On the no man's land frontier between Mexico and the United States a killing
spree is unfolding, and it's been caused by two ruthless criminals: composed
and level-headed Seth Gecko (George Clooney) and his more impulsive and
hot-headed younger brother Richard (Quentin Tarantino). These two are
murdering and kidnapping their way across Texas when they stumble upon
reverend Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel), his daughter Kate (Juliette Lewis) and
his son Scott (Ernest Liu). Taking these three prisoner and using their
mobile home to sneak into Mexico undetected, the Gecko brothers are almost
home free and reunited with their partners in crime. All they have to do is
spend the night, along with their hostages, at a notorious Mexican bar called
Titty Twister while waiting for their contacts to arrive at dawn.
The Titty Twister appears to be the most decadent and bottom-feeding dump in
all of Mexico. From its obscene-shouting doorman Chet Pussy (Cheech Marin,
uttering every imaginable profanity in tandem to the word 'pussy' ever
imagined in under a minute) to tattooed bartender Razor Charlie (Danny Trejo)
and stripper-with-a-giant-snake-wrapped-around-her-voluptuous-body Santanico
Pandemonium (Salma Hayek), it's a place where liquor and whores drip from
every corner of the salon. Things take a nasty turn for out cast of
unlikable misfits though, since these and every other employee of the Titty
Twister happens to be a blood-sucking creature of some sort. Without anyone
to help them and the only exit out of the bar shut down, the Fuller family
joins the Gecko brothers along with a couple of other survivors, Frost (Fred
Williamson) and 'Sex Machine' (Tom Savini), in trying to survive the night.
Using everything from blessed water (courtesy of reverend Fuller) to guns,
bats, improvised impaling sticks and anything they can get their hands on,
the survivors must slaughter and annihilate the creatures before they do the
same to them. Who will survive the night and live to have a nice close-up
shot at the end of the movie? Based on an old script penned by Tarantino
before he hit it big with "Pulp Fiction" and directed by Robert Rodriguez
after his successful box office studio debut with "Desperado", "From Dusk
'Till Dawn" seemed to have all the ingredients for an incredibly cool
action/horror experience when it was released back in 1996. It starred
Tarantino himself, Harvey Keitel ("Reservoir Dogs"), George Clooney (his
first major movie role after being a TV star with "ER"), Juliette Lewis
("Natural Born Killers") and Rodriguez's ensemble actors from his "Desperado"
movie (Marin, Hayek, Trejo, etc.). Its production values were above-average
for a genre that thrived on low-budget smarts, and it featured a truckload of
odd casting choices to fill small roles (including Michael Parks as a Texas
Ranger and legendary horror makeup designer Tom Savini as a guy named 'Sex
Machine' that wears a machine-gun where his crotch is).
Unfortunately the filmmakers forgot to include anyone even remotely likable
to make the periodical bloodbaths the movie engages in more than just a
series of well-choreographed and nicely-edited action/horror pieces. Clooney
is on fire as Seth Gecko and easily displays star power that overshadows
everyone else in the cast (particularly Keitel, who underplays his reverend
role); Tarantino's cockney attitude annoys like heck, but he isn't on-screen
long-enough to make an impression. Even Cheech Marin (playing two additional
roles besides Chet Pussy) and Salma Hayek are underwhelmed by the gore,
flying body parts and blood that seem to be unable to contain themselves
whenever they're not on-screen. Don't get me wrong gang, "From Dusk 'Till
Dawn" can be a riotous trip one moment and a decadent display of raunchy
behavior the next. It's just that, unlike "Desperado" or "Spy Kids", the
lack of a central figure onto which the viewer can latch on undermines the
impact of Rodriguez's well-staged series of action-packed exciting moments.
It's a testament to the staying power of "From Dusk 'Till Dawn's" premise
that two direct-to-video sequels have been released since '96 (none involving
Tarantino or Rodriguez as hands-on participants), and that it enjoys an
underground cult following wide-enough for Dimension Home Video to have
released it as a Collector's Series two-disc DVD. Just be sure that this one
is rented before its purchased though; strong stomachs and high tolerance for
throwaway humor and antihero characters are required to make it past the
second reel of the movie, when the Gecko brothers alone make this one
seriously waked-out movie. That and the striptease demon that likes to get
her toes sucked while pouring beer down her... snake (ughhh!).
The Disc:
This Collector's Series DVD was transferred from an existing Laserdisc
version of "From Dusk 'Till Dawn". Sadly this means a non-anamorphic
Widescreen Letterbox (1:85:1) Video Transfer that has the
tell-tale signs of the digital process when it doesn't involve original
source material: slightly-faded colors, magnified specs of dirt and grain on
the picture, minute compression artifacts from time to time, etc. It's still
mostly a decent-enough picture that one won't find him/herself thinking 'Gee,
this looks bad!,' but a director as involved in the production of his movies
as Robert Rodriguez should have insisted on an anamorphic transfer and a
better print clean-up process. Unlike the picture though, the English
Dolby Digital 5.1 & French 2.0 Surround Audio Tracks are outstanding
and kick major rear and speaker panning effects when the proverbial shit hits
the fan for our heroes when they arrive at the Titty Twister. Gunshots and
bites, in particular, sound so gruesome and crystal-clear I was afraid my
neighbors would come to my apartment door with torches, crosses and garlic
chains. Spanish Subtitles are also included.
Usually the additional disc in a two-disc DVD package is where the bulk of
the bonus material is included, but not "From Dusk 'Till Dawn Collector's
Series" (more on that later); the good stuff is on the disc where the movie
is. Feature Commentary With Robert Rodriguez and Quentin
Tarantino teams-up two of America's most renowned independent
filmmakers of the 1990's in a riotous, informative and amusing feature-length
exploration of the trials and tribulations of getting the movie made, past
the MPAA's guidelines to get it to fit into an 'R' rating, etc. Rodriguez
and Tarantino play off each other wonderfully, and fans of either man will
love every minute of the only commentary the duo has done together for a DVD
(their collaboration in "Four Rooms" still hasn't received a DVD treatment
worth mentioning). 'The Art of Making The Movie', 'On
The Set' and 'Hollywood Goes To Hell' Featurettes are
the tip of an iceberg of behind-the-scenes material covering how "From Dusk
'Till Dawn" got made. The 'Art of Making The Movie', in particular, features
Rodriguez and associate Greg Nicotero commenting on how the director takes it
upon himself to shoot the movie by being the main cameraman (something
Rodriguez has kept doing on all subsequent projects afterwards, including the
"Spy Kids" movies).
Deleted Scenes & Alternate Takes are cut or slightly-altered
scenes from the movie lumped together, ala New Line Cinema Platinum Series
DVD's, in a couple of chapterless, minutes-long pieces. Some of the footage
is silly fun, some of it is bad and some of it is downright disgusting (and
had to be removed to receive an 'R' rating). Ditto for
Outtakes, which are a couple of minutes of
not-as-funny-as-you-think screw-ups and blunders by the cast (particularly
Clooney). There are also the movie's Theatrical Trailer and
English/Spanish TV Spots, a Still Gallery of
pictures and publicity shots (lots of them!), Two Music Videos
(Tito and Tarantula's 'After Dark' & ZZ Top's "She's Just Killing Me") and,
last but certainly not least, a rather-extensive Cast & Crew
Bios sections covering the work (up until 2000) of 10 principal
actors and 11 crew members that worked on "From Dusk 'Till Dawn".
The last bonus feature is both a surprise and a disappointment. During the
making of "From Dusk 'Till Dawn" a young filmmaker that previously had worked
for Quentin Tarantino and movie producer Lawrence Bender, Sarah Kelly, was
given total behind-the-scenes access to the stars and crew members of the
production. The result was "Full Tilt Boogie", a 108 min.
feature-length documentary that saw limited theatrical distribution a few
years back (long after the movie it chronicled had faded from most people's
memories). The Collector's Series edition of "From Dusk 'Till Dawn" includes
"Full Tilt Boogie" in one of the two discs (the one marked 'Disc 1' no
less!). It's a safe bet that there has never been an action/horror movie
about vampires that has had so much behind-the-scenes stuff chronicled about
it than this one. From Clooney and Tarantino mugging at the camera to the
crew members letting loose at a discotheque at the wrap-up party, "Full Tilt
Boogie" constantly mistakes fly-on-the-wall conversations with something akin
to Welles talking to his troops of actors on "Citizen Kane". Pleeeease!
Some of the material covered in "Full Tilt Boogie" occasionally flirts with
being interesting (like the possible threat of union problems because of the
filmmakers' decision to use non-union crews to shoot the movie). Hardcore
fans of "From Dusk 'Till Dawn" will love it, but even they will be
hard-pressed to explain why such a little movie (one that didn't do well at
the box office but went on to spawn two direct-to-video sequels) got so much
behind-the-scenes coverage to begin with.
bottom line:
Rodriguez, Tarantino and the cast & crew they brought together for this
big-budget action/horror B movie seemed to have had a blast making it. Too
bad the finished product is nowhere near as cool, funny or inspired as the
obscene amount of extras in this two-disc DVD package might seem to suggest.
Completists of either man's work will have a ball with this Collector's
Series edition of "From Dusk 'Till Dawn" and its truckload of bonus material
(two disc's worth), but renting it will be more than enough for the average
movie-goer. This one has 'guilty pleasure' written all over it though, so
approach with caution.
By - J.M. Vargas
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