From Dusk Till Dawn

From Dusk Till Dawn

Released: 1996

MPAA Rating: R

Genre: Vampire

Nuts and Bolts: What do you get when you combine Quentin Tarantino, George Clooney and a low-end Mexican cantina known as the Titty Twister? Why, you get a nest of hungry horny foul-mouthed vampires that can’t wait to make your first visit to the Twister your last!

Summary: Richard and Seth Gecko (Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney) are two bank robbers on the run from the law. They plan on making a break for the Mexican border where hope to meet up with a contact man named Carlos. The Gecko brothers really make headline news after Ritchie breaks his brother out of jail resulting in the deaths of several US Marshals. On their way to the border, they come upon a family traveling cross-country in their motor home.

Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) is a former preacher who lost his faith after his wife was killed in a car accident. He is accompanied by his daughter Kate (Juliette Lewis) and his adopted son Scott (Ernest Liu). Seth Gecko commandeers the motor home and forces Jacob to drive them to Marina Del Ray.

Throughout the course of the journey, Seth begins to bond with Jacob while the loathsome Ritchie makes a play for Kate. They are nearly caught by the border patrol and Seth is forced to knock his exuberant brother out cold.

Before long they are deep into Mexican territory and Seth forces Jacob to stop at a cantina known as the Titty Twister. Ritchie beats up the doorman and the group enter the bar. Jacob hates what he is forced to do, and he despises the notion of his children being exposed to a topless bar. Nevertheless, he has little choice but to comply.

Seth begins trading shots of Tequila with Kate while Ritchie enjoys a lap dance from the vivacious Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayak). Meanwhile, Seth begins to warm up to Jacob.

This begins the turning point in the theme of the film. The angry doorman that Ritchie beat up earlier bursts through the doors wanting revenge. He reveals himself to be a vampire and almost instantly, the entire staff of the Titty Twister turn into snarling vampires as well.

It’s pretty much non-stop action at this point as Ritchie is killed by Santanico Pandemonium and transformed into a vampire. Seth is forced to kill his brother while Jacob and Kate fight for their lives.

Before long, the group manages to seal themselves up behind a utility closet. Jacob is forced to re-affirm his faith in order to provide a holy blessing on to their makeshift weapons. Kate and Scott fill two super-soaker water guns with holy water and Seth forges a wooden stake rotary drill. They burst back into the main area and begin kicking vampire ass left and right.

Jacob and Scott are both bitten by vampires and Seth and Kate are forced to destroy them before they turn into the undead. The two continue fighting until the sun comes up at which point, Seth opens the doors of Titty Twister allowing sunlight to pour in destroying the remaining vampires.

Seth and Kate leave the cantina and meet up with Seth’s contact Carlos.

Acting/Dialogue: It’s all here. It’s amazing how Tarantino manages to take each character and completely fleshes them out with realistic viable personalities. All the actors fully deliver here and a great dynamic is built between the Seth and Jacob. It’s a parallel of the behavioral notion of the captor establishing a deep relationship with the hostage(s). Special props go out to Juliette Lewis who begins the film as a meek and innocent church-mouse, and slowly evolves into an ass-kicking vampire killer. Even Tarantino himself is convincing as the perverse and immensely disturbed Ritchie Gecko. Some of his whiny bits of dialogue are just eerie.

Gore: Plenty of it! If you’re a gore fanatic, then this film satisfies on all levels. Most notably: Exploding vampires, a transmogrified Mexican rock band (ewww!), a hostage viciously sliced to death, vampires melting from Holy water, and every other manner of sick means to kill a vampire one can imagine. Lots of good stuff here. (Is it no surprise that FX maestro Tom Savini plays a bit part in this film?)

Guilty Pleasures: Well, the bulk of the movie takes place in a bar called the TITTY TWISTER! What do you think? Plenty of boobies to go around and there’s the added bonus of Salma Hayak performing a nasty little dance on runway.

There’s also the character of Chet Pussy, played by Cheech Marin. He is very humorous and very good at his job. He could probably sell pussy to an 85-year-old Catholic nun.

The Good: This film offers a lot and yet at the same time, doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s more of a character interaction film than it is a plot motivated one. Let’s face it, the plot is practically non-existent. But you fall in love with each of these characters and its great to see people who would otherwise be foes, forced to stand side by side against a common threat.

Then there’s Salma. Mmmmm….Salma. Her inclusion automatically raises the bar on any film she’s in. (Pun intended)

I could probably go on and on about all the great elements in this flick, but I don’t think there’s really a need to. If you like vampires and you’re not afraid of a little poo-poo language, then go out and rent…nay…BUY this flick as soon as possible! Show it to your loved ones! Show it to your kids! Play it at the local church bazaar!

The Bad: Salma doesn’t show her boobies in this one. That’s about the only bad part of the movie.

Great Lines:

“I may be a bastard, but I'm not a fucking bastard.” --Seth Gecko

“Well, it's been one long goddamn hot miserable shit-ass fuckin' day every inch of the way.” –Sheriff Earl McGraw speaking to Pete Bottoms.

“Pussy, pussy, pussy! All pussy must go. At the Titty Twister we're slashing pussy in half! This is a pussy blow out! Make us an offer on our vast selection of pussy! We got white pussy, black pussy, Spanish pussy, yellow pussy, hot pussy, cold pussy, wet pussy, tight pussy, big pussy, bloody pussy, fat pussy, hairy pussy, smelly pussy, velvet pussy, silk pussy, Naugahyde pussy, snappin' pussy, horse pussy, dog pussy, chicken pussy, fake pussy! If we don't have it, you don't want it!” --Chet Pussy, advertising on the front steps of the Titty Twister.

“Did they look like psychos? Is that what they looked like? They were vampires. Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don't give a fuck how crazy they are.” --Seth Gecko explaining what happened to Carlos.

Overall Rating: 9 out of 10 severed heads.

Back to Movie List

Back to Contents

Back to Home Page