Among the best of its kind

Rating: Null/10 (22 October 2009)

When I hear the words campy horror, a specific handful of names come to mind. One of them is Rodriguez and Tarantino's From Dusk Till Dawn. Thought it is extremely Silly, Gory and so far into the red zone that it is at times just shy of black, the film not only delivers the goods, but it delivers them which a descent sense of black humour, a sensational make up effects job, and a cast of characters that you actually end up kind of liking more than one usually does with these movies (well some of them arn't so likable). Once you watch it, you'll know what I mean. If this is your thing and you haven't seen this flick yet, you really and truly should.
It is a "hot God damn day" in Big Springs, Texas when the movie starts, Seth and Richard Gecko, are the most notorious bandits in the state and are responsible for the deaths of a good twenty people (both cops and civilians) After blowing up a liqueur store in scene one, they know they have to get over the border before the FBI get them (the Mexican border that is, not the Canadian). The Gecko Bros highjack a retired priest and his family who have a big RV, and devise a plan to get across. After they do, the gang heads for a bar with the degrading name "Titty Twister". It is inconveniently in the middle of nowhere. There they plan to have a night of drinking and parting, but all is not as it seems. All the staff and dancers turn out to be vampires, and in a few moments of extreme gore they kill everyone but our heroes and a couple of bikers. Can our gang survive the remainder of the night, fighting back with what little means they have?
I did a lot of research on the movie before I saw it. All sources say that this is the goriest film in modern cinema. In a way it is, but Robert Rodriguez has a couple of tricks up his sleeve. He makes the gore look intentionally unrealistic (ex. Green blood, lots of goo) because if it looked to convincing, the MPAA might give the film an NC-17 rating or perhaps even ban it from theatres. Regardless, From Dusk Till Dawn is still pretty gross but it is not vomit provoking (unless of course this is your first movie).
There are a lot of other things to say about From Dusk till Dawn, many of them good, but a few which are not so good. Regardless, it is not one to be missed. As Rodriguez says, it is a good film to get drunk on with friends at night, just don't make it a date movie.