Bloodsuckingly Brilliant! (From Dusk Till Dawn (DVD))

Member Name: neinel

Product:	From Dusk Till Dawn (DVD)
Date:	26/09/00 (13 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: George Clooney's best performance in his whole acting career (in my opinion), brilliant story and screenplay, inspired direction from Robert Rodriguez, good soundtrack, excellent special effects, solid performances from all actors

Disadvantages: None

Before seeing From Dusk Till Dawn, I had heard of George Clooney but never took him seriously as an actor. I saw him in ER but, considering all the hype surrounding him, his talents seemed vastly overrated (although perhaps this is due to the fact the millions of hormonally crazed, middle aged housewives who watched ER were not 100% interested in his acting talents). But his performance in From Dusk Till Dawn instantly dispelled any doubts I ever had about his acting skills. Brilliantly cast against type, Clooney plays Seth Gecko, a hardened criminal who has just escaped from jail with his brother, Ritchie, where they were serving time for bank robbery. On the run, with the FBI, state police and Texas Rangers 'joining forces to form a dragnet' to snare them, they arrange to meet their contact, Carlos, in Mexico, with the intention of settling in El Ray, a notorious sanctuary for criminals. Their only problem is getting into Mexico without being caught and this is no small feat, considering every authority in Texas is after them. This is where Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel), a preacher with dwindling faith, his two children and their camper van come in to the equation. Seth comes up with the idea to kidnap and force them to smuggle them accross the border in the van. Everything goes to plan and, once in Mexico, they go to a sleazy trucker/biker's bar called 'The Titty Twister' to rendezvous with Carlos at dawn (when the place closes). Once inside, the movie takes a sudden and unexpected transformation from the typical Tarantino-esque gangster flick it has been so far into a chaotic, blood splattered horror B-Pic reminiscent of the 'Evil Dead' series. Out of nowhere, practically everyone in the bar turns into vampires and proceeds to crunch, slice, gnaw, and chomp their way into the bewildered human patrons' jugulars. What then ensues is a blood splattered and miraculous battle against the evil, hell spawned monsters of 'The Titty Twi
ster' in a desperate attempt to escape in one piece. Needless to say, not many of them do....

From Dusk Till Dawn is undoubtedly the best vampire film of all time - probably due to the fact that it laughs in the face of tacky cliches, replacing garlic and crucifixes with 44 Magnums and pneumatic stakes. It's no surprise that it is such a magnificent film when you consider the flawless talents of Quentin Tarantino (Screenplay) and Robert Rodriguez (Director). After his monumental performance as Seth Gecko, I find it a great shame that George Clooney never seems to play tough guy roles ("Three Kings" perhaps being the only exception) and settles for the housewife-friendly Dr Doug Ross roles he has unfortunately been typecast into. Quentin Tarantino surely silences all the critics who slated his acting talents with his unsettling, although highly convincing portrayal of Ritchie and Harvey Keitel is on good form as Jacob. The soundtrack compliments the film very well, with a fitting Mexican theme throughout and the special effects are excellent. All in all, From Dusk Till Dawn is a masterpiece and comes highly reccomended by me.

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