From Dusk till Dawn

Dir: Robert Rodriguez

1996

*****

By 1996 Quentin Tarantino had sold his scripts for Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, Pulp Fiction and Natural Born Killers and he had been able to direct two of the films himself. From Dusk till Dawn however was the first script that Tarantino was paid to write, for the mere sum of fifteen hundred dollars. Special Effects Technician Robert Kurtzman asked him to write a screenplay based on his story in return for providing the ear-slicing scene in Reservoir Dogs. Universal Pictures originally considered Tarantino's screenplay for From Dusk till Dawn as the follow-up to Demon Knight and the second in a proposed Tales from the Crypt film trilogy, but ultimately produced another vampire film, Bordello of Blood, instead. It is fair to say Tarantino took the idea and ran with it, adding his own unique signature to it wherever he could. Tony Scott and Renny Harlin showed interest in directing but it was up and coming director Robert Rodriguez who ended up getting the part, thanks to being Tarantino’s friend but also because the pair where making like-minded films and both were hot property. The name of the movie is taken from the signs found on drive-ins. These signs indicate the length of the shows, which ran "from dusk till dawn". The movie is full of references to midnight movies and films which were often intended for teenagers to watch late at night from their cars but also works as the place where most of the film happens is in a bar that is open from dusk till dawn. It is not the film that anyone was expecting from either Tarantino or Rodriguez and certainly not from heart-throb George Clooney. I was lucky in that I knew nothing about the film before watching it – I didn’t even know it was a vampire horror – so the twist came as a brilliant surprise. The beginning of the film couldn’t have been more Tarantino-like if it tried. Fugitive bank robbers Seth and Richie Gecko (Clooney and Tarantino – Tarantino was originally set to direct the movie, but decided not to, so that he could focus more on the screenplay and his acting) hold up a liquor store – although this isn’t initially obvious. The clerk and a Texas ranger (John Hawkes and Michael Parks – both on top form) talk through some typical Tarantino style dialogue before Richie steps in and makes clear that the ranger has interrupted the hold up by killing him and then argues with the clerk, accusing him of sending signals. He of course gets killed and the building is inadvertently destroyed. It is a great opener and it felt like the start of a great road movie or a chase flick. At the motel room where they are hiding out, the pair tie up a bank clerk they have taken hostage and watch the news about their recent escape from prison. Seth goes out for food and returns to find Richie has raped and murdered the hostage. Seth clearly hates what his brother is but still loves him. Meanwhile, Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel), a pastor experiencing a crisis of faith, is on vacation with his teenage children Scott (Ernest Liu) and Kate (Juliette Lewis) in their RV. They stop at the motel and are kidnapped by the Geckos, who force the Fullers to smuggle them over the Mexican border. In Mexico, they arrive at the Titty Twister, a strip club in the desert, where the Geckos will be met by their contact, Carlos, at dawn. Carlos will escort them to sanctuary at "El Rey," a place of safety for fugitives from justice whose admission fee is 30 percent of everything they have. They meet a host of characters at the bar including the doorman Chet Pussy (Cheech Marin) and barman Razor Charlie (Danny Trejo). The place is full of truckers and dancers and after a few near fights, the Gecko brothers calm themselves and begin to enjoy themselves and the company of the Fuller family. Once settled, the big show starts and the stunning Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek) dances around on stage with a giant snake on her shoulders. The characters, as well as the audience, are transfixed. So much so, that when the staff and dancers of the bar suddenly shut the doors and reveal themselves as vampires, it comes as quite a thrilling shock. They then begin to kill all of the patrons and within seconds the film stops being a gangster flick and becomes an amazing horror film. Richie is quickly bitten by a stripper and dies; after much fighting only Seth, Jacob, Kate, Scott, a biker named Sex Machine (horror legend Tom Savini), and Frost (Blaxploitation legend Fred Williamson), a Vietnam veteran, survive. The others are reborn as vampires, including Richie, forcing the survivors to kill them all. When an army of vampires, in bat form, assembles outside, the survivors lock themselves in, but Sex Machine is secretly bitten, becomes a vampire, and bites Frost and Jacob. Frost throws Sex Machine through the door, allowing the vampires to enter. Seth, Kate and Scott escape to a storeroom, followed shortly by an injured but still alive Jacob, brandishing a shotgun. In the storeroom, they fashion weapons from truck cargo the vampires have looted from past victims, including a stake mounted on a pneumatic drill, a crossbow, and holy water, which requires Jacob to recover his faith to bless. Jacob, knowing he will soon become a vampire, makes Scott and Kate promise to kill him when he changes. The group make their final assault on the undead. Jacob becomes a vampire, but Scott hesitates to kill him, allowing Jacob to bite him. Scott hits Jacob with holy water and shoots him. Scott is overwhelmed by vampires, who begin to devour him; he begs for death, and Kate shoots him. As vampires surround Kate and Seth, streams of morning light enter through bullet holes in the building, making the vampires back away. Carlos's arrives and his bodyguards blast the door open, letting in the sunlight and killing the vampires. Seth chastises Carlos for his poor choice of meeting place and negotiates a smaller tribute for his admission to El Rey. Kate asks Seth if she can go with him to El Rey, but he refuses, leaving her with some cash. Kate drives away in the RV, leaving the Titty Twister - revealed to be the top of a partially buried Aztec temple - behind. It is a great horror that is full of tributes but is very much a Rodriguez/Tarantino team-up. Both directors are famous for their signature moves and Dusk till Dawn sees them reaching their pinnacle, as well as begin new trends and mix them up. Earl McGraw became a recurring character in Rodriguez and Tarantino's works, later appearing in Kill Bill, Planet Terror and Death Proof – even though he dies at the beginning of the story. Chango Beer and Sex Machine's codpiece gun are references to Rodriguez's 1995 film Desperado. Seth also returns to the hotel with Big Kahuna Burgers, which were used in Pulp Fiction and mentioned in Death Proof. Seth Gecko also says the line "All right, Ramblers. Let's get ramblin'!", a quote from Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and, like in all Rodriguez films Danny Trejo features as a character named after a sharp implement. For some unexplained reason (was it Rodriguez suggesting that Americans see Mexicans as all the same?) Cheech Marin plays three characters; the Border Guard, Chet Pussy and Carlos the gangster. All the best horror films have quirks and Dusk till Dawn has plenty. As well as featuring some horror legends, it also featured Clooney who was huge at the time having just ended his run on E.R.. Antonio Banderas, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, John Travolta and Christopher Walken were all offered the role of Seth Gecko but all passed because of scheduling conflicts, which was quite lucky for everyone, as Clooney really pulled in the crowds. It is the perfect horror in many respects; full of gore, mystery, nonsense and humour. That said, it is also a clever idea and the twist is brilliantly handled. It was a cult hit the moment it was released. My only regret is that Erik Estrada, who was lined up to play Carlos the gangster, had to pull out at the last minute.