Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

From Dusk ‘Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999) Directed by Scott Spiegel

”Would you mind takin' that knife outa my leg?” Buck Bowers.

When Luther busts out of jail, he has an idea that will let him retire for a very long time. There is a big pile of laundered drug money sitting in a bank in Mexico. He calls his old buddy Buck to put together a crew to go after it.

Buck’s picks are sensible; Luther is skilled at alarm systems, C.W. is a safe cracker, Jesus is useful in violent situations, well, for making them more violent, and is a great getaway driver, and Ray Bob is slow, but does exactly what Buck tells him.

They are all going to meet up at the El Coyote Motel. The boys arrive early and pass the time by offering their epinions on a porno…very funny scene.

Luther in the meantime has a few problems. While driving in he hits an animal…a bat. And it untangles itself form his engine block to come after him! He plugs it a few times and then, seeing his car is a wreck, starts hoofing it.

The bar he comes to bears certain resemblances to a little place south of the border called the Twister, especially its bar tender, Razor Eddie. Eddie offers to give him a lift to El Coyote. He seems interested in the whole, I-wrecked-my-car-on-a-bat thing.

But when they reach the car, Razor Eddie stops, and pulls over, and locates man who looks like he has been hit by a car, and pulled out of the engine block. They’re vampires!

And valiant fighting aside, Luther gets bit.

Ray Bob: "El Coyote"? What's that mean in American?
Jesus: The Coyote.

Jesus goes to make a friend and invalidate the warranty on a set of box springs. While his lady friend is in the bathroom, Luther pays her a visit. Then he says hello to Jesus. Gideon’s notwithstanding, Jesus gets bit, and now he is on Luther’s side.

They continue, hiding their nature from the others, and insist that the bank job get pulled tonight, before dawn. Bucky is less than comfortable with this, but is out voted. So on they go.

It is easy for a vampire to breach security. And to quiet the guard, in a rather permanent fashion. And so they are in.

Being a vampire seems to affect people the same way triple shot mocha frappachinos affect kids with ADHD; they become very impulsive and rather cranky. Luther and Jesus seem to be having problems not biting the rest of the crew. Then they bust the box, and then, Luther can’t help himself, C.W.’s neck just looks too good.

Of course the alarm gets tripped, and Sheriff Otis and the Mexican Army show up. Of course, Luther, Jesus and C. W. don’t care, but Buck cares plenty.

So it’s the federales on the outside, and vampires on the inside, and what is a poor little bank robber to do?

The Cast
Robert Patrick ... Buck
Bo Hopkins ... Sheriff Lawson
Duane Whitaker ... Luther
Muse Watson ... C.W.
Brett Harrelson ... Ray Bob
Raymond Cruz ... Jesus
Danny Trejo ... Razor Eddie
James Parks ... Deputy McGraw
Stacie Bourgeois ... Marcy
Maria Checa ... Lupe
Tiffani-Amber Thiessen ... Pam
Bruce Campbell ... Barry
Lara Bye ... Motel Clerk

There are some nice sized names on that roster. Danny Trejo is the only actor to appear in all three Dusk Till Dawn movies. Razor Eddie is one scary dude! Of course, Danny Trejo is one scary dude!

Bruce Campbell and Tiffani-Amber Thiessen are only in a teaser bit near the beginning, but add a nice bit to the over all piece.

Robert Patrick is of course the big name. He takes some rather stilted lines and makes them work. His performance drags the movie up by half a star at least.

The Good
This movie is a nice blend of genres; it’s a heist movie, it’s a vampire flick. As someone pointed out, vampires need money too.

And it has much of the feel of the first movie; it is fond of the odd shots; view from the bottom of the beer cooler, view from up the tube through the vampires heart, view from the bottom of the dog dish, view from the vampire’s skull…you get the idea. It’s almost like a Sam Raimi flick.

It also features the bleak landscapes of the border country, and the low dive décor of the El Coyote Motel. The vampires are the same; poor impulse control, super strength, and hackable bodies that die in a variety of ways to make the FX geek chortle with glee.

And for a straight to video it has surprising star power and production values. The plot is simple, but workable, the pacing works and all in all, it is a fine little piece of scream. If it was call Texas Blood Money, and not Dusk Till Dawn 2, it would probably not be ragged on as hard. It only suffers by the comparison. In point of fact, this movie won the Saturn award for best straight to video release. It was the best b movie of 1999.

The Bad
The original is far better. It had a very important element…innocents. Buck might be sympathetic, and one can make a case for Ray Bob, but these people are crooks. Where the Fuller family gave you someone to care about in the first movie; this one is lacking anyone who you do not think to yourself; “They deserve it.”

The other huge problem, once again, in comparison, is the music. The first one had a wicked good collection of South Texas Blues and rock that stood out as flawlessly collected, and building the mood. This one sounds more like a 70’s police drama.

The Ugly
Some of the most contrived crap ever is the eclipse two minutes after sunrise, which extends the vampires period of mobility. First, vampires moving about in an eclipse; nice concept, with precedent, but these vamps have proven to be rather fragile when it comes to light, holy water, and objects through the torso. Second; full eclipses occur later in the day, noonish. And they do not last half an hour. I know it is a science nerd thing, but that sort of crap makes me cranky. There are a ton of geeks that would pay them to be technical advisors; why can’t they hire one?

Final Analysis
Okay, I will admit it, I like cheesy horror movies. It is a guilty pleasure. And this one fits the bill. It is weak on plot, but makes up for it on action, and an almost fawning fanboy worship of the first movie. So, if you are willing to acknowledge it is straight to video, it is a lot of fun.

Bloodletting on Film: Vampires.

From Dusk 'Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter
From Dusk 'Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money
From Dusk 'Till Dawn
Lost Boys: The Tribe
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Near Dark
Dracula (1979)
Vampire$
The Lost Boys
30 Days of Night



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age