Stylishly perfect at the beginning; clichÃ© and disappointing towards the end...

Rating: 10/10 (12 June 2005)

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Seth Gecko and his brother Richard are on the run after a bloody bank robbery in Texas. They escape across the border (with some "new company") to Mexico and will be free the next morning, once they've paid off their contact. They just have to survive for a night at the rendezvous point, which turns out to be a bar on the brink of hell, populated with Vampires.
When you first look at From Dusk Till Dawn, you already it's a horror film. However, when you actually watch it, it's very different. The first 70 minutes of the movie are horror-less, and develops what seems to be an interesting Tarantino-like crime story. As this theme continues for most of the film, you start to think, "Wait a minute, this would be a great film without the horror." It seems, whilst trying to write a horror-flick, Tarantino actually created another epic crime movie, and added a less-than-average horror plot to it at the end. However, for what's it worth, the movie is none-the-less, great. Clooney and Tarantino play the Gecko brothers. Two thief's and outlaws who are fresh from a bank robbery and on the run from the start. Clooney is Seth, a cool acting, fast talking and quick thinking thief who, along with his brother Richie, a sex offender-psycho-rapist (played by Quentin himself) kidnap a family and force them to carry them across the border to Mexico. Seth tells the father of the family, Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) that he'll let him and his two kids go safely, after they wait peacefully at an organised rendezvous point for Seth's connection, Carlos. However, the club is a hell hole ran by a gang of ruthless Vampires.
The plot is, actually, not that bad. The main problem I have with the film is how the Vampires were portrayed. They look more to me like Zombies. Each Vamp looks different, and random monster spurt up now and again which lowers the, well, coolness of the film. Even Quentin himself said they looked like Zombies. Apart from that, the script is awesome. In fact, the film looks like it was directed by Quentin himself. Robert Rodriguez did a good job in living up to his previous film, Desperdo.
If you look hard enough, you'll also see many Tarantino trademarks and references to his other films. Sort of like an added bonus, really. Oh, and look out for the dance scene with Salma Hayek...
Overall: A great film with a cast of talented and strong actors, an excellent script from Tarantino, and superb direction from Rodriguez. Not a masterpiece, but it could have been close without the zombie-styled-vampires and mindless horror fighting. Still, great. (4/5)