From Dusk Till Dawn

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2009)

I realize that Quentin Tarantino is a polarizing figure who has both admirers and critics because his films usually feature extreme acts of behavior that test a viewer's threshold and tolerance for cinematic violence and excess. His characters have dialogue that is often outrageous, explicitly vulgar, and even cartoonish. There's a quality in FROM DUSK TILL DAWN where it feels less like a naturalistic landscape and more of a trip into some ultra-violent, profane, frighteningly subversive place, directed with style and lack of restraint where QT and director Robert Rodriguez(..whose previous films, particularly DESPERADO, show just why he was born to form a partnership with Tarantino), throw caution to the wind, whipping up a gratuitous brew of machismo, visceral shocks, and over-the-top dialogue clashes. There's plenty of wicked, audacious humor, and you can just sense the perverted joy and child-like enthusiasm as you watch the film..this was definitely a labour of love for Rodriguez and QT.
The cast is a phenomenon for a buff like me, particularly seeing Tom Savini battling it out with vampire Danny Trejo, Fred Williamson pulling a heart from the chest of a massive bloodsucker, and Harvey Kietel standing off a drove of ugly fiends using a baseball bat and shotgun in the image of crucifix. A deliriously nifty gag shows how "equipped" Savini really is where it counts! Also, seeing The Hammer get his cigar lit by a table dancing mamacita is also quite a highlight. Tarantino's homicidal Richard Gecko is a truly repellent character(..he's a seriously warped sex offender whose "deficiencies" drive him to kill those women he's drawn to)with a fixation for feet. The ultimate showstopper has the jaw-droppingly sexy Salma Hayek, as dancer Santanico Pandemonium, moving her audience into silence with quite a smoldering number. Clooney gets many chances to round off QT's constant supply of attitude-laden, very aggressive dialogue, his forceful presence ably fulfilling the role of an antagonistic criminal, who isn't afraid to use his gun, but would rather just succeed in his goal to reach a safe haven.
The movie's a tale of two halves..before and after our cast of characters drive into the Mexican Titty Twister bar. Fugitive brothers, Seth and Richard Gecko(George Clooney and QT)are on the lam, heading for Mexico, blazing a violent trail through Texas, where their ticket to safety, as law enforcement and FBI are out to get them, lie in the RV of a former minister, Jacob(Keitel)and his children, Kate and Scott(Juliette Lewis and Ernest Liu). Getting across the border, preparing for a rendezvous with an associate, The Bros Gecko think their troubles are over. The meeting location is the Mexican strip club, for truck drivers and bikers, the Titty Twister. What they don't expect is that the club is actually a front for a coven of vampires who use the place as a method of luring their meals! So Seth, once his bro becomes a neck feast for a bloodsucker, must forge an alliance with Jacob and his kids in order to somehow survive their dead-serious crisis...getting some assistance from others, such as "Sex Machine"(Savini)and Frost(Williamson)who are able to outlast the first assault against the vampires. The opening half displays Seth's difficult trials with his unpredictable brother who seems unable to control himself. The vampire battles are heaven for gore aficionados, as bodies are ripped limb-from-limb along with plenty of effective uses of stakes driven through vampires in gruesome, unusual ways. KNB supplies the magnificent make-up effects. Some of the computer generated work is a bit noticeable, but I was satisfied with their work. Cheech Marin is a hoot in three roles, Kelly Preston has a cameo as a reporter, and the great John Saxon gets to stop by as a cop threatening to catch the Geckos.