to review is from two seminal figures in independent film, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez and their 1996 vampire-gore fest “From Dusk Till Dawn”.

Based on Robert Kurtzman’s story, “From Dusk Till Dawn” is a hilarious, sensational vampire film where two bank robbing-siblings take a family hostage and they stop at a biker bar owned by vampires. Along the way, they battle vampires in a bloody gore fest that is both over-the-top and downright funny. Adapted into the script by Tarantino and edited, produced, and directed by Robert Rodriguez, this modern take on the vampire films is filled with quick-witted one-liners, stylish fight scenes, and campy dialogue on pop culture references and a whole lot of stuff. With a cast that includes Tarantino veterans Harvey Keitel (“Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction”), Juliette Lewis (“Natural Born Killers”, a story by Tarantino), and Tarantino himself along with Rodriguez veterans Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, and Salma Hayek (“Desperado”, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” and the “Spy Kids” trilogy), newcomer Ernest Liu, Tom Savini, blaxpoitation icon Fred Williamson, John Saxon, Kelly Preston, and George Clooney is his leading feature-film debut since he gained stardom in the TV show “ER”. “From Dusk Till Dawn” is one hilarious, violent vampire film that vampire film lovers will enjoy.

Just before the opening credits begin, the film begins with the usual Tarantino/Rodriguez opening as a Texas Ranger named Earl McGraw (Michael Parks) talks to a 7-11 clerk named Pete Bottoms (John Hawkes) about the business at the store which has been slow and the killing of some rangers by two bank-robbing siblings named the Gecko brothers. Earl goes to the bathroom as Pete is confronted by Seth Gecko (George Clooney) and his little brother Richard (Quentin Tarantino) as the brothers are holding a couple of hostages. Earl comes back as Seth and Richard hide but Richard, the paranoid freak that he is, suspects Pete is trying to say something to the Ranger and all hell breaks loose. The hostages leave as Earl gets killed and a gunfight ensues between the Gecko brothers and Pete that all goes ablaze as Pete dies along with the store while Richard gets his hand shot. Seth always tries to Richard to be cool and not goes overboard as they are currently holding a hostage named Gloria (Brenda Hillhouse) in the trunk of their car.

Seth and Richard stop at a hotel near the Mexican border as they wait for a while to go to the border while Seth tells Gloria that he’ll free her if she just stays cool while he goes out to see the border. Gloria just stays quiet watching the news report of the Gecko brothers as a FBI agent (John Saxon) tells news reporter (Kelly Preston) about the Gecko brothers including Richard who is a repeated sex offender. Richard stays with Gloria and when Seth comes back, he finds Gloria dead, who was sodomized by Richard. Seth knew they needed new hostages and his timing couldn’t be more perfect.

Coming to the hotel is a family led by a former priest named Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) who is going to Mexico with his daughter Kate (Juliette Lewis) and her adopted Chinese brother Scott (Ernest Liu). Jacob is reeling from the death of his wife from a car crash and has lost his faith in God as he encounters Seth. Seth and Richard hold them hostage as Richard daydreams of Kate telling him to eat her p*ssy. Seth tells the Fullers that he’ll let them go after he meets up with a man named Carlos (Cheech Marin in the first of 3 roles in the film) for some money to stay in Mexico. Jacob and his kids go with the Geckos as they reach the border but learn that the authorities are pursuing them. Richard tries to screw things up but gets knocked out by Seth as Kate is hiding them in the bathroom of their motor home while a border guard (Marin) is searching.

They get past the border and reach for Mexico as Seth tells Jacob that he’ll give his word that he and the kids will be fine. They stop at a biker bar in the desert somewhere in Mexico called the T*tty Twister where a crazy man named Chet P*ssy (Marin, again) keeps telling everyone that p*ssy is for sale with all kinds of p*ssy. White p*ssy, black p*ssy, wet p*ssy, Spanish p*ssy, and many more. Seth tells the Fullers to go to the bar and get drunk for a bit as they get stopped by Chet who gets beaten up by Seth and Richard. Seth enters the bar and proclaims it his kind of party with strippers dancing. Seth asks for some booze from the bartender named Razor Charlie (Danny Trejo) who doesn’t want to give them anything since they’re not bikers or truck drives. Jacob says he is since he has a motor home and truck-driver license where Charlie gives them some whiskey and the Fullers and Gecko take shots of Whiskey.

Richard tells Scott that he’ll pay for any stripper who’ll f*ck him while all the patrons stop for the Queen of the bar, Satanico Pandemonium (a very sexy Salma Hayek) who dances for all the patrons and seduces Richard. All the fun is stopped when Chet comes back and he and Charlie asks for Richard and Seth as the brothers beat them up but everything goes to hell. Satanico is revealed to be a vampire as she bites Richard and kills him as the vampires come in and kill as many patrons as they could. Stopping them are Jacob, Seth, and two colorful characters, the whip wielding Sex Machine (Tom Savini) and the quick-witted brother Frost (Fred Williamson). They kill as many vampires as they could with help from Scott and Kate while Seth is forced to kill his own brother, who becomes one. The fun doesn’t stop as the film goes for a huge vampire fest with gore and blood all over the place as Seth, the Fullers, Sex Machine, and Frost go all-out in a war the vampires with some dire consequences and sacrifices. They grab everything they could, holy water, bow & arrows, stakes, crosses, whatever they can think of to stop all of these vampires.

While “From Dusk Till Dawn” has some familiar elements of many vampire films that make it, at times, predictable, it’s still a fun film to watch. Tarantino brings in a fun, violent script to the film though it’s not up to par to classics like “Pulp Fiction”, “True Romance”, “Reservoir Dogs”, or “Jackie Brown”. Robert Rodriguez brings in an excellent job in his directing with some fast-paced action, cool special effects, and intense camera shots by cinematographer Guillermo Navarro. Rodriguez gives the vampire film a Mexican feel that has the same intense style of his Mexican-Mariachi trilogy of 1992’s “El Mariachi”, 1995’s “Desperado”, and 2003’s “Once Upon a Time in Mexico”. Of course, many complain that Rodriguez doesn’t purvey to the idea of story but who cares? “From Dusk Till Dawn” just has too many fun moments to even think about the idea of a plot.

On the performance front, everyone has a great moment in that film. George Clooney delivers a hard-*ss, professional approach to Seth Gecko and this proved, he can carry a film as a leading man while being one of the few mainstream actors who can do cool indie-film projects. Tarantino is excellent as Richard and while he isn’t a great actor, he’s only good when he’s doing his own scripts. Harvey Keitel is excellent as the faithless Jacob Fuller who becomes a bad*ss servant for God while Juliette Lewis is amazing as Kate, who is even cooler with a bow & arrow. Ernest Liu is good as Scott Fuller though, some are wondering what ever happened to him after that film. The Rodriguez veterans of Trejo and Hayek are well used while Cheech Marin steals the show in his three roles, notably the hilarious Chet P*ssy character. Fred Williamson is a total bad*ss in the film when he fights the vampires and talks about Vietnam. My favorite character in the movie is Tom Savini as Sex Machine, who just whips everyone into a frenzy and I just wished he was used more in that film. The smaller roles of Saxon, Preston, Hillhouse, Hawkes, and Parks were also well utilized in their brief moments.

Fans of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez will enjoy the gore fest of “From Dusk Till Dawn” despite the fact that it’s predictable on some spots and isn’t up to par with their great films. For a vampire film, it’s hilarious and over-the-top. I mean, who wants to get their blood sucked by Salma Hayek as a vampire? I know I would. It may not be for the snotty film fans but for anyone who enjoys mindless violence and funny dialogue will love “From Dusk Till Dawn”. It’s even better to watch it with pals and quoting some of the hilarious one-liners and cheering for whomever in that film. If you’re having a Halloween party, you must bring a vampire film and “From Dusk Till Dawn” is a suitable choice.

Ten Days of Halloween W/O Participants: Lambchops, Grandpa_Riot, Jeremy1256, artemis8, Punkrawka, Rock_On, Head-Driller, and our host, JiggyJay.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age