Action-packed vampire flick...

Rating: 7/10 (29 December 2015)

I remember back in 1996 when this movie initially came out, I wasn't particularly thrilled. Why? Well, because of George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino on the cast list. But it is a vampire movie, so I still gave it a go.
And now in 2015 I watched the movie for the fifth or sixth time since it was released. The movie was a slap in the face surprise first time around when I watched it, but it has gradually grown better and better.
While the movie does start out slow, it quickly picks up pace as the story of the homicidal Gecko brothers unfold. On the run from the law, the outlaw brothers take a preacher and his family hostage as they make their way towards Mexico. At the Mexican rendezvous, a bar named The Titty Twister, things go from bad to worse as night falls, and blood-sucking vampires from Hell infest the seedy bar.
"From Dusk Till Dawn" is a wonderful mix of action, comedy and horror. A mix that director Robert Rodriguez managed to pull off quite nicely.
The vampires in the movie were quite a treat. Why? Well, they were not the charming, romantic Gothic creatures as seen in many other vampire movies, nor were they sparkly teenage heartthrobs seen in later movies. No, they were bestial and animalistic savage creatures. And the special effects were good and right on the money.
The cast in "From Dusk Till Dawn" was off the charts. While I didn't particularly Clooney and Tarantino in my younger years, I have learned to get past that. George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino are actually phenomenal in the movie. But the movie has a heap of other great talents on the cast list, including Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, Cheech Marin and Fred Williamson.
This 1996 movie is a definite must watch movie, whether you like vampires or not, and it spawned two less impressive sequels and an awful TV series. But the 1996 movie that started it all is well-worth watching. And it can be watched over and over.