From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

We like to think the simplest ideas can pay off, that is until it gets thwarted by unusual circumstances.


PLOT


From Dusk Till Dawn follows bank robber Seth Gecko and his psychotic brother Richard on the run after a successful bank robbery. They try laying low after a shootout at a gas station, but they must keep moving when the latter kills their only hostage that was a bank clerk they abducted who was compliant before death. At the inn they're hiding in, they kidnap a family, the Fullers and use their RV to smuggle them into Mexico, intending to rendezvous with their contact Carlos (Cheech Marin). The Fuller family includes: The widowed Jacob who is having a crisis of faith after losing his wife in a car accident, and his teenage children Scott & Kate. After passing through the border from Texas, they go to a strip club in the desert dubbed the 'TittyTwister' that is open from dusk til dawn. This is where the Geckos and the Fullers choose to wait for Carlos who will charge 30% admission fee in exchange of the El Rey sanctuary where fugitives can be safe from justice. Upon arrival, the Geckos express dominance when beating up the doorman Chet Pussy (Cheech). They are only allowed inside when Jacob defends them, as the bar is catered to truckers & bikers only. The Geckos then get into a fight with Chet and bartender Razor Charlie (Danny Trejo) over their preceding actions but when Richard sheds blood, all the employees from the strippers to the bouncers & even the band reveal themselves to be blood thirsty vampires and the bar is their temple. As lead dancer Santanico Pandemonium bites down on him, most of the patrons get slain by the vampires. Seth is able to kill Pandemonium by dropping a chandelier onto her that impales her. Besides the Fullers, the only other patrons that successfully defend themselves are a biker nicknamed Sex Machine and Vietnam war veteran Frost. They are able to kill the majority of vampires inside the bar by using various weaknesses against them and the band are the only vampires who choose to retreat. With Seth having to kill his brother reborn as a bloodsucker, the remaining group have re-kill the others before they fully turn. In the process, Sex Machine gets bit and when he turns, he bites both Jacob and Frost before a new swarm of vampires arrive in bat form. Seth and the teens hide in a back room where the previous vampires have stored past loots. Jacob catches up and is able to douse every makeshift weapon in holy water before he makes his kids promise to kill him once he turns. In everyone’s last stand, Seth is able to kill Sex Machine and Jacob fully turns once he kills Frost. Scott does keep his promise when killing his dad, but his hesitance causes him to be overwhelmed by other vampires. By the time Kate kills him, the sun has risen and the vampires try evading all the bullet holes in the building. When Carlos finally arrives, he and his bodyguards blast the door open to save Seth & Kate which wipe out the remaining vampires. Seth expresses irritation that Carlos had never been to the bar before as his incompetence led to the loss of many lives that could’ve been avoided. This alone gives him enough reason to pay 5% less intended for his El Rey admission. Seth gives Kate some of his own money and discourages her joining him for her safety’s sake. The film would end with the two parting ways as they drive away. 


THOUGHTS


Vampire movies can be a dime a dozen whether or not Dracula is a central threat. Director Robert Rodriguez & writer Quentin Tarantino were aware of this, which gave them the opportunity to be extravagantly graphic as they know they can be. This leads to the most ambitious one to be made before the likes of Abigail and 30 Days of Night ever came to be. This pays off mostly due to the incredible practical effects done by Greg Nicotero & Howard Berger who make the monsters just as terrifying as expected. That alone makes all the action be up there as batshit crazy as expected because these are the kind of monsters that succeed luring their prey in a big trap. A strip club is honestly the smartest way to pull it off since there are gonna be a fair share of people, truckers & bikers that will go to a place like that to ease their minds off their worries and little would they expect a place of relaxation would be their doom. Of all the vampires, it has to be Santanico Pandemonium that made the most impact as actress Salma Hayek proved seduction is their greatest weapon and it works until the cover is blown. The fact it took the most unconventional of people to wipe out a temple’s worth of these creatures basically proved that some of the darkest souls can do a bit of good. George Clooney nails that perspective as Seth because he identifies as a headstrong leader despite having his own moments of feeling short fused. He still put up with his brother because despite Tarantino depicting him as most sadistic, which honestly made it easier to accept his fate, they were all they had and would be a bit lost without each other. Because of the dynamic he had with him is what made him respect  the Fullers who didn’t ask for trouble, but had each other’s backs despite the circumstances. Harvey Keitel showed Jacob as one with firmness in how he feels, which is why it was easy for him to go along with the flow as much as he did. That is what made him a good dad because he taught them to be truthful no matter what troubled them. Had he not done so, they would’ve not been strong enough to last as long as they did. I personally think they proved themselves to be strong souls as Ernest Liu showed Scott to be outspoken while Juliette Lewis portrayed Kate to be resilient. Seth did the right thing to not take her with him because he wanted to keep his word and knew his world is not meant for her. With a cut of his money, I’m sure she’ll use it to start over like her dad wanted to. The other characters that were a pleasant surprise were Sex Machine and Frost. I don’t know if I’d wear a codpiece revolver, but (veteran makeup artist) Tom Savini sure made the former as a blunt guy who chose to keep secret his infection because he was that afraid to die much like everyone else was. And AFL veteran Fred Williamson made Frost his own badass that his gruffness helped him last longer that most. Even though we didn’t know these two well enough, I don’t their deaths nor Jacob & Scott were in vein since the remaining vampires were able to be slain. And again with the cash, I hope Kate is able to enjoy what can come from the next chapter of her life. This movie was hella fun, but there were still a few moments I was scratching my head about. For example, why didn’t Richard shoot the girls on the way out? I know he was caught up in a shootout with the cashier Pete (John Hawkes) but since the guy is so hungry for blood, it’s a surprise he didn’t even try. Also, I think Seth should’ve seen Richard out to get food if he didn’t want him to kill the hostage. Hell, he even could’ve tied her up and have his brother come with him. And why exactly did it take so long for Chet to try getting even with the Geckos jumping him? It’s not like he wasn’t gonna kill them, so if he was that hungry, he should’ve taken a sooner opportunity. And how did the vampire band swap their guitars to human made? I mean it’s a wild gag, but I don’t get how that’s possible. Moving on, why didn’t Kate hear Sex Machine scream for his life after he got bit? I mean I would’ve asked what was up. Other than that, this film is still worthwhile. In short, From Dusk Till Dawn is a horror action flick that delivers in being all the rounds entertaining as you’d expect from indie icons. If you like a bloody good time, see this now.