From Dusk Till Dawn
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| From Dusk Till Dawn | |
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| Directed by | Robert Rodriguez |
| Produced by | Robert Rodriguez Quentin Tarantino Lawrence Bender |
| Written by | Story: Robert Kurtzman Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino |
| Starring | George Clooney Harvey Keitel Quentin Tarantino Juliette Lewis Ernest Liu Fred Williamson Tom Savini Cheech Marin Salma Hayek |
| Music by | Graeme Revell |
| Cinematography | Guillermo Navarro |
| Distributed by | Miramax |
| Release date(s) |  January 19, 1996 April 18, 1996 May 31, 1996 June 15, 1996 June 26, 1996 November 15, 1996 January 31, 1997 2000 |
| Running time | 108 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20,000,000 |
| Followed by | From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
From Dusk Till Dawn is a 1996 action/horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino The movie stars George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Quentin Tarantino, and Juliette Lewis. The film was banned in the Republic of Ireland on its release in 1996 and was unbanned in 2000.
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[edit] Taglines
- "A terrifying evil has been unleashed. And five strangers are our only hope to stop it."
- "Vampires. No Interviews."
- "From Quentin Tarantino. From Robert Rodriguez. From Dusk Till Dawn."
- "The Showdown is On!"
- "One night is all that stands between them and freedom. But it's going to be a hell of a night!"
- "How far can Too Far go?"
[edit] Plot
The fugitive Gecko brothers Seth (George Clooney) and Richie (Quentin Tarantino) are fleeing the F.B.I. and Texas police after Richie has broken Seth out of custody at court, in a bloody shootout. Seth Gecko is a cold, tough anti-hero, while his younger brother Richie is a delusional, homicidal serial rapist.
The film begins with the two brothers holding up a liquor store. They kill both the clerk and a cop, then blow up the store. As the store explodes behind them, they argue that Richie was merely supposed to buy a road map from the store. The Geckos take refuge in a motel, with a woman they took for a hostage earlier. Seth goes for supplies, leaving Richie with the woman. Richie has raped and killed her by the time Seth returns.
Meanwhile, the Fuller family — Jacob (Harvey Keitel), the father and a former pastor who has experienced a crisis of faith; his son Scott (Ernest Liu); and Kate (Juliette Lewis) — are on a vacation in their RV. The Fullers arrive at the motel and are promptly kidnapped by the Geckos, who force the Fullers to smuggle them past the Mexican Border. Richie's eyes begin to roam on Kate which makes Seth and Jacob uncomfortable. But both men make an uneasy truce if it means Jacob and his family will come out of the ordeal unharmed and the Geckos can make it past the border. They manage to fool the border agent (Cheech Marin) and arrive at the "Titty Twister", a strip club in the middle of a desolate wasteland, where the Geckos have agreed to be picked up by Carlos (also Marin), their contact, at dawn.
Soon after entering the bar, chaos ensues as the employees are revealed to be vampires, led by Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek), the main attraction (exotic dancer). Most of the patrons are quickly killed, and Richie is bitten by Santanico during the carnage. Only, Seth, Jacob, Kate, and Scott survive, along with a biker named Sex Machine (Tom Savini) who has a gun holstered to his crotch, and Frost (Fred Williamson), a Vietnam War veteran who likes cigars. They manage to kill the vampires in the bar, but their problems only multiply when the slain patrons — including Richie — are brought back to life as vampires, forcing Seth to kill his brother with a stake to the heart. During the struggle, one of the vampires bites Sex Machine in the arm, but he tries to cover up his wound. They manage to close the doors to prevent more vampires from entering. The gang stakes everybody in the bar before most of them can fully rise but more vampires have arrived outside as bats.
As the survivors try to decide what to do next, Kate becomes panicked at the impossible odds they face. Frost relates a traumatic event in Vietnam to raise everyone's spirits, during which time Sex Machine transforms and bites him (non-fatally) on the neck. He also manages to bite Jacob in the arm. Frost throws Sex Machine through the wall, thereby allowing the vampires outside access, then becomes a vampire himself.
Seth, Kate, and Scott quickly escape to a back room, followed shortly by Jacob, who combines a baseball bat and a shotgun into a makeshift cross. Wanting to make the last few moments of his life count, he rallies Seth and his family into fighting. They fashion weapons from items found in the storeroom. Seth scratches crosses on his bullets and puts a piece of wood into a jackhammer with no blade to use as a stake gun, Kate finds a crossbow, and Scott fills up water ballons and a squirt gun with water which Jacob (as a preacher) blesses turning it into holy water. Before leaving the room, Jacob makes his children swear that they will kill him when he inevitably changes into a vampire.
The four then make their assault on the undead. Seth and Kate manage to kill Sex Machine (after he turns into a demon rat), and Jacob kills Frost before becoming a vampire. Scott, the nearest to him, hesitates and is bitten, but manages to kill his father anyway. Several more vampires attack Scott and Kate is forced to shoot his attackers. The bullets have crosses carved into them, which react explosively with the vampires, destroying them.
Seth and Kate quickly get surrounded by the vampires, but then streams of sunlight shine through holes in the walls, showing that it is now dawn. Seth and Kate shoot more holes into the walls to hold the remaining vampires at bay. Just then, Carlos attempts to enter the building. On Seth's call his bodyguards blast open the door, letting in the sunlight and causing every vampire to die in a massive explosion.
Seth and Kate flee the building as the vampires go up in flames. Seth berates Carlos for choosing the "Titty Twister" as their rendezvous and manages to negotiate his share up to 75%, as opposed to the 70% he would have received. Seth leaves with Carlos. Though he is tempted to take Kate with him, he decides he is not evil enough to take her to a town of vicious criminals, where she will surely meet a bad end, stating his famous line, "I may be a bastard, but I'm not a fucking bastard." (This line is parodied by Australian satire band TISM with their song "I Might Be A Cunt, But I'm Not A Fucking Cunt".) He leaves her with some cash and allows her to continue her journey without him, though she appears somewhat at a loss to continue her family's vacation after the events of the night.
As they leave, the camera pans back to reveal that the "Titty Twister" was actually the top of a buried ancient Aztec Temple, presumably the home of vampires for centuries, and reveals hundreds of trucks and bikes that have been toppled down the side of the cliff following their owners' untimely demise.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Harvey Keitel | Jacob Fuller |
| George Clooney | Seth Gecko |
| Quentin Tarantino | Richie Gecko |
| Juliette Lewis | Kate Fuller |
| Ernest Liu | Scott Fuller |
| Salma Hayek | Santanico Pandemonium |
| Cheech Marin | Border Guard / Chet Pussy / Carlos |
| Danny Trejo | Razor Charlie |
| Tom Savini | Sex Machine |
| Fred Williamson | Frost |
| Michael Parks | Texas Ranger Earl McGraw |
[edit] Vampires
- See also: Characters of From Dusk Till Dawn
[edit] Main Vampires
- Santanico Pandemonium
- Razor Charlie: Owner of the Titty Twister. Razor Charlie is the main bar-tender and he is the announcer for the main show. Charlie is the one who wounds Richie's already-wounded hand, causing the initial vampire frenzy. He is killed by 'Sex Machine' He is played by Danny Trejo.
- Big Emilio: Bouncer of the Titty Twister. Seth gets into a confrontation with him before the vampire revelation. After, Emilio makes a beeline for Seth, killing any human who gets in his away. Frost rips Emilio's heart out and Sex Machine puts a pencil through it, finishing him off.
- Chet Pussy: Played by Cheech Marin. Pushes sexual services. Ogles Kate and gets into a fight with Seth before the vampire revelation. During the vampire feeding frenzy he tries to kill Kate. She kills him with her cross necklace.
[edit] Minor Vampires
- Mouth Bitch
- The Rat Man: Sex Machine, after a vampiric turn and a decapitation by Seth, turns into a demonic rat. Kate and Seth work together to toss it into a fire, where it is killed.
- The "Wild Bunch": This nickname was given to a quartet of female vampires who have a standoff with Seth and co. (Jacob, Frost and Sex Machine) when all other 'original' resident vampires in the Titty Twister were supposedly killed. One, who can be recognised as the dancer who declares "Dinner is served!" after Richie's death. Another kills via paperfan. The other two were the "Mouth Bitch" with the now-exposed 'mouth' from a previous scene and another large human-like vampire who tortured a victim in another Deleted Scene by popping a large pimple on her victim's face. In a scene credited as the "Mexican Standoff" the vampires clash with Seth, Sex Machine, Frost and Jacob. In the end, they are staked.
- The Band: A band dressed as mariachi singers is playing a Mexican rock and roll song on stage in the bar as Seth and everybody enter. After the vampire attack, it is revealed they too are vampires and their instruments are now somehow human body parts. They are the last few vampires standing in the initial attack. A few notes reminds the humans, causing Sex Machine to state, "Now lets kill that fuckin' band!" As they approach the Band's lead guitarist gives Sex Machine the finger and yells, "Fuck you everybody, GOOD NIGHT!" just as the stage explodes. The Band committed suicide.
[edit] Labor issues during production
From Dusk Till Dawn employed a non-union production crew, which is unusual for a production with a budget above 10 million dollars. Rodriguez, Tarantino and producer Lawrence Bender defended this choice because it made for a more team-like atmosphere on the set instead of people having to stick to their certified jobs. Yet the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts targeted the production for strike action seeking to shut down filming, feeling that the film was a large enough production to warrant a unionized crew. Police were employed on set during some shooting days although no strike or rioting ever took place. This issue is covered in the making-of documentary Full Tilt Boogie featured on the film's DVD.
[edit] Soundtrack
The soundtrack features mainly Texas blues by such artists as ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan. The Chicano rock band Tito & Tarantula, who portrayed the band in the Titty Twister, appears on the soundtrack as well. The film's score is by Graeme Revell.
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The sign at The Titty Twister was supposed to read "From Dusk Till Dawn", but director Robert Rodriguez did not notice until the movie was in post-production.
- Rodriguez originally commissioned one of his favourite painters, Frank Frazetta, to create the one-sheet poster for the film. Although the poster ultimately wasn't used, Rodriguez struck up a friendship with Frazetta and the two planned on working together. This almost came to fruition in early 2004 when Rodriguez was originally hired to direct John Carter of Mars and he brought on Frazetta as the film's production designer. When Rodriguez was forced to leave the film, Frazetta left as well.
- The movie's storyline heavily influenced the music video for Rammstein's song "Engel" including the part when Satanico Pandemonium feeds Richie a drink down her leg with her foot in his mouth.
- Seth's line "Okay ramblers, let's get rambling." is the same line said by Joe Cabot in Quentin Tarantino's film, Reservoir Dogs. Two actors from that film, Quentin Tarantino and Harvey Keitel are also in this movie.
- Cheech Marin played multiple roles in the movie - the Border Patrol guard, Chet Pussy at the Titty Twister, and Carlos.
- The film has many references to the John Carpenter film Assault on Precinct 13, including the character Scott's t-shirt (which simply reads 'PRECINCT 13' as if it were a band logo and the dialogue from the last two remaining heros as they prepare for their last stand ("Should I save the last two bullets for us?", "No, use them on the next two fucks who try to bite you!")
- The Gecko Brothers is an allusion to the Frogg brothers, Edgar and Alan Frogg, the siblings from The Lost Boys.[citation needed]
- John Travolta, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken and Michael Madsen were all offered the role of Seth Gecko. All five declined due to scheduling conflicts; Buscemi was filming five movies, Walken four, and the rest were filming three.
- The Gecko brothers are trying to get to El Ray, Mexico, a reference to Jim Thompson's novel The Getaway where it is a fictional town filled with doomed criminals who have nowhere left to run.
- The burgers Seth Gecko buys and brings to the motel are from Big Kahuna Burger, a reference to Pulp Fiction.
- Behind the bar in the Titty Twister is a neon sign that says "Chango Beer". The Chango Beer brand was mentioned by Cheech's character in Desperado ("All I got is piss warm Chango"). In a deleted scene a Chango bottle can be clearly seen before Sex Machine (Tom Savini) breaks it with a whip. The beer also appears again in the Sin City film adaptation during the "That Yellow Bastard" segment when Hartigan follows a clue to Kate's Bar. The name Chango turns up as well in The Faculty (also directed by Rodriguez) as the name of the football team that is the opposition in the football game against the Harrington Hornetts (the name is announced as "The Bruns County Changos" over a P.A. announcement during one of the sequences that occurring during the school day).
- The "Ezekiel" speech Samuel L. Jackson gives in Pulp Fiction was originally in the script for From Dusk Till Dawn in the scene where Jacob fights back the army of vampires by using a shotgun and a bat as a cross.
- The character of Earl McGraw also appears in Tarantino's film Kill Bill and both segments of the film Grindhouse (which exists as two movies directed by Rodriguez and Tarantino). Michael Parks reprised the role in all of these appearances.
- The "crotch gun" that Sex Machine wears can be seen in Rodriguez's film Desperado.
- Rappers Timbaland and Magoo's music video for "Clock Strikes (Remix)" revolves around them going through the same situation that the Gecko brothers did.
- Seth Gecko leaves with Carlos at the end of the movie to journey to El Ray, Mexico. The main character from the Robert Rodriguez segment of Grindhouse, Planet Terror, is El Wray.
- Seth Gecko's gun is a Smith and Wesson Model 29 revolver with a 4-inch barrel.
- Richie Gecko's gun is a silver-plated Colt M1911 pistol.
- The Gecko Brothers' car is a 67' Mercury Cougar.
- In the film, Cristos makes an appearance as one of Carlos's bodyguards. Cristos was also a fighter in Bucho's cartel in Rodriguez's Desperado.
- Quentin Tarantino was nominated for a Golden Raspberry award for "Worst Supporting Actor" at the 1996 Golden Raspberry Awards.
[edit] Sequel and prequel
The film was followed by two direct-to-video follow-ups, a sequel, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money and a prequel, From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter. Danny Trejo is the only actor to appear in all three, although Michael Parks appears in The Hangman's Daughter. Rodriguez, Tarantino and Lawrence Bender served as producers on all three movies.
[edit] External links
- From Dusk Till Dawn at the Internet Movie Database
- From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money at the Internet Movie Database
- From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter at the Internet Movie Database
- The Script
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