From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) – 3/5

A night to remember

„From Dusk Till Dawn“ is a live action movie from 1996, so this co-production between the United States of America and Mexico is already over 25 years old now. Kinda fitting these two countries are listed here because they are also the ones where the film is set, like literally the main characters are crossing the border here from the USA to Mexico. It also makes sense because the director is Robert Rodriguez and he may originate from the United States, but his name makes it every obvious where his roots are to be found. If you know a bit about film, this is not the first time you came across Rodriguez and you probably also know that he and Quentin Tarantino have been really close and collaborated on several projects. Tarantino already had his huge triumph with Pulp Fiction back then as that one was from two years earlier. He turns 60 next month by the way, quite an occasion to celebrate. He is really one of my favorites. Here he was not in charge of the direction, but he came up with the screenplay and the original story s by Robert Kurtzman who has contributed to other movies too, but this is by far his most known effort. Also did not turn into a regular on Q’s films or so, so don’t worry if you have never heard the name before. Neither have I. This movie here that runs for almost 110 minutes in total did pretty well at the Saturn Awards as it won the trophy for Best Horror Film and Georgy Clooney won for Best Actor and there were several other nominations. One of these was for Quentin Tarantino’s supporting performance. Definitely looks like people perceived his turn very differently because he was also nominated for a Razzie and a Stinker Award. I am not sure if these two bodies thought he was really that bad or if they just despised his character. But this would also be thanks to Tarantino’s performance then. I liked his turn. I think he was good. He has a tendency anyway to kill the characters he portrays in his movies and this film is no exception. Here the role is definitely bigger than in most other movies.

George Clooney is considered lead here, but the first credit went to Harvey Keitel who is from my perspective rather a supporting player, even if it is a big supporting role. I guess they picked him first because he was already a pretty big name while this film was a breakthrough movie for Clooney from what his body of work looks like. Nothing big before 1996. That’s why I think you have to give extra praise to Rodriguez and Tarantino that they agreed to have a relatively unknown actor play this central character here. And Clooney was already in his mid30s at that point, so not super young anymore. He looks fairly dark here in terms of his skin complexion. You could think that Juliette Lewis would be a newcomer here (too) because of her young age, but this is not the case. She was in fact already an Oscar nominee at that point, the epitome of a successful child actress from the 90s. Interestingly enough, Ernest Liu who plays her character’s brother here became the exact opposite. Has not acted for almost 20 years now and details are impossible to find. Probably leads a normal life these days away from the limelight. There are more than just a few supporting cast members in here who are really famous: Danny Trejo of course is a Rodriguez regular and most people know Machete. John Hawkes is an Oscar nominee now. Kelly Preston also feels quite familiar. Tom Savini and Fred Williamson whose characters weren’t too different here have enjoyed long careers. Actually, Savini’s character introducing himself to Lewis‘ character was maybe the funniest moment from the entire film. Williamson’s most entertaining moment was probably when he began elaborating on his time in Vietnam. He must have felt as if he was back to war. Marc Lawrence was in two 007 movies. Oh yeah, one half of Cheech and Chong is also in this film. So is the young Salma Hayek, who is always easy to identify and who plays a character with the most epic name ever. Santanico Pandemonium. Not a coincidence maybe that Satan is almost included in her first name. But then again, so is Santa, but her character is definitely not a saint at all, especially when she turns back into her actual physical self.

This transformation basically triggered the violent escalation that had the vampires show their real identities to the protagonists. This moment was almost like one from all the Dracula/Nosferatu/Twilight films when vampires cannot hold themselves back after spotting blood. So it was a bit of a tribute too you could say. Tarantino is a big film nerd anyway and I think the same probably applies to Rodriguez. Anyway, Tarantinos character really gets it in this revelation scene and this is the reason why he is not a big factor in the second half anymore, even if he returns briefly as a vampire. Like some other characters as well in the second half. I was surprised that it took longer for Savini’s and Keitel’s characters to transform while Williamson’s did so immediately. The second half was really, really action-packed and you could wonder who would make it out alive in the end. Perhaps it was Lewis‘ star status at that point that helped her there. When I saw this film yesterday on the big screen, it was not the first time I watched it, but the first time was long ago and I surely enjoyed the rewatch. Worth it. Maybe the first half of the film or at least the first third of the film is a bit tough because it is impossible to really like the two main characters at all with what they do, especially Tarantino’s character and some of the moments like what the latter imagines Lewis‘ character says to him are not really appreciated by too many audiences these days in the 2020s. Back when the film came out, probably more saw it as entertainingly shocking, maybe a taboo even, but today more people consider it offensive maybe. Or of course that Tarantino’s character is a sex offender and he also killed the hostage, a mother of four if I remember correctly, is not working in the characters‘ favor. The lady seemed likable and ready to obey to make it out alive. The sensationalism linked to the victim count there on television was still some nice dark comedy.

The opening to the film was quality-wise nowhere near to the opening of „Reservoir Dogs“ for example, so it is not too surprising that almost nobody thinks of this film here first when being asked about Q’s biggest achievements. It is not only that he did not direct here. Anyway, Keitel’s character is maybe the coolest of them all. He is smart and tries to protect his kids at the hotel, but eventually they all have to go together. He is also brutally honest towards Clooney’s character in terms of what he would do to the man’s brother if he touches his daughter or also in terms of the alcohol-related pep talk later on. And of course he does all he can to help the gang, even after being bitten. This is nothing that Sex machine can claim for himself. He did not let the others know and his silence resulted in the deaths of two characters from the gang. And as a consequence even a third character a little later. Not many make it out alive here. Clooney’s character was a bit harsh here and there towards Tarantino’s, verbally and physically when he knocks him out on one occasion, but you can see he still cared for him a lot and the two brothers were close despite occasional arguing. This becomes obvious when one says farewell to the other after the latter’s death. Law enforcement is not present here, only briefly at the beginning, but the man is killed out of nowhere and taken out there basically for the rest of the film. He was the one from „Kill Bill“ too. Rest in peace Michael Parks. There are many good components to this film. Cinematography, sets and costumes are all a success. The music I liked as well. Nice songs from The Mavericks, The Blasters and Tito & Tarantula and T&T were even seen performing here on stage before the massive escalation.

If you know what happens inside there, you can look out for indicators that something was not right inside this house. Like how quickly one character recovers after being beaten up. The idea that they are open from dusk till dawn is of course telling. I am not so sure if I like the movie title with this explanation, but time has worked in its favor here. It is catchy and everybody know what is meant when they hear it. Then again, I have never seen the word „dusk“ being used on another occasion. On a random side note, these words rhyme with „tusk“ and „prawn“, so we have some sea creature references here you could maybe say. Just what crossed my mind during the screening for whatever reason. This is almost it then. I had a nice time at the movie theater here and I am glad I decided to go see this fairly old film once again. I was eleven when it came out. I am also glad they are bringing films like this back to the screen again and it was nice to see the room really packed. But no huge surprise. After all, this is Tarantino. Whose character by the way had a big hole in his hand because he got shot there. You can say many negative things about this unlikable character, but surely cannot say that he is a weakling. He took that hole like a man and did not even complain once. That was impressive I think. It must have hurt a lot. Some fairly tense moments throughout the film overall and it started like this basically when they are trying to get past border control. Interesting approach there by the Asian boy even and had he gone through with it, he could have saved his own life and his father’s and in the end, they both died, so his approach was not fully wrong. Besides these moral questions, there is also simply a great deal of fun gore in the second half of the film and Rodriguez unleashes it all there and it was just amazing to watch. All in all, this is a good and entertaining film, but not a great one I’d say. Go see it though if you haven’t already.