This piece may contain spoilers for From Dusk Till Dawn.
Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino collaborate on a chase thriller-cum-horror actioner, a meeting of two grindhouse cinema gluttons gleefully indulging themselves. Brothers Seth (George Clooney) and Richie Gecko (Tarantino) are fugitive bank robbers who hitch a ride with a widowed pastor (Harvey Keitel) and his children (Juliette Lewis and Ernest Liu) to get across the border to Mexico. Stopping at a strip club in the desert to wait for a contact, the travellers discover its supernatural secret.
The first half of From Dusk Till Dawn is a pretty straightforward (if creepy in a patently Tarantino way) crime thriller, ratcheting up the tension as the volatile Gecko brothers take pastor Jacob and his family hostage and trade barbs on their way to the border. More enjoyment on the part of the filmmakers comes as we arrive at the club and encounter several pulpy supporting characters, including Salma Hayek’s exotic dancer who is probably the film’s most recognisable calling card. The real excitement starts at the hour mark, when the film becomes – surprise! – a vampire movie, Salma Hayek transforming and attacking Richie at the sight of his wounded hand. Inventive deaths are dealt and pandemonium is unleashed as Seth, Jacob, the children and the club’s other patrons attempt to fight off their bloodthirsty hosts.
Though perfectly suited for both Rodriguez and Tarantino, From Dusk Till Dawn was actually the brainchild of effects master Robert Kurtzman, who lends his expertise to the vampire bloodbath in the film’s second half. It feels like a conception of late-night, substance-aided brainstorming with friends, making it an ideal nightcap to a scary movie marathon.
The vampire movie shelves have been well stocked since before Rodriguez and Tarantino were born, but there’s enough personality and originality here to warrant a revisit and a pair of against-type performances in Clooney and Keitel to boot. With a similar capacity for world-building and genre-mashing, one could see this as a sleazier version of Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. The vampires are solidly uncomplicated monsters and the spiritual toll of their existence is not explored, which makes it all the more fun to watch them get blown apart. Viewers’ enjoyment may vary depending on genre inclinations, and certain characters’ endings seem unfair given the investment they’ve received, but if one embraces the riotous spirit of what the film becomes, its entertainment value is undeniable.
