One Part Tarantino, One Part Rodriguez, All Parts Crazy

Rating: 7/10 (23 January 2012)

When you look at body of work of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, nothing could incorporate those styles more poetically and literally than "From Dustk Till Dawn." It could well be argued that their styles are mashed together like peanut butter and jelly rather than blended, the result is something fun and memorable nonetheless.
The first half of "From Dusk Till Dawn" serves up a crime drama with Tarantino's signature chaotic edge along and spurts of intense violence. Without any context, it's another wonderfully tension-ratcheted Tarantino film. Then our main characters go to check out the Titty Twister bar and strip club and suddenly we're handed gory over-the-top grindhouse mayhem.
The only through-lines in the film are the characters. Performances from George Clooney and Harvey Keitel in particular make for a terrific overall film experience. Movies this screwy don't usually have the pleasure of such commanding talents, but "Dusk" has them and flaunts them. What we'd do 15 years later for Clooney to play a character like Seth Gekko again ...
Gekko and his brother Richie are two thieves on the run. After blowing up a roadside convenience store, they run into father (Keitel) and his two kids at a Texas motel and decide to force them at gunpoint to take them over the border. Seth is smart and cocky whereas his brother clearly has some kind of mental disability in addition to being a sexual deviant. Throw all that out the window, however, when the entire lot of them are attacked by vampires.
Keitel's Jacob Fuller is a God-fearing man who puts family first and the Gekkos and later vampires test that in different ways. Characters this likable never find their way into films like "Dusk," but Tarantino characters have their own category. We empathize completely with Jacob's desire to keep his kids safe above all else.
The creativity of the obscene B-movie side of "Dusk" (should I call it "Dawn"?) makes Act II something worthy of enjoying all on its own. The makeup and visual effects work together in such a way that they form caricatures of vampires. We tend to laugh at the corniness of monster makeup, but the crew here has a self-awareness. They make "Dusk" freaky and hilarious all at the same time, never allowing the audience to dismiss it as total shlock.
It's clear that as much as Tarantino and Rodriguez love these kinds of movies, they're not merely imitating the genre. They're giving it the quality of ingredients that only excellent filmmakers can provide. The only things holding it back are the grindhouse genre's inherent weaknesses and general confusion over why the first part of the film ultimately has nothing to do with the second. Those who like both filmmakers' styles will find "From Dusk Till Dawn" quite satisfying in all its imperfection.
~Steven C
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