Movie review of From Dusk Till Dawn

Horrorphile

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Horrorphile - May 2007

From Dusk Till Dawn

May 16th 2007 07:08

What a pairing this movie promised when it was released back in 1996! “From Robert Rodriguez … From Quentin Tarantino … From Dusk Till Dawn.” And it certainly delivered … in spades. This wild hybrid movie threw all caution to the wind and chowed down on exploitation genre moviemaking in a full tilt boogie!

One third of special effects team KNB EFX Group, Robert Kurtzmann, concocted the outrageous, but highly entertaining story, Tarantino provided the screenplay: the sociopathic Gecko brothers, Seth (George Clooney) and Richard (Quentin Tarantino) arrive at a motel with a hostage in the boot of their dust-laden muscle car. Seth is the “brains”, Richie is the “loose unit”, but they’re both wild cards. They’re on the run, having made a successful heist, although they killed several people in the process. Now they have to get themselves across the border into Mexico to rendezvous with their man Carlos.

Quentin Tarantino as Richard and George Clooney as Seth

Ernest Lui as Scott, Harvey Keitel as Jacob and Juliette Lewis as Kate

Enter Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel), a preacher man who’s lost his faith. He’s holed up at the same motel with his two teenage kids; Kate (Juliette Lewis) and Scott (Ernest Lui). It isn’t long before the Gecko’s have commandeered the Fuller’s Winnebago and taken them as hostage (the earlier hostage ran a-foul of Richard’s deranged mind). They arrive at the Gecko’s rendezvous; The Titty Twister, a large strip joint in the middle of the desert across the Mexican border. It is here where the real mayhem unfolds.

Director Rodriguez, who also edited the movie and camera operated, is a deft hand at providing big splashy cinematic thrills. On this movie he got to play a little more lurid than his previous movies. It’s definitely adult fare, but the tongue is lodged firmly in cheek. At times Tarantino’s referential dialogue tries a little too hard in the cool stakes, when this came out though, he was riding way high, and audiences could only lap it up. Watching it now, more than ten years later, yeah, some of the lines are a little trite.

But it’s the visual style, the over the top action-horror shenanigans which makes From Dusk Till Dawn so much irresponsible fun! A large portion of the budget was obviously set aside for the special effects, much of it prosthetic work, but also lots of CGI transformations, and numerous pyrotechnic effects. Rodriguez loves a highly kinetic mise-en-scene (Sam Raimi is the same), and he certainly works every scene, either quietly creeping dolly work, rapid fire cutting, extreme camera angles, throwing the actors around (there’s a fair amount of stunt work in this movie).

WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS!

It's hard not to review this film without giving away the plot twist. The way the movie plays as a gangsters on the run action flick for the first hour, then after Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek) does her dance, the tone shifts, the genre transforms, and suddenly we find ourselves in bourbon-soaked vampire hell! Yes, pandemonium is the word, to be precise Ms. Pandemonium.

Salma Hayek’s pivotal role as a velvet bikini clad temptress, undulating over the table tops with an albino python wrapped around her extraordinary curves is an exploitation cinema hall of fame moment. Her scene is almost worth the price of admission alone. She doesn’t strip, so there’s no nudity, but she exudes more caramel-dripping, uber-arousing, voluptuous sex appeal than any number of modern porn stars in action (the accompanying music by Tita and Tarantula is great too!) And you can quote me on that!

And here she is in all her serpentine sensual glory! Um ... not work safe.

Original unused movie poster art by Frazetta

At times Harvey Keitel feels like he’s on cruise control, but he still delivers the goods. Juliette Lewis is good, Tarantino is better than most of his few performances, but its Clooney’s movie, and he has that on screen charisma many actors would kill for. Cheech Marin plays three separate roles (a border guard, Chet Pussy, and Carlos), and there’s a handful of other recognizable faces from 70s exploitation trash, such as Fred Williamson and John Saxon. SFX makeup guru Tom Savini plays a biker called Sex Machine (his gun-codpiece is hilarious). There’s a great performance from Michael Parks in the movie’s opening scene at Benny’s World of Liquor playing a cynical Texas Ranger.

It might not be to everyone’s tastes, just as tequila isn’t everyone’s choice of party poison, but more likely than not you’ll find From Dusk Till Dawn a real hoot and a laugh, a crazy piece of inventive trashiness with enough over the top gore effects to entertain the horrorphiles, and plenty of ripe one-liners and wicked visual gags to enthrall the popcorn heads. The last shot of the movie is a sensational reveal driving home the movie’s supernatural playfulness.

Here's the US trailer:

* images on this page are courtesy of www.outnow.ch

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: No Category

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Comments

14 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by David

May 16th 2007 08:24

Bryn ...

All I remember is just going ...

Trippy as ...

I agree with you ... It's hard to review without giving away what it is that makes it so trippy ...

I first saw it with a whole heap of drug-takers ... It almost made me want to take drugs ...

And I think I got as much enjoyment out of their reactions to the film as the film itself ...

It was a funny night ...

I'm sure I only saw half of the film ... I really should re-watch it ...

David ...

Comment by Nickoftime's Sanity Corner

May 16th 2007 12:05

Bryn,

I just loved this damned movie! I thought it delivered what it promised with some surprizing twists and great special effects...

But it was a lil "trippy" lol

Great review!

Take care,

Nick

Comment by JohnDoe

May 16th 2007 12:55

Film & TV on DVD

Well crafted review Bryn,

From Dusk Till dawn is The Lost Boys for adults, gleefully sodomizing Sam Peckinpah/Arthur Penn films...and thats meant as a compliment.

This film is just such a good time. Well paced, tightly written, a margarita of violence, sex, blood and bats, how can you not love it.

Clooney with his "Everybody be cool....CLICK...you be cool" delivery is spot on. Juliette Lewis is always so much fun to watch because of her choices within a role.

Oh and thank you for...Selma, Selma Selma

Comment by Cibbuano

May 16th 2007 13:36

20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

I loved it, even back when everyone was hating on it. Now, I´d probably enjoy it more...

Comment by Bryn

May 17th 2007 00:53

Horrorphile

My boys ... my boys ...
(I'm thinking of splashing out on hiring Salma to do her Santanico routine for my buck's night ...)

David, yeah, watch it again ... armed with a bottle of bourbon, or tequila, you choose.

Nick, indeed, but trippy in all the right ways ....

JD, hahaha! ... "gleefully sodomising" ... "a marguerita of violence" ... beautiful.

Cibby, please, do yourself a favour and watch it again. Most of it has aged like a potent meszcal.

... and then there's Salma, Salma, Salma.

Comment by Kleonaptra

May 17th 2007 03:15

Kalikapsychosis

Ive only seen it once, caught it on late night TV within my 'gothic' phase, needless to say I was delighted and over joyed to see a vampire flick....
But as the minutes clicked on I found myself utterly enraptured by the riot of genres, the chaos of conflicting themes, all mixed in with dash's of black humour and a truly dark yet light hearted feel.
Plus I love Tarantinos quirky ways, and Salma seduces everyone everywhere, anyone not dying to have her as a bed warmer is lying....
A ton of fun! Great post!

Comment by Bryn

May 17th 2007 03:24

Horrorphile

Kleo, thanks for the great comments! "truly dark, yet light-hearted" ... indeed, indeed!
And Salma as a bedwarmer? By George, she'd set it on fire!

Comment by Ruby

May 17th 2007 06:08

The Rubik's Cube

Ooooh... DEFINITE one of my faves! It's one of those "it all happened in one night" kinda movies which makes it cool. The sequel sucked seriously bad though...

Comment by Bryn

May 17th 2007 06:10

Horrorphile

Ruby,
yeah, there's even a third! eeeek!
yeah the kinda-sorta real time of the movie adds to the movie's urgency and tension! cheers!

Comment by JohnDoe

May 17th 2007 08:33

Film & TV on DVD

The second one blew, but the third one held some merit...well maybe not merit but fun schlock....If you don't compare it to the first one, its worth a look as a stand alone vamp flick.

Comment by Bryn

May 17th 2007 13:30

Horrorphile

JDs goin' out on a limb here folks .... do we ride with him?

Comment by Kleonaptra

May 18th 2007 00:05

Kalikapsychosis

Nope

Comment by D. Armenta

May 30th 2007 23:04

The Florida Keys and Everglades
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Debate Fan

I've owned this one since it came out--love it! Haven't checked out II or III, but JD's tastes are so similar to my own that if he thinks it part III has merit I'm willing to check it out.

Comment by Bryn

May 31st 2007 04:54

Horrorphile

I've never watched the sequels so I can't comment .... Maybe one rainy day I might venture there ...

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