Killing blood suckers, From Dusk Till Dawn
January 19, 1996
Rated R
108 minutes
Robert Rodriguez
Los Hooligans/ A Band Apart
Action/Horror
George Cloone, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis
4 out of 5 Very aware of itself, they make vampire slaying look fun
We begin, abruptly enough, at a Texas convenience store being held up by the freshly fugitive brothers Gecko. Seth, the cool and collected one, and Richie the crazy as all hell one, are on the lam. Making their way out of the exploding convenience store they decide to hold up in a seedy motel, where a priest and his family are staying as well. The brothers Gecko decide to hitch a ride with the Priest and his family to the other side of the border, where they will get the hell out of dodge. While on the road, like in most movies of the mid nineties, we find what motivates our central protagonist, the now defunct priest doubting his faith, the disturbed,simple-minded Richie and the too cool for school Seth Gecko. The meeting place, Titty Twister, a strip club with cold beer, hot carnitas and even hotter women…not shadier than usual, right?RIGHT??? Wrong, the proprietors of said hole in the wall are blood sucking vampires. Overzealous gore and violence ensue.
The dialogue is very good, character interaction is very organic even in the outlandish setting they take place in. The actors work well together and bounce off of each other to deliver some good laughs. The pacing of the story is done to a T, its starts off fast and there is hardly any slow down until the very end. The movie is very aware of its roots in exploitation films,case in point the very long(and damn good) strip tease by the lady of the vampires (Selma Hayek). The humor throughout is tongue in cheek and fits the dark subject matter at hand. The amazing set felt authentic like it was filmed in a dark, seedy south of the border strip club…not that I’m familiar with places like that… but I could imagine.
One of the very, very few Horror movies I can recommend on writing alone. On top of that there is tons of blood, action and lady parts that will keep you horror purist around till the credits begin to roll.
