From Dusk Till Dawn

Starring: George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Kelly Preston
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Crime
Box Office: $25,836,616
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Two criminal brothers (George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino) kidnap a family, including a father (Harvey Keitel), son, and daughter (Juliette Lewis). They travel into Mexico to a brothel/bar where they realize the entertainers and others (including Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin) are vampires.

Review:
Tim: This seemed to be a tremendous idea. You take effective director Robert Rodriguez, give him amazing writer Quentin Tarantino, but also have him star in the film. Then, amass a great cast, including George Clooney and Harvey Keitel. Then, make it an interesting vampire movie. Whatever the original thinking behind the film was, I do like where it was going. Tarantino is a very interesting filmmaker and it was great seeing him co-star in the film.

That being said, From Dusk Till Dawn opens with a brilliant scene in a small store. The scene is full of comedy, action, and ends with an incredible explosion. Clooney and Tarantino as outlaw brothers are perfect- you couldn't pick a better pair to play the Gecko Brothers. I love the pairing of them and would have loved to have seen a regular criminal-running-from-the-law movie.

The film also has a great supporting cast. Harvey Keitel is a great actor and gives a good performance here. Lewis, Hayek, and Marin all give smaller but good performances. Watch for Kelly Preston in a very small role as a pretty news reporter.

Clooney has perhaps the best character in the film. He is a coldblooded killer.. but he makes him very likeable. That is a major achievement and shows the quality of Clooney's acting ability.

The downside to this film is quite large. In many ways it is two different films. The first 62 minutes is an excellent bank robber/kidnapper movie. I loved it. However, immediately and without warning it turns into a vampure movie and it is awful. The climactic scenes involve a major battle between regular truck drivers and our heroes against a slew of half naked vampires. It tries to be funny and different, but its stupid and gruesome. If that wasn't bad enough, the film tries to squeeze in a moral lesson about a man who has lost his faith, as well as the old, good v. evil lesson. The first part of the film is tremendous and wonderful. The second half is just your normal horrible vampire movie. This is truly a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Vampires, Solaris, Pulp Fiction, Three Kings, 28 Days Later, Kill Bill volumes 1 & 2