From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money

Dir: Scott Spiegel

1999

*****

As much as I loved 1996’s From Dusk till Dawn - and wanted more - I don’t think a sequel was really necessary as it ended in such a wonderfully bleak manner. However, I thought From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money was a great sequel – completely different to the first film but incorporating all the right elements to make it original and worthwhile. Back in the 90s Dimension Films were churning out rubbish horror for the direct-to-video market like there was no tomorrow but occasionally they got it right, this film being one of the rare examples. While it doesn’t have the big names of the original, it is a film full of cult favourites. It was lead by Robert Patrick who was at this point still making b-movies but was a cult hero for his work on Terminator 2 and Cop Land. Bo Hopkins, who was one of the Wild Bunch and a bona fide western star, played Texas Ranger Otis Lawson and Duane Whitaker was making a name for himself in popular indies (Pulp Fiction, Eddie Presley) and low budget horror. Raymond Cruz had been in all the best action films of the 90s and James Parks – son of Michael Parks – played the son of his father’s character from the original film. Danny Trejo also returned which was puzzling (as he died in the first film) but very welcome. If that wasn’t enough, the film also featured my personal hero, Mr Bruce Campbell, in a lift, full of bats, with Saved by the Bell’s Tiffani Thiessen. Seriously, this was a great film for us 90s nerds. Robert Rodriguez didn’t return to direct but Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender returned as executive producers. Director Scott Spiegel was asked to write and helm the movie and he was a great choice. Spiegel went to high school with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell and worked on the Evil Dead films with them. He actually introduced Tarantino to producer Bender, who helped Tarantino get Reservoir Dogs made. Tarantino subsequently credited Spiegel with helping him establish his filmmaking career. The film starts in a hotel, where Barry (Bruce Campbell) and Pam (Tiffani Thiessen) are seen entering an elevator. While in the elevator, it jerks to a sudden halt. Pam and Barry start to investigate and come across a corpse in the roof of the lift. Suddenly, they are attacked and then killed by a group of bats. The next scene cuts to Buck (Robert Patrick), who is mid-coitus, and it becomes clear that the opening scene was a film Buck had been watching. He then switches channels to view the news and learns that his old "butt buddy", Luther (Duane Whitaker) has escaped from prison. Buck also learns that Texas ranger Otis Lawson (Bo Hopkins) is looking for him. Shortly thereafter Buck receives a visit from Otis and when Otis leaves, Buck gets a call from Luther. Luther who wants to get the old gang back together and arranges to meet Buck at the El Coyote in Mexico. Buck starts rounding up the old team which consists of C.W. Niles (Muse Watson), Jesus Draven (Raymond Cruz) and Ray Bob (Brett Harrelson). Buck, C.W., Jesus and Ray Bob book a room at the motel, where they wait for Luther. Whilst on his way in his car, Luther hits and kills a bat resulting in his car breaking down. When the car won't start, Luther walks over to a nearby bar, the Titty Twister. He calls Buck from the bar to tell him about the breakdown. Luther in the meantime is offered a ride to the El Coyote by the bartender Razor Charlie. However, when Razor Charlie (Danny Trejo) finds out about the bat that Luther hit, he turns back. Realizing that the bat was actually his friend Victor (Joe Virzi), Victor and Razor Charlie begin to attack Luther, resulting in him being turned into a vampire. Back at the motel, Jesus has sex with Lupe (Maria Checa), a woman he bumped into when he arrived at the motel. After they finish, Jesus sleeps while Lupe grabs a shower. Luther, who is now able to turn into a bat, flies through the bathroom window and kills Lupe in the shower. Jesus awakes and starts to get dressed. The shower turns off, and he notices a blood puddle seeping from underneath the door of the bathroom. He goes to investigate and attempts to open the door. He kicks open the door and sees the body of Lupe lying lifeless in the bath. Luther then attacks Jesus before he hides in the bathroom. Lupe then reanimates as a vampire and attacks Jesus. He manages to kill Lupe by cutting her head off and then jumps out of the window in order to escape. Jesus is unsuccessful and is soon caught and bitten by Luther, transforming into a vampire himself. Hearing the noise, the owner of the motel goes to investigate and sees Luther killing Jesus. She panics and runs to the office and tries to call the police but she is attacked and killed by Luther. While Buck is still in the room watching porn, somebody tries to get in through the locked door. Realizing it is Jesus, Buck opens the door where they find out that Luther has arrived. They then plan the heist which involves the robbery of the Banco Bravos. The gang drive off to the bank, with Jesus and Luther covering the windows with black paper. Unbeknownst to the gang this is to allow Jesus and Luther to have a place to escape to when the sun rises. Back at the Motel, after receiving the call from the Motel manager, Otis observes the crime scene in the bathroom where Lupe's head in the bath. Upon arriving at the bank, Luther enters the building through the vents and proceeds to kill the security guard on duty and snatches the keys to lets the others in. Luther and C.W. proceed to the safe where they begin cracking it open. As they try to open the safe they notice the handle on the vault resembles the shape of a cross causing Luther to squeal before quickly covering the handle with a coat. While working with C.W. closely, Luther gets tempted to bite C.W.'s neck. C.W., feeling uncomfortable due to Luther's proximity tells him to back off, before removing Luther's coat from the handle revealing the cross again. Luther is now exposed as a vampire and he bites C.W, turning him into a vampire in the process. The police arrive at the bank. Buck tries to inform them to escape, but they refuse, having turned into confident vampires - all except Ray Bob. Buck and Ray Bob leave the bank but are forced back in by the police and SWAT team. With the bank surrounded by police and no escape in sight, Otis arrives and calls the bank. Jesus answers the phone and Otis asks if Luther is there to which Jesus confirms along with Buck. Jesus passes the phone to Buck and Otis asks to speak to the guard. With the guard dead, Buck tells Jesus to pretend to be the guard and tells Otis in Spanish that he is fine. Otis then tells the SWAT team to enter the bank via the roof. Jesus rips the phone out of Buck's hand and tears it from the wall. Luther and C.W. unlock the vaults, before filling the bags with money. Noticing the SWAT team on the roof Luther has to act and he spots the SWAT team throwing tear gas down the vents. Luther leaps into action and kills them in bat form. Ray Bob, after going to the toilet, is asked by C.W. to help him fill the bags before Luther returns and bites him, turning into a vampire as well. Back in the guard's room, Buck and Jesus are still waiting. Buck takes a lighter from the desk to light his cigarette and notices that Jesus has no reflection in the computer screen. Luther then enters telling the two to help load the money. Buck holds a gun to Luther, Jesus and C.W. and tells Ray Bob to stand by his side, seeing that his friends are vampires. The group attacks Buck but he prevails and escapes the bank only to be arrested and handcuffed by Otis. Otis sends in the SWAT team to clear out the bank, despite Buck's warning that they are vampires, the group of vampires brutally murder and feed on the SWAT Teams. Suddenly, the sun comes up and the vampires try to hide. However, against unbelievable odds, an eclipse takes place and the sun disappears. The vampires leave the bank and start to kill the police and SWAT Teams in a full blown blood bath. Once the police have been dispatched with only Buck, Otis, and the Sheriff are left. A face-off between the survivors and the vampires takes place – western style. Just as all of the vampires appear to be defeated, a female police officer who has been turned, attacks the survivors and succeeds in freeing the vampires. Buck responds by killing the female vampire, just as Jesus kills the sheriff. Jesus then attempts to take the money himself before being caught by Luther. C.W. is then killed by Otis. Jesus is killed by Buck after being thrown onto a car bonnet and is impaled through the heart by a pipe. Luther attacks Otis, as Ray Bob attacks Buck. Seeing that the eclipse is ending, Luther and Ray Bob try to escape, but Luther is killed by Buck from behind. Ray Bob then turns back to attack Buck, but he mistimes his attack and the eclipse ends revealing the sun. Ray Bob is killed by the reflection from Buck's sunglasses lens (the same sunglasses Robert Patrick wears in Terminator 2). Buck observes Ray Bob's sizzling skeleton and stumbles across to Otis. Buck and Otis then ask the big question “Why do vampires want money”?. Otis gives Buck a head start and he leaves while the police come. It is a great genre-bending film, blending classic noir, horror, heist and the western beautifully. It really did have everything a film nerd like myself could want from a direct-to-video release. It actually stands on its own merits aside from the original but it works well in the ‘Titty Twister’ universe. The one aspect of the film no one ever talks about however is the amazing cinematography. Some of the compositions in this film are the most creative I have ever seen and are still totally original. One scene is seen down the curled cord of a telephone. It’s nuts but exactly the sort of thing someone who worked on the Evil Dead films would come up with. The colour tint on the film is always superb and overall the craft involved is criminally overlooked. It seems everyone missed how great the film actually was because they were too upset that George Cloony wasn’t in it. My only criticism was that there were perhaps one Terminator 2 references too many, other than that, it is a great film.