Monday, February 25, 2013

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) review


(7/10)

This movie is a lot of fun; the quirkiness of Quentin Tarentino with the grindhouse-camp feeling of Robert Rodriguez make a very entertaining film with plenty of scare and comedy to go around.

PLOT:Seth (George Clooney) and Richard (Quentin Tarentino) Gecko are two notorious criminals in their area and are on the run to a deal in Mexico that could get them rich. On the way, the stop at a hotel looking to rest a little until they get the idea to hi-jack an RV across the border. The RV in question belongs to ex-pastor Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) and his children, Kate (Juliette Lewis) and Scott. They make it across the border and to a bar/strip club and stop in to have a drink and wait for the deal at dawn. However, the bar's clientelle isn't so desirable; in fact, they almost seems like vampires. If that's the case, will our friends survive until dawn? It's a great plot executed pretty well.



ACTING:The performances in this movie range from very good to alright. For the most part, they're very good. George Clooney and Quentin Tarentino do a great job as Seth and Richard Gecko. They played off of each other rather well. Along with these two, Harvey Keitel and Juliette Lewis both played a really good part as Jacob and Kate Fuller. The other shiners would be Fred Williamson as Frost, Tom Savini as Sex Machine, Salma Hayek as Satanico Pandemonium, Danny Trejo as Razor Charlie and Cheech Marin in multiple roles.

SCORE:The score is made up of some creepy and action themes but mainly a killer soundtrack. The soundtrack contains some classic rock and blues mixed with some smooth bar songs from artists such as ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tito & Tarantula, The Blasters and more.

EFFECTS:The effects in here range to many things. There are vampires exploding, decomposing, bursting into flame, and plenty of blood and guts to go around. The effects range from cheap blood and gore to computer-generated effects. Either way, the effects are campy and very well done for a movie like this. It really adds horror to it all.



OTHER CONTENT:This movie is a lot of fun. With two great directors at the chair (Quentin Tarentino of Pulp Fiction and Robert Rodriguez of Machete), you can expect at least something good out of this movie. What we get is a no-holds-barred, gritty, campy vampire flick/crime drama. This movie is mainly for fun, however, and not for substance, for it has some trouble with character development, cheesy jokes, and any sentimentality. This movie was made for laughs and grindhouse fun and not much else, but that doesn't make it all bad.

OVERALL,a good horror movie with a well-done plot, very good performances, a killer soundtrack, campy effects, and a fun time, but it has a few problems with development, humor, and other emotions. It's just not what I'd call the best movie ever anymore.

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