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With
a cracker of an opening scene setting the tone, filmmakers Robert
Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino make their presence known very quickly
in From Dusk Till Dawn, their first collaborative effort
which features a mash of two distinctively different genres.
The film - written by Tarantino, based on a story by Robert Kurtzman
- stars George Clooney and Tarantino as Seth and Ritchie Gecko,
two savage criminals on the lamb who abduct a lapsed preacher (Harvey
Keitel) and his two children (Juliette Lewis and Ernest Liu) in
order to use their camper van to cross the Mexican border.
However, once in Mexico things take an unexpected twist when their
rendezvous point - a biker bar/stripper club named the Titty Twister
- turns out to be a haven for vampires who feed on their unsuspecting
occupants.
Other notable cast members include Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Fred
Williamson, special make-up artist extraordinaire Tom Savini, and
a scantily clad Salma Hayek who sizzles with a sexy dance while
flanked with a large snake.
A highly entertaining, ultra violent, sex fuelled B-grade horror
farce, From Dusk Till Dawn toes the line between the ridiculous
and the thrilling, as copious amounts of blood is spilt and limbs
are severed at a record rate.
George Clooney uses his jittery charm to play the ultimate bad ass
in his first high profile post ER role; alongside
him is Tarantino, who is actually not that bad as the sadistic Ritchie
Gecko; and Harvey Keitel provides his usual solid work in his third
collaboration with Tarantino (Reservoir
Dogs and Pulp
Fiction being the other two).
The screenplay by Tarantino is typically dialogue heavy, and contains
some great lines in the first half of the film only to become corny
and clichéd in the second half, which comes across as a tribute
to vampire films and it conventions.
Where the film truly excels, however, is within tis technical aspects,
most notably the excellent special make up effects, the crisp sound
effects, and the impressive set design with it Tittie Twister concoction.
So overall, From Dusk Till Dawn is a good watch for some
old school horror splatter theatrics driven by Rodriguez and Tarantino's
energetic spirit.
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