From Dusk till Dawn

From Dusk till Dawn title

Tag Line : How far can too far go

Perhaps one of the weirdest vampire films ever, was this offering by cult action directors Robert Rodriguez, director of "Desperado", and Quentin Tarantino, who's better known for his violent crime thrillers, like "Reservoir Dogs".

The film is really divided into two different parts, the first half being much like your typical Tarantino action/road movie. George Clooney (in a sharp contrast to his role as the smooth talking Dr in E.R) stars as a character called Seth Gekko, a convicted bank robber, who's on the run from the law with his brother Richie (played by Tarantino himself).

With the police, FBI and Texas rangers closing in on them, they Hi-jack a camper truck, belonging to former priest Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) and his family and force them to drive them across the border to Mexico.

After bluffing their way through the border check-point, Seth then forces them to drive to a rowdy bar called the Titty Twister, where they are to meet with some of his gangster chums. The bar is located in the middle of nowhere and is a popular haunt for truck drivers and biker gangs.

Unfortunately, Seth and Richie have a run in with the bar's management and end up shooting them. This is where the second half of the movie kicks in, taking a sudden and unexpected twist, as to their complete and utter surprise (and ours), the dead bar staff suddenly sit back up, sprout fangs and start attacking the customers, as the film then turns into a horror picture.

Seth, Richie and Jacob's family then find themselves fighting for their lives, along with the other people in the bar, as they try to hold off the bloodsucking creatures long enough for Seth's Gangster buddies to turn up. Juliette Lewis also stars in the film as Jacob's daughter Kate Fuller, and look out for special appearances by horror actor John Saxon, SFX wizard Tom Savini and comedy actor Cheech Marin, who has 3 separate roles in the movie.

I've been a fan of Tarantino's, ever since I saw Reservoir Dogs but this has to go down as his most bizarre film to date. If you're a fan of either his, or Robert Rodriguez's movies and you like vampire films, you'll probably love it. But be prepared for the sudden plot twist in the middle of the film, which totally confused audiences who didn't realise that the film was meant to be a camp horror picture.

Overall Marks : 8/10

Other Information.

Alternate tag lines used, "Vampires. No Interviews.", "From Quentin Tarantino. From Robert Rodriguez. From Dusk Till Dawn", "The Showdown is on", "One night is all that stands between them and freedom. But it's going to be a hell of a night."
Julliete Lewis also starred "Cape Fear" and in the Tarantino scripted "Natural Born Killers", whilst Harvey Keitel had previously starred in "Reservoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction" and the Abel Ferra pic "Bad Lieutenant".
Special effects man Tom Savini, who makes a brief appearance as the biker "Sex Machine", is probably best known for his work on "Dawn of the Dead", whilst horror veteran John Saxon, who makes a cameo appearance as FBI agent Stanley Chase, is probably remembered for his role in the first "Nightmare on Elm Street" film. Fred Williamson, who plays truck driver Frost, had previously starred in numerous blaxploitation pics, although M.A.S.H. fans may recognise him for his role as Capt. "Spearchucker" Jones, MD in the movie adaptation of the series.
The codpiece gun that Sex Machine (Savini) wields was one of the weapons found in El Mariachi's guitar case in the film "Desperado", which was also directed by Robert Rodriguez.
The US version was trimmed slightly, in order for the film to be granted an "R" rated rating. This cut the scene where Richie (Tarantino) repeatedly stabbed one of the vampires, reducing the number of stabs from 5 to just 2. The UK version passed by the BBFC with an "18" certificate was the full uncut version, and showed all 5 stabs.
The Special edition DVD contained several deleted extra scenes left out of the films initial release. This extended vampire bar-battle, and added an extra scene of Sex Machine killing two more vampires, then taking a picture of them. The US TV version though was heavily edited, changing the name of the bar from "Titty Twister" to "Kitty Twister" and heavily toned down the vampire bar-battle.
The film was banned in Ireland by the Irish film censors who where not impressed with Harvey Keitels character Jacob (a faithless priest) and the fact that half the film was set in a strip bar (a good job that Sky movies is available in Ireland).
The version released in Germany is probably the most heavily edited, this missed out the whole pre-credit intro where they blow up Benny's liquor store and heavily toned down most of the violence in the film. The "Directors Cut" video which was later released on sell through was in fact the US R rated version, NOT the proper directors cut edition.