Robert Rodriguez Month - From Dusk till Dawn (1996)

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and while I could have talked about this one back in October during HallowScream, I thought it'd be more fun to discuss it during Robert Rodriguez Month. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at From Dusk till Dawn starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Quentin Tarantino, Salma Hayek, Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin, Fred Williamson, and Tom Savini. In addition to being directed by Rodriguez, the screenplay for this movie was written by Quentin Tarantino. 

         So, the movie is centered on two career criminal brothers, Seth and Richie Gecko, who have just barely pulled off a bank robbery in spite of Richie royally screwing the job up. The only chance for them to evade the law is to slip south of the border into Mexico and meet their contact, Carlos, who will give them sanctuary in El Rey. 

         So, to get across the border undetected, Seth and Richie hijack a family RV trip. And, it's here where we meet the Fullers: former pastor Jacob, teen son Scott, and teen daughter Kate. Jacob reluctantly agrees to sneak the Gecko brothers across the border, and succeeds in getting them across without being caught. So, now it's off to the designated meeting place: a bar for bikers and truckers called the Titty Twister. 

        Initially, the Geckos and the Fullers are unwelcome at the bar, but Jacob's license gets them the green light to stay. And, of course, Richie becomes enamored with an exotic dancer, and the bar's star attraction, Santanico Pandemonium. And, I will say, seeing a scantily clad Salma Hayek dancing with a snake around her neck is really something that just needs to be seen, y'know? 

          But, it turns out that the bar staff, including Santanico Pandemonium and bartender Razor Charlie, are all vampires. And, the vampires working in the bar all begin attacking the patrons, with Richie being among the victims. Seth and the Fullers survive, along with two other patrons named Frost, who is a Vietnam vet, and Sex Machine, who has a very suggestive weapon on the front of his pants. The attacked patrons rise as vampires, and the survivors put them down, as well, only for more vampires, in the form of a swarm of bats, to surround the outside of the bar. 

          As the night goes on, and the vampires outside finally invade, and both Frost and Sex Machine are turned, Seth and the Fullers find stashes of gear from many trucks, implying that the vampires had been luring truckers and bikers into their trap for many years. Seth and the Fullers fight back, but both Jacob and Scott lose their lives, with Jacob having been bitten earlier. Luckily, it's already morning, and sunlight starts pouring in. Carlos and his crew arrive, blasting the door open, and killing the last of the vampires. A clearly frustrated Seth negotiates his stay in El Rey for less than the standard thirty percent. Kate asks to go along with Seth, but he turns her down. The movie ends with a shot of the outside of the bar, which is the top of a mostly buried eight-level Aztec temple. 

         Honestly, I enjoyed a lot about the movie From Dusk till Dawn. The performances from the cast, especially George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, and Juliette Lewis, was fantastic. The surprise twist that the bar we spend a bulk of the movie in was a vampire den was surprising. And, the creature effects of the vampires, which was done by Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero, and Howard Berger, was top notch. And, of course, the writing by Quentin Tarantino and directing by Robert Rodriguez was fantastic. So, I'm giving From Dusk till Dawn a rating of 5/5. 

         Okay guys, this is Chuck signing off, and we'll be diving back into the world of Grindhouse with Machete as Robert Rodriguez Month continues.