After the enormous success of Pulp Fiction, writer/director Quentin Tarantino opted to take a few years off to just enjoy life in general and have a little fun. That was certainly reflected in his sporadic work following that landmark film, for better or worse. But, at the very least, there was truly something there for everyone.
There was the nihilistic road movie/media satire of Natural Born Killers, which divided audiences and critics alike- but those who loved it, really loved it, myself included- followed in rapid succession with the broad comedy farce of the anthology flick Four Rooms, his touching episode of the hugely popular TV show ER, a hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, and acting appearances in his pal Margaret Cho's sitcom All American Girl and in the indie film Destiny Turns on the Radio.
Moving into 1996, QT took his first paid gig for hire, writing a script based on an idea by special effects guru Robert Kurtzman. Kurtzman had done Tarantino a solid by doing the infamous torture scene FX for Reservoir Dogs for free, and had been approached by the folks behind the popular HBO anthology series Tales from the Crypt to do a follow-up movie to their initial spin-off, Demon Knight.
This time around, HBO wanted to do something involving vampires, preferably sexy lady vampires, a la Vamp (which revolves around a vampire stripper) or Fright Night 2. Kurtzman concocted the idea about a pair of criminals who stumble into a Mexican strip club that happened to be filled with vampires that preyed on truckers and tourists and the like that were passing through.
HBO ultimately passed on the idea, and ended up doing the not-too-far-removed Bordello of Blood instead, which I'll just bet they regret, given the relatively cool reception that film received. Kurtzman liked the idea enough to continue to pursue it, but wasn't sure how to proceed, as he wasn't really a writer.
Indeed, he had only just begun to direct- his debut was the female RoboCop exploitation flick, The Demolitionist (starring Baywatch vixen Nicole Eggert and Nightmare on Elm Street's Heather Langenkamp)- and he wanted to focus more on the special effects, which Kurtzman wanted to be extensive and serve as an attention-getting showcase for his burgeoning new FX collective, KNB.
KNB should, of course, be a familiar name for you horror fans out there- the "K" stands for Kurtzman, while his fellow FX artists Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger made up the remaining "N" and "B," respectively. Both Nicotero and Berger also have cameos in the film, as the blonde-haired Gregg Allman-looking fellow that Sex Machine steals a beer from, and as the vampire that bites Sex Machine later on, respectively.
These cameos were, in and of themselves, also in-jokes of sorts, as Sex Machine was played by the legendary special effects guru Tom Savini, who both created the original look for Jason Vorhees and later helped dispatch of him in the so-called "Final Chapter."
Savini also mentored Nicotero and gave him his first big break, working once again, behind and in front of the camera, for George A. Romero's classic zombie flick, Day of the Dead, for which Savini was the lead FX artist. Savini's Sex Machine character could also be seen as a homage to his biker character in Dawn of the Dead.
Nicotero would later become the head FX artist for AMC's wildly popular The Walking Dead, and eventually become a director himself, directing 30 episodes of the show and serving as an executive producer for both it and the spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead. Nicotero is also producing a TV series version of Creepshow, another film with famously impressive effects by Savini. (Nicotero took the FX reins for the sequel, Creepshow 2, as well.) KNB themselves would continue to work with Tarantino extensively throughout his career.
With the FX well in hand, Kurtzman approached Tarantino to handle the script, for which he was paid a paltry $1500, but, like I said, Kurtzman did the Reservoir Dogs effects for free, and QT was always one to pay it forward, not in the least as the main scene Kurtzman worked on, the infamous torture scene, was easily the most talked-about scene in the entire film. You can also see Kurtzman's unedited FX as a bonus on the DVD/Blu-Ray of that film, which were mostly downplayed, as QT realized that it's what you don't see that is more powerful than what you do.
Kurtzman originally wanted Tarantino to direct, but he passed, wanting to star in the film instead, and recommended good friend Robert Rodriguez for the gig instead, who happily accepted. Both participants would bring along people that they'd worked with in prior projects to the table, instantly rising the profile of the film, including, on QT's end, Harvey Keitel (who was in both of the films QT directed), Juliette Lewis (who was one of the few things he really liked in Natural Born Killers) and Brenda Hillhouse (who played Butch's mom in Pulp Fiction).
On Rodriguez' end, there was Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin (of comedy duo "Cheech & Chong" fame) and Salma Hayek, all of whom were in his prior full-length film, Desperado. Amusingly, Hayek had initially balked at playing her role because of a deadly phobia of snakes, but when Rodriguez told her that Madonna was going to play the role instead, she immediately went to a therapist and worked through her fears for two months to secure the role.
But, although at one point, the character was called "Blonde Death," Madonna was never approached for the role in the first place- Rodriguez was simply psyching her out to get her to do it! In the end, Tarantino, noting the Mexico setting, changed the character's name to the more exotic-sounding Satanico Pandemonium, which is also the name of an obscure Mexican horror film.
Meanwhile, Erik Estrada was supposed to play Carlos and someone else the border agent, but when they both fell through, Marin ended up doing triple duty as both those two roles and the barker at the strip club, where he memorably did a variation of his spiel in his previous film Born in East L.A. Incidentally, his border patrol agent character is named Oscar Marin, which is Cheech's father's real name.
For the lead part of Seth Gecko, Tarantino and Rodriguez approached Antonio Banderas, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Christopher Walken and John Travolta (who didn't want to do a vampire flick, but his wife, Kelly Preston, did agree to play a reporter), but all passed, mostly because of scheduling conflicts. Ultimately, Tarantino offered the part to ER star George Clooney, who he'd worked with recently when he directed an episode of the show.
Clooney had been toiling away in Hollywood for ages, since the 80's, appearing in dubious films like Return to Horror High and Return of the Killer Tomatoes and a host of sitcoms, including The Facts of Life, Roseanne and even a show called E/R. You know you've been in Hollywood too long when you've been in two shows with essentially the same name!
Fortunately, the second time was the charm for Clooney on the second, non-sitcom ER, but Clooney was chomping at the bit to take another stab at big-screen stardom, so he jumped at the chance to star in this film. Given the tremendous energy he brings to the project, you can tell how hungry he was to show what he could do as an actor, and that he had real range.
Although, as the outtakes show, he could sometimes be a little too enthusiastic, flubbing his lines over and over. (Albeit not as into the proceedings as the aforementioned Savini, who repeatedly punched his co-stars in their faces, including Clooney, in their many fight scenes!)
Tarantino rounded off the main cast with newcomer Ernest Liu, as the second child, Scott, along with Juliette Lewis' Kate, of Keitel's pastor father character, Jacob. All three were given the surname Fuller, as a tribute to one of QT's directing heroes, Sam Fuller, of The Naked Kiss and The Big Red One fame.
In addition, Scott's t-shirt, which reads "Precinct 13," was a tribute to a fave film of QT and RR's, John Carpenter's classic Assault on Precinct 13. Sadly, Luu's career was short-lived, mostly relegated to a few guest-starring appearances on TV shows like Relativity, Unhappily Ever After, Once & Again and Unscripted.
The film also features a host of smaller roles for some of Tarantino and Rodriguez' favorite character actors. As the Texas Ranger killed in the opening scene, there's the late, great Michael Parks (Caged Fury, Red State), who QT liked so much that he resurrected the character in the Kill Bill films, and gave a bigger role as a different character in one of the From Dusk Till Dawn sequels. Parks also cropped up in both directors' segments of the Grindhouse movies.
Then there's the legendary Fred Williamson, a former football player-turned-actor that was the star of many a Blaxploitation flick back in the day, including The Legend of Nigger Charley and its sequel, Boss Nigger (try getting away with those titles these days!), Hammer, Black Caesar, Hell Up in Harlem, Three the Hard Way, That Man Bolt, Crazy Joe, Tough Guys, Black Eye, Bucktown and Mr. Mean.
He was also in a little film called The Inglorious Bastards, which would later inspire a similarly-titled film of Tarantino's, obviously. Williamson played the Vietnam vet Frost here, a nod to some of his war film roles, which also included the classic Altman film MASH. Williamson was experiencing a bit of a career resurgence at the time, between this and the Blaxploitation throw-back, Original Gangstas. He continues to work steadily to this day, with another throwback, Old School Gangstas, featuring Jackie Brown stars Pam Grier and Robert Forster coming out soon.
Other notable actors include veteran character actors Marc Lawrence as the hotel manager- check out his extensive resume here, which includes several Bond films and lots of Film Noir and Gangster flicks- and John Saxon (Enter the Dragon, Black Christmas, Nightmare on Elm Street) as an FBI agent.
Plus, there's then-up-and-coming actor John Hawkes as the store clerk in the opening scene. Interestingly, the character jokes that he should be given an Oscar for his performance under the circumstances- Hawkes would later, in fact, be nominated for one, for the film Winter's Bone, though he wouldn't win.
You might also know him from HBO's Deadwood and Eastbound & Down. Other notable films include D.O.A., Johnny Be Good, Heartbreak Hotel, Flesh & Bone, Congo, Night of the Scarecrow, Boogie Boy, Rush Hour, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, The Perfect Storm, Identity, Miami Vice, American Gangster, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Also look sharp for producer Lawrence Bender, as per usual, this time cropping up in the diner scene with Keitel and company. If you look closely, he's sitting in the booth directly behind Keitel and the rest. Director Rodriguez also cameos as one of the members of the band, the rest of which are played by members of Tito & Tarantula.
Rodriguez, of course, is a guitarist, somewhat notorious for playing on the set in between takes of his films, which he often does some of the scoring for- ditto Tarantino's films, to which he's contributed often uncredited bits of music, notably Kill Bill.
The soundtrack here is just great, and perhaps more reflective of Rodriguez' tastes than Tarantino's. Indeed, one of QT's lone suggestions was to use The Coasters' "Down in Mexico" for Salma Hayek's big scene, but Rodriguez went with the aforementioned Tito & Tarantula instead, probably for the best, as the song is great and really suits the scene. QT would later use "Down in Mexico" himself, also for a dancing scene, in Death Proof.
Other great tracks include the title/end credits tune "Dark Night," by The Blasters, a quirky track from Jon Wayne (lol), "Texas Funeral," two tracks by the brilliant Stevie Ray Vaughan and one memorable one from his brother, Jimmie ("Dengue Woman," which plays as QT's Richie ogles Lewis' Kate). There's also a classic ZZ Top tune ("Mexican Blackbird") and one the trio wrote especially for the film, "She's Just Killing Me." (Note the fun lyrics for the latter.)
From Dusk Till Dawn is a quirky little film that starts out as a relatively straightforward crime drama/road movie before morphing completely into a full-blown horror flick that is indeed a worthy showcase for KNB productions. I distinctly remember seeing it opening night with a game audience, many of which didn't quite know what they were getting into, and were genuinely surprised when it took a hard left into horror.
Some critics bashed the film, noting its seemingly non-stop vulgarity, and the gratuitous gore, but that was sort of the point. Kurtzman wanted the film to be over-the-top and insane, and his FX crew put together so many gore gags that they didn't even have room for all of them, without the film running over two hours. At an hour and nearly fifty minutes, it's already pushing it a bit for a horror film, which typically clock in at around ninety minutes, save some of the more high-brow stuff out there (i.e. The Shining, The Exorcist, Hereditary, etc.).
But still, by relegating the horror to the back half of the film, even though it verges on getting monotonous, and QT's patented dialogue is in much shorter supply, the film becomes a near non-stop gorefest for FX fans, which this film was clearly targeting.
But, as with Natural Born Killers, Tarantino's name brought in a lot of people who wouldn't normally watch this sort of thing- to say nothing of Clooney, in this case- so some people were a bit taken aback by all the violence, even though it was clearly meant to be tongue-in-cheek in both cases.
As such, NBK and FDTD ended up being more cult hits than outright box office smashes, though this film took in over $59 million on a $19 million budget- not a bad return investment on Dimension's part. By comparison, the much-more controversial NBK only grossed $50 million on a $34 million budget- not bad, but it just goes to show you how much more divisive that film was.
Both films, however, were massive sellers on home video, and hugely popular rentals for years to come. So much so in this film's case that not one, but two, straight-to-video sequels were made, with limited involvement by Tarantino and Rodriguez, who opted to serve as producers only. Star Danny Trejo, though, appeared in all three, even though his character dies here.
Nor did it stop there. Remarkably, this has proven to be the film that has had the longest shelf life, in terms of both QT and RR's careers. In addition to the two sequels, From Dusk Till Dawn was later turned into one of the flagship shows for Rodriguez' cult-centric cable TV network, El Rey, which itself derived its name from this film, as well as being a nod to a fictional character mentioned in Jim Thompson's The Getaway.
The series completely recast the film from top to bottom, mostly with relative unknowns, though some, like Eiza González (Baby Driver, Hobbs & Shaw), who took over the Satanico Pandemonium role, and Madison Davenport (Sisters, Sharp Objects), who played Kate, Juliette Lewis' role, have gone on to much-bigger projects.
Also featured were TV favorite Don Johnson (Miami Vice), who was also in QT's Django Unchained; Wilmer Valderrama (That 70's Show), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2), who took over the role of Jacob from Keitel; and, but of course, Danny Trejo, making him the only actor to be in every incarnation of the series. The show ran for three seasons before finally calling it a day in 2016. Yet another film is reportedly being considered, and, if that wasn't enough, there was a video game as well.
As such, this, in some ways, is the movie within both Tarantino and Rodriguez' canon with the most longevity- go figure. Not bad for a cult flick that QT only got $1500 to write. It's also, for my money, the film with the best overall performance from Tarantino. For once, he actually underplays his role, even approaching subtlety in a lot of scenes, which is more than can be said for Clooney, although, to be fair, his role was intended to be showier.
I know that's not saying much, as Tarantino has gotten a lot of flack for his ongoing insistence on inserting himself into almost everything he does- another reason I suspect he started to get on people's nerves after a certain point, reaching a nadir of sorts with his admittedly laughably turn in Django Unchained, after laying relatively low for a few films after this one.
But yeah, for whatever it's worth, he's actually pretty good here, and if his being Clooney's brother is a bit much, buying him as a foot-obsessed pervert with a penchant for violence is not a big stretch. Indeed, this may be the ne plus ultra for his foot fetish indulgence, between his longing looks at Juliette Lewis' feet and his quite literally putting Salma Hayek's foot in his mouth and drinking beer poured down her leg and her foot. (Though not a foot man myself, it should be said that Hayek is at peak hotness here, so it may be the rare occasion where I sort of get it.)
The dialogue, though not exactly on the level of Dogs or Fiction, is snappy and often very funny, and the cast is top-notch, with Keitel a definitive stand-out, playing against type as a pastor (love his delivery of the "I'm a mean...mmm-mmm...man of God" in particular) and it really shows Lewis' range that she was able to go from playing a complete wacko in NBK to playing a relative innocent struggling to commit horrific acts of violence here.
And, as a huge cult movie fan, how could I not love the turns by Savini and Williamson, who are both in fine form here? Between that and all the fantastic gore gags from KNB, this truly seems like a film that was tailor-made for someone like me to dig it, and plenty like me did. The sequels are admittedly nowhere near as good, but they're reasonably fun, too, and I quite liked the show.
As such, I can definitely wholeheartedly recommend this one, but with a caveat that, if you don't think this sort of thing will be your cup of tea, it probably won't be. I know Clooney has his fans, but this is not your typical Clooney, what with him playing a bit of an asshole here.
Albeit not quite as much as QT is, who kills without much in the way of hesitation, and often because he just can't help himself. Clooney's character has more of a moral code, but I'm not sure if it will be enough to get his more typical fans to watch this one. ER, this is not.
But it is a lot of fun for those in the right frame of mind for it. It might not be top-tier Tarantino, or Rodriguez, for that matter, but it's a solid popcorn movie, at a time in which people were still willing to go the extra mile to make such things better than they probably needed to be to be successful at the box office.
By all means, check it out, and the supplemental feature-length documentary film, Full Tilt Boogie, about the making of the movie- which is included as a bonus on some versions of the DVD and Blu-Ray- is worth a watch for fans of the film as well. (Though those who find QT obnoxious will want to avoid it like the plague, as it's only in full swing here.)
Join me next time for QT's long-awaited follow-up, Jackie Brown, his proper follow-up to Pulp Fiction. Was it worth the extra wait? How does it hold up? Has my opinion of it changed over the years? Find out in my next review! 😎
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