I've noticed a huge decline in quality in the more modern horror movies; modern meaning anything made later then 1995. I can't exactly describe it, but lately it seems like horror movie makers feel that they can be more successful by putting most of a film's emphasis on gore and special effects; it's almost as if these movies have lost their charm. I was believed that it would truly be a rare day that I stumble across an enjoyable modern horror movie; I mean Scream and I know What You Did Last Summer were both horrible movies, and on top of that The Blair Witch Project was even worse than those 2. Well, on Halloween of 1998 I came across a movie called From Dusk Till Dawn; it sounded like a pretty good movie. I was surprised that it was as good as it is in fact, but part of the films charm lies within the fact that From Dusk Till Dawn seems like more of an action movie; a non stop action packed movie involving vampires seems like a good idea on paper, but it looked even better as a film.

Title: From Dusk Till Dawn
Year: 1996
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu
Rating: R

From Dusk Till Dawn surprised me a lot; one of the best aspects of this film is the manner in which it was executed. Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez show the world what a modern horror movie should look like. Tarantino lends his hand in this film as both the writer of this film and one of the star actors. The dialogue and acting in this movie is top notch; especially George Clooneys and Quentin Tarantino's characters. From Dusk Till Dawn is a great combination of horror and action; the movie features some of the nicest looking action sequences while at the same time the film offers horror fans just what they could want in a horror movie. Also, the crime drama aspect of this film is an interesting twist; this movie is a mix of a bunch of separate genres.

From Dusk Till Dawn is the story of a bar filled with vampires, and an unlikely crew of "heroes" that must fight there way through these undead bloodsuckers until the sun comes up again, sunlight vanquishes these monsters. The first half of the film introduces the main characters to you, and as the film progresses you get to know these people, and in the case of Clooneys character you even start to like them. The film may start off a little slowly, but all at once you are thrown into a fierce and gory conflict between human and vampire, and as usual vampires can only be killed by being stabbed in their heart. Of course the vampires don't just stand there and let themselves be stabbed; in this film they have super human strength and so they are more then adversary opponents.

Before I go on you should probably know one thing; From Dusk Till Dawn is not supposed to be taken seriously. This is mainly due to the sometimes quirky dialogue, courtesy of Tarantino. The two criminal brothers (Clooney and Tarantino) are very different from each other; Clooney is a very street smart, smooth talking criminal while Tarantino is a psychotic over-reactor. These two roles are executed brilliantly, but I gotta give props to Tarantino who pulls off the best acting job in the whole movie. Really, Tarantino is able to pull off the part of a psycho perfectly, and he always has that certain look in his eye that tells you that he's not in his right mind.

Story
Meet Seth Gecko (George Clooney) and Richard Gecko (Quentin Tarantino), these 2 criminal brothers are on the run from the law. The two arrive at a gas station and this results in one of the craziest shootouts I've ever seen; Seth is left unharmed but Richard (Richie) got shot right through his hand, and so now he has a big hole in his palm. The two leave the gas station as the building bursts into flames and the two seem to not even acknowledge the fire. The brothers then take a hostage and end up in a run down motel here Clooney explains to the hostage that he'll let her live if she doesn't try anything; and the dialogue makes you believe that he really doesn't want to kill her, but then he makes his big mistake by leaving her alone with his psychotic brother. Seth returns to the room and is greeted by a mortifying sight; his brother had raped and slaughtered their hostage, and so now they need to hurry and get out of there if they are going to make it to their rendezvous in Mexico on time, now they only need a way to get past border patrol.

And now it's time to meet Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) and his two children; Kate (Juliette Lewis) and Scott (Ernest Liu). The small family is on vacation, traveling around in their RV and having a somewhat good time when they decide that they would rather stay in a motel then in the RV that night. The motel that they choose just happens to be the place where Seth and Richie are at, and so when a familiar looking, psychotic man asks the Fuller family if he can borrow an ice bucket from their room the audience immediately knows that the Gecko brothers are up to no good. The Gecko brothers blow their cover and hold the family at gunpoint demanding that they sneak them across the border to their rendezvous point. Jacob Fuller (an ex priest that has lost his faith) is more then a little hesitant towards giving in to these demands, but after his children are threatened he gives in and decides he must help them to save his family. After a tense ride in the RV and barely making it past the border patrol the group arrive at the rendezvous point; it's a bar that goes by the name of "The Titty Twister".

Just from taking a glance at this bar you can easily see that it's a very rowdy joint; it's a bar that only serves truck drivers. Upon arriving at the bar Seth and Richies moods are immediately improved, and so they actually start getting along better with the family and it actually starts feeling like less of a hostage situation. All is going well until Seth punches out the doorman, and tries to fight with one of the really big trucker guys. Then the main attraction of the bar begins, a dancer (Salma Hayek) comes out on the stage wearing very little clothing with a snake wrapped around her shoulders. From this point she does her "snake dance" and stops at the table that The Geckos and Fullers are sitting at, then she stops in front of Richie and dances in front of him for a couple minutes. Then all hell breaks loose as all the topless dancers including Salma Hayek change into vampires and begin feasting on the people in the bar; the only way to kill these bloodsuckers is to drive stakes through their hearts. All the exits have been sealed, and so now the people must fight for their lives and stay alive until dawn when the monsters will be vanqished by the sunlight.

One thing I noticed in this movie is that about halfway through you actually start to like Seth Gecko; I guess this is associated with the fact that he is one of the "heroes" in the movie. Seth continually tells everyone to be cool throughout the film, and at times this character seems likeable. Clooney did a great job of playing Seth Gecko, his character is cool and even though he starts out as the bad guy and the audience generally will feel dislike towards him, he eventually turns out to be one of the more likeable characters in thew movie.

There are several minor appearances by other stars in this film, this includes the cameos; Cheech Marin, Tom Savini, John Saxon, and Fred Williamson. Cheech Marin manages to pull off three roles in the film; he appears as a border patrol officer, the doorman at the bar, also the guy that the Geckos are to meet at the bar. Tom Savini plays one of the more memorable roles in this film; he calls himself the "sex machine" and features one of the coolest guns ever. The other cameos aren't really big enough to mention, so I'll leave it at that.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that this movie received and R rating. Throughout this film the language is pretty harsh, and it may even turn out to be a little difficult for someone to listen to throughout the whole movie, and so it probably wouldn't be the best idea to expose young children to it. Also, plenty of gore is present throughout the duration of the film; this is yet another reason it got the R rating.

The action sequences are great and fit this film perfectly. The vampires are super strong, and super hungry at the same time so you'll see them snap a few necks to get what they want. The great mix of action and horror offer a unique experience to this movie, and the campy, old feeling you get from watching this movie heightens the experience even more. The fact that these people are secluded inside the building with no way to escape out in the middle of nowhere in a rundown bar overrun by vampires that trick truckers into stopping by gives this movie a somewhat different atmosphere then other movies, and it sets it in a class of it's own.

Gore
This movie has enough gore to satisfy even the most stingy gore hound out there; it has everything from stakes through the heart to snapping necks, vampire bites, exploding and melting vampires, to even a bullet hole in the hand. The gore/fx look pretty good with only a couple of spots that could have been improved a little. The parts I felt were most gory were whenever the vampires are stabbed through the heart; one of the really memorable scenes takes place after one of the people rip the heart of one of the vampires right out of it's chest, but the heart continues to beat until someone stabs through it. Also, a couple of the vampire bites are a bit gruesome to watch and shouldn't be viewed by the kind of people that think movies like Friday the 13th were too gory for them.

Suspense
There is little in the way of what I would consider "horror suspense" in this film; the only parts that are the least bit suspenseful involve the Gecko brothers and their shootout. Sure, maybe some people out there might get freaked out from watching this film, but I didn't see any reason to leave a light on in the house at night. This film was obviously made with the intent on focusing in on the action scenes and making them the best that they could be instead of making an all out scary horror movie. If fight scenes between humans and vampires scare you then this film might give you the chills, but it should leave you on the edge of your seat a couple of times during some of the more fast paced action scenes.

Quality
Due to the fact that this is a newer movie the picture quality is pretty good, there are no noticeably grainy parts in the VHS edition of this movie; I haven't yet had the chance to view the DVD. From Dusk Till Dawn somehow manages to bring the old horror movie feeling into it, this teamed with superb acting and witty dialogue gives this movie a high caliber rating in the quality department. The gore is even pretty high up there on the quality list; I'm not totally sure but I think the gore FX were done by Tom Savini.

Overall
As my most modern favorite horror movie I can full heartedly recommend From Dusk Till Dawn to anyone. It's a good movie to watch with a group of people, and it would be perfect to entertain guests with; that is if they are fans of horror movies. I score this movie a 9/10.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age