Director: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Salma Hayek, Juliette Lewis
Tagline: "One night is all that stands between them and freedom. But it's going to be a hell of a night."
Random Trivia: Quentin Tarantino adapted the screenplay and co-starred. An alternate tagline for the film - "Vampires. No Interviews." - takes a shot at Anne Rice's vampire staple. George Clooney actually starred in two shows called ER.
Just what the fuck is From Dusk til Dawn, really? It shifts from a gritty heist gone wrong action/cons on the run flick to a fucked up B-horror seamlessly, moving from one to the other in a heartbeat. That's why I loved it way back when, at first glance (and missing half the damn movie at the time). That's why it's awesome now. It's batshit crazy. That's probably the best description I can come up with:
Batshit. Crazy.
Cast - George Clooney. Salma Hayek. Quentin Tarantino. Cheech Marin. Harvey Keitel. Juliette Lewis. Danny Trejo. And Tom Savini?!? Yeah, the effects make-up guy is a biker with a cock-pistol and a whip.
Weird undertones? We have them.
Superb cast, so lets look at the story.
Dusk starts out with the Gecko brothers, two cons on the run. Seems there was a good ol' jailbreak, with the younger, dimmer of the two cons, Tarantino's Richard, busting big brother Seth (Clooney) out of the joint. What follows is a botched hold-up that sets a gruesome tone. Blood and immolation. Shortly after, Richard takes it upon himself to rape and kill the pair's lone hostage. It seems Richard has some intimacy problems; well don't we all - but this leaves the brothers Gecko in need of a ride and a new hostage.
Enter the Fuller family: father Jacob, a minister played with subdued confidence by Keitel, daughter Kate, played by Juliette Lewis, and son Scott, a Chinese American adoptee.
Where were we? Oh, right. Story. With Seth keeping nutjob little brother Richard on a short leash, the five - two wanted men, three hostages - head south for the border. Mexico. Is there any jam running there can't get you out of?
Baked reviewer's note: Tarantino should really stay behind the camera - his cheese acting makes the kid playing Scott Fuller, Keitel's on-screen son, look talented. That, by the way, is Ernest Liu, who was never in anything of note ever again, unless you consider Married... with Children clone Unhappily Ever After notable.
Down south, the brother's are set to meet some criminal associate of theirs, because if there's anyone you can trust, it's some guy who wants to meet at some bar in some town you've never heard of in Mexico. That screams security to me!
On the plus side, the bar in question is called Titty Twister. So you know I'd probably go. Although Cheech Marin's claim of having every type of pussy available to patrons doesn't help much - I mean really. Smelly pussy? Horse pussy?
There are some roads even I won't go down.
In the club, the movie takes off. This is where we shift gears from cons on the road to fucked up B-Movie, thanks to the use of gratuitous nudity and violence (my favorite combo!) - girls dancing on tables, random bar fights that no one blinks an eye at, weapons-based pissing contests, etc.
And then the big reveal: House special Salma Hayek goes from hottest strip tease ever to ugly-ass reptile bitch in seconds. Fuck! How is that even a vampire?
In any case, she looks pure fucking ugly; a three legged dog on viagara wouldn't hit that.
You may notice that the majority of the photos accompanying this review are of Salma in hot striptease mode - are you fucking complaining?
Soon after Hayek's chowing down on Richard - can Tarantino never act again please? - the rest of the vampires show up. Seems most of the staff and regulars of Titty Twister, including Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin, are undead. The other creatures at least look like vampires; instead of Hayek who looks like one of the aliens from V.
The film becomes a last stand, with Seth, Jacob, Scott, and Kate forced to fight together, along with a couple of the Titty Twister's other surviving patrons (Savini included). Who lives? Who dies? Who fucking cares??? This is sheer carnage and gore, B-movie violence and titties at their best. If this rampage had been sustained for the entire film, we'd be looking at a fully baked flick! As it stands it's an awesome movie to watch while partaking in a little... something...
Weapons check: crossbow. Super-soaker with holy water. Shotgun made into a cross. Jackhammer with a wooden stake on the end of it (this is a fucked up kind of cool, but it really looks like a giant dildo a la Frank Drebin's sex shop find in the second Naked Gun movie).
Cue the last stand. And the end of my review. Go watch the fucking thing.
Random thoughts:
- How many roles does Cheech play? Dave is not fucking here, man!
- Hayek looks a bit awkward doing that striptease, but damn if she isn't smoking!
- I laughed my ass off during the carnage
Of the films I've reviewed thus far - this would be the best to get baked to.
One more for the road:
Overall rating: 3/4 Baked (4 out of 5)
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