Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez first joined forces in the fun, gory From Dusk Till Dawn
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Watch This offers movie recommendations inspired by new releases, premieres, current events, or occasionally just our own inscrutable whims. This week: Morbius has been pushed back to 2021, but you don’t have to wait that long to check out these other vampire chronicles and bloodsucker tales.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
About an hour into From Dusk Till Dawn, Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) wards off a group of marauding vampires by fashioning a cross from a baseball bat and a shotgun, both of which he grabs from behind the bar at a sleazy dive. As he backs away toward safety, Jacob occasionally uses the bat to fire and re-cock the gun, blasting creatures into oblivion with his makeshift crucifix. In other words, this is a vampire movie directed by Robert Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was not the star attraction of From Dusk Till Dawn upon its January 1996 release. The movie was received as a zenith of middle-to-bottom-drawer Quentin Tarantino projects that tried to capitalize on the success of Pulp Fiction without actually following it up directly. It’s got everything: Two guys pointing their guns at the camera; criminals using familiar Tarantino phrases (“Be cool”); a shot positioned from the inside of a trunk. Perhaps most importantly, it has Tarantino casting himself in a prominent role that’s half self-deprecating (he plays a loathsome rapist and murderer who gets punched out by George Clooney), half self-glorifying (he still gets to shoot people and have Salma Hayek stick her foot in his mouth). The movie comes by its cheap-knockoff roots honestly: The script was Tarantino’s first paid assignment (commissioned to flesh out an idea from producer and effects whiz Robert Kurtzman), and became one of several collaborations with his buddy and fellow grindhouse enthusiast Rodriguez, who agreed to direct.
The result is a stranger and more direct hybridization of the two filmmakers’ styles, which have more often been juxtaposed in anthology-style projects like Four Rooms and Grindhouse. The first half-and-change of the movie is a nasty second-tier Tarantino crime movie, following career criminal Seth Gecko (Clooney) and his psychotic little brother, Richie (Tarantino), as they flee Texas for Mexico, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake and kidnapping a family (Keitel, Juliette Lewis, and Ernest Liu) to help sneak them across the border. Rodriguez repeatedly apes his collaborator’s more deliberate directorial style before the movie’s turning point, where the characters arrive at a “biker and trucker” bar, replete with strippers and pyro, that turns out to be a nest of vampires. At this point—or a little earlier, when it becomes clear that Cheech Marin will play multiple roles—the Rodriguez sensibility takes over: Weapons are forged, elaborate kills are prioritized, and the horror is chased with gruesome sight gags.
Rodriguez and Tarantino’s primary contribution to vampire lore is to give the beasts squishier bodies, making them easier to stake and dismember. They’re effectively craftier zombies, with mythology played fast and loose. When the survivors plot their next move and one questions whether any of them have read a “real book” on vampires or are (in classic Tarantino fashion) mostly going by what they know from movies, a biker dude named Sex Machine (makeup guru Tom Savini) asks, in all earnestness, “Like a Time Life book?”
Other bits of QT dialogue enliven the proceedings, but the real Tarantino advantage is the caliber of actors and bit players attracted to a throwaway project. The popular narrative is that Clooney didn’t become much of a movie actor until Steven Soderbergh tamped down his tics and mannerisms in Out Of Sight, and while his go-to head bobs, tilts, and sarcastic smiles are all present and accounted for here, he’s still a commanding presence with a good handle on Tarantino dialogue. The MVP, though, is Keitel. His Jacob is a dusty cliché, a “faithless preacher,” as Seth calls him, who is forced to reconnect with his spirituality in an extreme situation; he also becomes a grounding presence in both the tense standoffs of the first hour and the splatter-y blowout of the second. He reads Tarantino dialogue somewhere between a purr and a growl, radiating warmth and practicality. Due respect to Mr. White and The Wolf, but it might be his best Tarantino-related performance.
From Dusk Till Dawn admittedly doesn’t add up to anything of real substance. (It advertised as much with a cheeky, then-current tagline: “Vampires. No interviews.”) That’s what ultimately makes it a Rodriguez genre exercise more than a Tarantino film—and one of the former’s best. If it has any message, it’s a genre-appropriate one that dismisses the romance and tragedy often ascribed to vampires: Sometimes the real triumph is just making it through the night.
Availability: From Dusk Till Dawn is currently streaming on HBO Max. It’s also available for rental or purchase on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, YouTube, Microsoft, Fandango, Redbox, AMC, and VUDU.
105 Comments
The actor playing Seth Gecko in the TV show does a good Clooney impersonation.
Eiza Gonzalez (Darling from Baby Driver) does a fine stand-in for Salma Hayek as well. No one’s going to fault her for not fully living up to that standard.
The actor who played Richie was really good to me. He out-creeped Tarantino.
The movie doesn’t give Salma Hayek a lot to do, but what she does with it is amazing.
I remain undecided whether this movie or Desperado is peak Hayek.
O Lord what an attractive woman.
I couldn’t agree more.
She was great in “Frida” as well. I think that’s her peak role. Like, she makes use of all the obvious attractiveness that she has in “From Dusk till Dawn” but she also is in the most prominent role and gets display her acting talents in a wider fashion (though I appreciate the genre camp Rodriguez is going for in this) and not turn into an evil vampire (sorry if that spoiled the plot for you haha). I liked “Desperado” as well, but I think “Frida” is a better showcase for her talents.
Frida is peak Hayek
I think she had some work done after Desperado and before this movie. I noticed her chin protrudes more noticeably in Desperado.I can’t explain why I’m focusing on Salma Hayek’s chin while watching these movies, but there it is.
I have to give the nod to Desperado – more screen time and more, uh, thorough screen time too.
Salma Hayek in this movie made me straight.
Her initial stage appearance here is one of the only times in movie-viewing where my jaw literally dropped.
Her character is also given the name Santanico Pandemonium, which is just about the best name created for a character ever.
Satanico Pandemonium is the title of a 1975 Mexican film about a nun who is tempted by Satan to cross over to the dark side via visions of forbidden sexual fantasies.Its full title is Satanico Pandemonium: La Sexorcista, which is flat-out awesome.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070636/
Am I alone in my quarantine delirium where I now read the name Quentin Tarantino as “Quarantino”? It’s happened more times than I’d care to admit…
Tenton Quarantino is my porn director name. First movie? Reservoir Tips. Follow-up? Pulp Faption. I’m here to revitalize Evan Stone’s career.
Hi. That is an unimaginative, racist and misogynistic troll that is harassing the both of us. Please flag and dismiss.Thanks!
Flagged and dismissed. Congrats on the imposter stalker!
Thanks!
Hi. The unimaginative, racist and misogynistic troll insulting you is harassing the both of us by stealing my name. Please flag and dismiss it and see you around.Thanks.
Pump Fiction / Pulp Friction / Gulp FictionAll 3 Rooms Fill BillGrind HersIn-Glory-Hole BasterdsThe Hateful 8″
“Gimp Gumption.” Man it was right there this whole time.
“MmmmMmmMMMMmmMmm?” “It’s not a motorcycle baby, it’s a chopper.”
I wasn’t aware that he ever had a regression.
The casting of the supporting roles is one of the highlights of this movie. Tom Savini and Fred Williamson are both fantastic, and the former’s earnestness despite the situation and the fact that the only name we know him by is “Sex Machine” is brilliant. The scene where he starts transforming is hilarious. Cheech Marin is also great in his aforementioned multiple roles, of course, and Salma Hayek owns the screen every second she’s on it.Tarantino is, unsurprisingly, the weakest of the actors, but he’s not in it long enough to truly harm it.
it has an excellent DVD commentary track with both tarantino and rodriguez.
I watched this like 15 years ago without knowing anything about it because I was bored and my parents had some free movie channel weekend preview going. Was completely thrown when vampires showed up. I can sort of understand why they gave the twist away with marketing but I had zero idea what was coming; had I known I don’t think I’d have enjoyed it nearly as much as I did. (And I didn’t love it either, but the sheer ridiculousness of it got me.)
My sister didn’t really pay attention to any of the advertising surrounding the film, and so she was shocked and dismayed when the cool crime flick turned into a B-movie splatterfest.
A friend of mine had never heard of it, so we sat him down to watch it and when the shift in the movie comes, his “WHAT?!” was everything.
Yes! This is a perfect “walk into it blind” movie.
I have a similar story… and it was an *awesome* experience. In my opinion, going in blind is the proper way to see this movie.Me and my high school friends were just really bored, one of them says, “I think there’s a new Tarantino movie out. Wanna do that?” Didn’t know the name, didn’t know who was in it, never even saw the poster.I spent like the first 15 minutes of the vampire fight expecting it to be a dream sequence that would abrubtly end somehow.
Any mention of Tom Savini means I plug my friend’s movie:If a documentary short that calls to mind a combination of Grey Gardens and Rocky piques your interest, look no further! Also, my favorite line, courtesy of Cheech… “Were they psychos?”
And its excellent retort. “Psychos don’t explode when sunlight hits them. I don’t care how f[bleep]ing crazy they are!”
My favorite Cheech line in the movie is probably “naugahyde pussy.”
Tom Savini does great work in SFX and…on himself apparently.
Oh, yeah, he’s ripped. Challenges people to a very specific push-up competition.
You only have to do one!
If you can do one Savini-style push-up, you’ve won his respect.
“They look like psychos to you? They were vampires. Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them. I don’t give a fuck how crazy they are!”My favorite Clooney bit from the movie. I have an embarrassing love for this film as I watched it on a bootleg VHS as a teenager and it hit me just right. I quote it in my daily life far too regularly.
I will remember this movie primarily for being my first introduction to Salma Hayek. HOLY SHIT. Off-the-charts sexiness. I guarantee there were people who saw her in this movie who were unsure about their sexual preference and after that were like “now I know.”
I wanted to like this movie because I enjoyed Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. I also loved True Romance because I thought it was hilarious. I had high expectations for From Dusk Till Dawn but was mostly disappointed. Until Salma Hayek.There is a troll trying to harass me and is insulting you. Please flag and dismiss him. Thanks.
that’s a good point about the movie generally being disappointing, despite the insane amount of blood and gore, it became one of those Poseidon Adventure “make you care about the people and then kill them off” type exercises which generally leave me cold. Until, as you said, Salma Hayek. Oof.so this is weird “talking” with you, after trading insults with “you” yesterday. Did the troll just create another account with your exact name, or hack your account? I know how to dismiss troll replies, is it possible to flag them as trolls (especially when they have the exact same name as you)?
He just copied my name and used the same logo. It’s happened to me before and there are other commenters with fake accounts following them. It’s kind of sad.Your Poseidon Adventure comparison is a good one. I wanted to like the characters and having Tom Savini and Fred “The Hammer” Williamson in the cast should have been a B-movie Grand Slam but the writing for them felt forced. The actors just didn’t have much to work with. I also found Clooney’s and particularly Tarantino’s characters to be psychotic and completely unsympathetic. When the dying started, the writing just didn’t make me care about the protagonists!The Salma Hayek scene was like a little good movie inside of a mediocre one. Even Tarantino’s foot fetish (a phrase I would never google!) didn’t ruin this scene. Here it is for those who somehow haven’t seen it.
Thanks for the help with the troll slaying!
Another pissbaby troll here https://kinja.com/dudebra-/posts
a few comments:1. you’re welcome re: the troll slaying2. how do we know Quentin’s foot fetish didn’t start as a result of this scene? maybe before this he was like “ew, feet” but then…3. we all probably think we look like Clooney from this clip when we’re in a strip club but in reality we’re all probably more like Tom Savini (when I saw his face I instantly said “yup that’s me, and I’m owning that”)
Hahahaha!
“Salma Hayek” probably could be counted as a distinct sexual preference.
good point, I suspect there are more than a handful of gay men who have her on their “big boy crush/if there was only one woman on earth I had to do it with” list.
I liked this movie so much in theatres I saw it twice, which I don’t do in theatres often. Yet I’m not sure I’ve seen it even once since; Rodriguez’s style really wore off of me pretty soon, and I’m not sure anybody wants to see Tarantino in front of the camera.
Casting Tarantino as a slow-witted psychopath actually made him easier to watch. He filled the requirements of the role nicely.
It’s completely possible that you grew up, which is more than can be said for Rodriguez and Tarantino.
Contains possibly the best line in a vampire film ever…
“Now I don’t wanna hear anything about “I don’t believe in vampires”, because I don’t believe in vampires! But I believe in my own two eyes, and what I saw was fucking vampires.”
I also very much like “I’m a mean….mm-mm…servant of God.”
LOVE that line/reading and think about it all the time.
I love when Cheech is like “What, were they a bunch of assholes or something?”
“Sex Machine. Nice to meet you.”
“Did they look like psychos? Is that what they looked like? They were vampires. Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don’t give a fuck how crazy they are! ”
The first one is good, but that Psychos line is my favourite in the film.
That’s one of my favorite movie lines ever. Clooney’s delivery really seals it for me.
I was just gonna comment on that line. It’s perfect.
I really like the Clooney line where he discovers that Tarantino had just killed/raped that banker woman hostage and he was like “it’s gonna be alright when we get to Mexico it’s gonna be beans and rice and none of this is gonna matter” and resigned to the fact that he has to carry the burden of his psycho brother.
My favorite exchange still comes at the end:“So, what? Were they psychos or something?”“Did they look like psychos? Is that what they looked like? They were vampires. Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don’t give a fuck how crazy they are! ”
The scene when all hell breaks loose in the bar is just gory, anarchic bliss. The guitar made out of a torso with a severed leg rammed up its ass was truly inspired.
you read my mind!!!!
i also love the song selma dances to.
Whenever I hear the Electric Six song “The Band In Hell” this is what I always picture. I know in the song that Hitler plays the drums, but still.
The very last shot of the film is the best, when it zooms and out and shows the bar is at the top of a Mayan/Aztec temple. The mythology of vampires in Ancient Mexico, and how they could relate to the ones in Europe, could have laid the groundwork for a super cool universe. Instead, because the film is so mostly cliche, it just petered out. I think there was a mini-series that may have explored it but not sure where that went
There are multiple DTV sequels and a TV series filling in the backstory and expanding the mythology.
i don’t know…i just like it.
They’re effectively craftier zombies, with mythology played fast and loose. In fairness, a lot of “official” vampire mythology was invented by movies — most notably the idea of daylight being lethal to them, which was cooked up by Murnau for Nosferatu.
And Romero was inspired to create the modern zombie by I Am Legend, in which the monsters are referred to as vampires.
Personal anecdote alert: I saw this movie in 1996 with a good buddy of mine and we got into a BIG argument afterward because he insisted that the movie wasn’t “accurate.” I was like, they’re vampires, they’re made up, there’s no “accurate,” movies can do whatever they want with them, but he insisted there were rules that this movie violates. I still disagree with him but I do admit I think of that every time I watch this movie.
I basically agree on “accuracy”. I think there’s definitely a difference between traditional folklore accrued over centuries, and “urban legend” stuff that develops in a much shorter timeframe, but either way a conventional wisdom gets established. Writers end up having to either “lampshade” diversions from established convention, or risk rubbing their audience the wrong way with “inaccuracies”.
I’d love to know his thoughts on the Twilight movies.
That’s interesting. I have read B.S’s Dracula at least 3 times, and I would have sworn it originated there, but you’re right in that the Count goes about in daytime, though he definitely prefers the night. Clever Murnau. Joss Whedon decided they’d turn instantly to dust so that every episode wouldn’t end with having to bury bodies. Clever Joss.
Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, whatever
other liberties it takes with the original story, finds it necessary to
lampshade the Count’s day activity with a voiceover by Hopkins, because deadly daylight
has become one of those things that “everybody knows”.
Carlos
:
So, what, were they psychos, or…
Seth
:
Did they look like psychos? Is that
what they looked like? They were vampires. Psychos do not explode when
sunlight hits them, I don’t give a fuck how crazy they are!
Best … line … ever ….
If by “effective” you mean “groups of vampires that meander around visibly in the background while a one-on-one fight ensues nearby”, then sure.Not complaining. The aimless vamps in the background were fantastic pause-button fodder.
I saw this as a high school freshman in a theater, baked as hell.It was one of the best moviegoing experiences of my life.
I love this movie.
Back when it was released, film snobs who just saw “Tarantino” and bought tickets, apparently, were pissed that the film switches from a caper flick to a monster fest halfway through.
I’ve always suspected that was one of Tarantino’s gags, since that’s exactly how Psycho worked decades earlier. (If you haven’t seen it, there’s a whole lot of movie before the Bates Motel.)
It’s also worth noting that, although there were several sequels, the real successor to this movie is the From Dusk Till Dawn television series, which ran for three seasons on Rodriguez’s El Rey channel (itself named after the possibly mythical gangland retirement village in Mexico from the movie) and takes the final reveal of what the Titty Twister is actually a small part of and streeeeeetches it into a full mythology.
It’s not an amazing show — it’s middle tier or below in terms of monster hunting television shows, which is a genre I am way more into than anyone else I know — but it’s got a ton of great Latinx talent and the astonishingly beautiful Eiza González in the role Salma Hayek originated.
I’d like to think that the Frog Brothers grew up and became the Gecko Brothers.I also want to give a shout out to the From Dusk Til Dawn series, which replaced all of Cheech Marin’s characters with Wilmer Valderrama and found a fun way to do so.
Interesting fact I just learned:“When asked about his proclivity toward gruesome film violence, director Quentin Tarantino said that the “Mr. Creosote” scene was the only time he had been disturbed by a graphic or gruesome film sequence.”
The show that was spawned by this film was pretty good too. They built up a much more complex mythology than I thought they would and the cast was solid. It got kind of repetitive over the seasons though the performances and action made it worth watching. The actress they got as Santanico Pandemonium was a perfect choice, she was able to emulate a lot of Salma Hayek’s moves and presence without seeming like a direct copy or knock-off. She really held her own in the scenes that correspond to the movie and builds on that as the show went on and made its own music.
Part of me is driven nuts over the fact that her name should be *Satanica* Pandemonium, but then I realize that both Tarantino and Rodriguez probably saw this film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070636/
“The Sexorcist”Amazing.
It was a very silly movie, but the second I saw Clooney striding through it with total confidence and control, I knew he was going to be BIG. I agree with you that Soderbergh helped his work, but he was always a magnetic presence (except in Roseanne! what a goof!). In Michael Clayton, he was brilliant. That moment when he sees the horses on the hillside…
it has Tarantino casting himselfobviously
That quick little edit in the middle of Clooney’s dialogue in the opening scene… so fucking cool.
Rodriguez used to be a total master of the cool shot. This film, Desperado, Planet Terror, even Sin City had some cool ass images and shots. But he’s lost it a bit recently. Maybe it’s because he’s focused too much of sequels, off shoots and kids stuff.
From Dusk Till Dawn became a mini franchise spawning two direct-to-video sequels and a TV show on El Rey. Is El Rey still a thing?
A review of From Dusk Till Dawn with no mention of Salma Hayek?Shame! Shame! Shame!
She’s great, but it’s only slightly more than a cameo, there are five leads and several more supporting characters/actors of note, and I only have so many words before my editor says, good god Hassenger, what are you doing here.
And Fred Williamson!
I love showing this movie to friends and not telling them anything about it. I just say it’s Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney and they’re usually on board. The big monologue by Cheech Marin at the entrance of the bar usually tips them off that something is not quite right with the movie. Edit: This is my favorite scene in the movie.
Still one of the ugliest films I’ve ever seen.
Also worth checking out is the behind-the-scenes documentary, “Full Tilt Boogie.” Really captures what it can be like working on-set in less than pleasant conditions… Which, come to think of it, are all sets actually.
This movie was better than it had any right to be. And Salma Hayek was at the height of her powers over a lot of us young me. Me and my buddies in our very early 20’s were so in love with her over Desperado and then this.
The Japanese (sic) kid did this movie and just disappeared off the face of the planet.I remember back in the days, there was a satire Geocities page chronicling his life and Hollywood career.
When this came out on video, a big group of us had a massive house party and watched it… Then kept rewinding it and letting it play again, all night, so it accompanied a lot of mid-90s college house party shenanigans. It was also the first and last time I got stoned and drunk at the same time. Horrendous. But still an amazing party.
I recall seeing this film back in ‘96 and greatly enjoying it. I wonder if appreciation of the film has changed in the intervening years now that I’ve become thoroughly Tarantino’d-out.
Unpopular opinion, it’s a starstruck bad movie. It’s not much of a hybrid as it starts as an author-ish in cold blood spoof, then abruptly switches to a b-movie (the dickgun ruined the rest of the movie for me), and not the good kind. The bar is a boring setting, the movie grinds to a slug pace, and Salma Hayek only shows up to get killed (after being heavily featured in promotion). The last shot showing the bar as the top of a pyramid feels like a lost opportunity, which was actually well used in the sequel.
Have to give it Keitel in this – think it plays outside his wheelhouse but he nails it. Always see him as either sleezy or too-cool character. But here he gives it warmth and openness.
I love this movie, it’s gleefully absurd and fun. Well, the second half anyway.
love the first hour of this film. Always bothered me though, that Rodriguez showed the audience that there’s a woman kidnapped in the trunk, sort of ruining his own reveal a few minutes later.