Two wild and crazy criminal brothers (George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino) flee the FBI after a jailbreak/bank robbing spree and try to escape to Mexico, kidnapping a traveling family (ex-pastor Harvey Keitel with son and daughter played by Ernest Liu & Juliette Lewis) in the process. The group thinks they’re safe once they make it over the border and stay at a sketchy strip club/bar… Only to discover it’s a nest for vampires, and they and some bikers must put aside their differences and fight swarms of the undead until the morning in order to survive. Who will die, who will turn, and who will survive… From Dusk till Dawn… Oh, I get the title now. 😂
George Clooney is very good in the movie. He’s incredibly charming as Seth and gets a lot of cool “action movie one-liners,” but his character is clearly very sketchy and unhinged and has some big anger issues with a short fuse. So it was interesting seeing someone who is usually a villain in a movie being forced into this “unlikely hero” role. George Clooney is such a capable actor; he brings a lot of dimension, charisma, and unpredictability to the role.
That all being said, I think the best performance is Harvey Keitel as an ex-caster who’s having a crisis of faith since his wife died… So him meeting supernatural vampires is ironically good timing 😂, but seriously, Keitel brings a cool intelligence, heart, and groundedness to this character that his scenes with Clooney probably stand out as far as acting because they have such good chemistry, and their characters bounce off each other in such a captivating way.
Juliet Lewis’s character doesn’t have as much to do as the others besides being a concerned daughter, but she’s one of those actresses who is pretty enjoyable in almost everything she’s in, so you definitely elevate the role with her acting.
This is probably Quentin Tarantino’s best acting performance, not to sound mean but… He comes off very natural at feeling odd, intimidating, and actually scary 😂, but there are some funny comedic moments with him, so whenever his character was on screen, you weren’t exactly sure what you were going to get, so that definitely was a nice layer of tension to an already tense situation.
So one of the most notable things about this movie is that the first half plays out like a regular crime thriller before switching tones in the second half into a vampire “under siege” film, and that kind can definitely take viewers out of a film or feel unnatural… This is not the case with From Dusk till Dawn. The filmmakers managed to make the transition feel pretty seamless and know how to build tension and characters expertly (you really feel bad for this family and all they’re going through and are curious to see how they’re going to get out of this one), so when the other shoe drops and they’re thrown into this situation where these people who are very different and don’t like each other have to work together and help each other out, it makes for some pretty well-done and thrilling storytelling.
The cast is littered with tons of fun cameos and small roles by famous “character actors” (Michael Parks, Tom Savini, Fred Williamson, Danny Trejo, Kelly Preston, John Saxton, John Hawkes, and Cheech Marin), and Robert Rodriguez knows how to get fun and good performances out of them, so it really adds a “quality” to the movie where every single character brings a gravitas to their scenes and isfun to watch in their own way.
Speaking of Rodriguez, his direction/camera movements and shots are so distinct, fast, and energetic, you can tell he’s having a real blast and getting really creative with his directing, which brings a fun “roller coaster” feel to the whole film.
I like the design of the vampires; they almost have this snake-chupacabra-demon-like look that was unique amongst vampire looks, and the special effects were incredible throughout the whole film, a little cheesy at some points, but always believable and phenomenal-looking.
Tom Servini (the special effect artist) has a small role in the film as one of the bikers, and for someone who is not an actor, he gives a very funny and convincing performance, so that was cool.
I love the soundtrack; it has this 90s heavy metal/Mexican rock fusion sound that is a lot of fun. Not to mention whoever did the sound mixing deserves a raise because the way they worked in all these different sound effects and noises was top-notch. For example, there is one scene where you hear a lot of creepy ambient noise in the background while Richie (Tarantino’s character) is being creepy; it is a small detail that really adds a lot to the scene, so that was appreciated.
You can tell the special effects are from 1996, but for the time, they were very well done.
Also apologies in advance to any priest reading this review, but Salma Hayek in this movie got… Goddamn 😂. Definitely one of the top 10, maybe top five, most beautiful women in a movie I’ve ever seen. I do wish her character was in the movie more… Not like that 😂, but she had a very commanding presence on screen and could’ve been a really fun and unique villain. I wish she was in the movie more. I know in the TV show they explore her character more, so if you like her character and, like me, want to see more, you have options. But as far as the movie, I would say her not having as much time in the film overall and lacking a “big bad” is my biggest constructive criticism about the film… which, honestly, isn’t that bad and nitpicks, so I think it’s pretty obvious I like this movie.
I get from Dusk till Dawn four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️… I’m glad this movie doesn’t SUCK; you can really SINK YOUR TEETH into the characters, and the villains do not BITE. It’s a BLOODY good time with some FANGTASTIC effects and BAT-ass high-STAKES fight sequences. 😂
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