Review of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) by Spencer S — 19 Jul 2012
Another brilliant collaboration between Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, this is a film split between two different conceptual designs, one from Rodriguez and one from Tarantino. Though Tarantino only acted in the film, his mere presence ultimately set the tone for the entire film.
It starts off as an action thriller, following the antics of Seth and Richie Gecko, brothers who are criminally insane; blowing up establishments, kidnapping families, and undergoing despicable acts for their own sick pleasure.
Seth is the tough guy, portrayed by the always suave and yet socially acceptable Clooney, while Tarantino takes on a disturbed persona as a psychologically biased individual, a rapist, a man who takes inappropriate action at the most inopportune times.
Their dynamic makes for an engrossing watch as they kidnap a family on their own morbid road trip. Harvey Keitel, Juliet Lewis, and Ernest Liu are very complex and introspective characters, who seem unorthodox compared to the traditional family on screen.
While Keitel is slightly clichĂ (C)d as a preacher who has lost his faith, his relationship with his children and his often B-movie dialogue in reference to his dead wife is engrossing. Most of the characters seem placid to their obvious fate, which is why the shift in tone is so effective.
Rodriguez rears in the storyline halfway through and changes the entire film from a crime thriller into a supernatural horror story. Rodriguez, who is well versed in the world of horror, uses varied examples of vampire mythos to illustrate goofy and often gorey creatures.
Rodriguez definitely took inspiration from fifties B-movies, Mexican cinema, and his own childhood which rears its head in most of his films. This feels less like the grindhouse films he paid ode to in two separate films and more like the Mexican horror films of Guillermo del Toro with a dash of needless violence under Rodriguez's own direction.
It's a beautiful representation of Mexican cinema while also being its own entity, an example of the genius that would make great strides in film in general.
This review of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) was written by Spencer S on 19 Jul 2012.
From Dusk Till Dawn has generally received positive reviews.
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