Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino collaboration shows the vampire-horror genre at its best

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2015)

Director Robert Rodriguez and producer Quentin Tarantino make their third collaboration after the action film 'Desperado' and the anthology comedy 'Four Rooms' with this exhilarating action-horror extravaganza complete with a brilliant Tarantino script. In this film, George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino play brothers Seth and Richie Gecko, two wanted felons by the FBI who have committed a string of bank robberies and homicide. In attempt to flee to Mexico, the brothers kidnap a family of three: Jacob Fuller (played by Harvey Keital), a devoted Catholic father who has recently lost his wife, and his two children Kate (played by Juliette Lewis) and Scott (played by Ernest Liu); who are traveling on vacation in an RV. The brothers order them to drive them to Mexico where they end up at an strip club known as "The Titty Twister" owned by Carlos (played by Cheech Marin), a Mexican border guard. Things quickly grow awry when the club is revealed to be inhabited by blood-thirsty vampires who ensue a vicious, gore-filled onslaught. The Gecko brothers and the Fuller family team up to defend themselves against the vampire mayhem until the crack of dawn.
This action-horror flick present audience with both the amazing action-packed thrills of Robert Rodriguez's style of filmaking and the ingenious style of writing by Quentin Tarantino who also makes an appearance as a main character unlike the brief cameos he's notable for in his films, though his performance may not be on par with his directorial skills. This film basically brings just about everything fans could ask for in both a Rodriguez film and a Tarantino film: top-notch characters, darkly funny dialogue, and an exhilarating plot. Also featuring Salma Hayek who makes an appearance as a sexy bouncer, the film delivers some tense, over-the-top vampire action that while extremely heavy on blood and gore, is very exciting and fun to watch. The beautifully (and scarily) animated vampires will have audience gripping their seats and the intense atmosphere almost perfectly balances the heavy action and scares that will please both action and horror fans. The same can said about the visuals (though slightly cheesy) and production design of the strip club which serves as the main action set for the majority of the film. The performance by George Clooney who is a stranger to roles on the wrong side of the moral compass, sits well as does Harvey Keital who's been collaborator for works by Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs).
From Dusk Til Dawn sets a textbook example of how an action-horror film should be, and is also one of the best (if not the best) collaborations of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino who later go on to co-directer the B-movie double feature 'Grindhouse' ten years later. If you come across this movie, this would be a good choice for action and horror fans. Although the film isn't anything close to a masterpiece, what is important that is it is fun.