Review of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) by Berc — 14 Jul 2016

The artistic medium of film is very subjective. Every audience member has a different set of criteria they use to measure their viewing experience. Not everyone shares the same set of criteria. If we did, what a bland and uninspired world this would be.

What I Personally Liked About "From Dusk Till Dawn":

I want to preface this by saying that I have never been that big a fan of television. So this was my introduction to George Clooney and even in an off-the-wall gorefest such as this, it was easy to see he would go on to have a prosperous career in cinema. His presence dominates the screen and his sense of character never falters for one second. We are also treated to Quentin Tarantino's little b*tch boy sidekick of a brother. Tarantino almost always adds some worthwhile humor to his screen roles and this is perhaps the best of his bunch. Salma Hayek is another big highlight of the movie, even though she doesn't have nearly the same amount of screen time. Let's face it, sure she has had better roles in her career which challenged her abilities and allowed her to shine. However, any time you get to see a hot Latin beauty with a six-foot python wrapped around her half naked body it's going to leave an impression. In addition, I wish we could have had more Tom Savini. Seriously. This guy should have stepped in front of the camera more often as it's clear he thoroughly enjoys hamming it up. The music also plays an important part in this production. From the Blasters to Tito and Tarantula to ZZ Top, this is not the average music which accompanies your normal vampire film. These southern-tinged rock 'n' blues pieces go a long way in differentiating this movie from the plethora of vampire motion pictures which seem to populate each and every decade since the creation of the medium.

What I Personally Disliked About "From Dusk Till Dawn":

Easily the worst part of this movie is Ernest Liu. He is simply not a strong enough actor to bring anything to the table. He's surrounded by larger than life, recognizable actors and his bland performance stands out like a bonfire on a blackened evening. Maybe if Juliette Lewis wasn't playing the role of his sister there would have been a bit more balance to his monotone execution. As it is, he is woefully out of place and I just can't seem to get past his presence in this picture. There are also some fairly heavy pacing problems, particularly before the stylistic switch between hostage drama and horror show.

My Overall Impression of "From Dusk Till Dawn":

This is a fun little vampire grindhouse action/horror/comedy but, at the end of the day, it's still just a vampire grindhouse action/horror/comedy. It's bloody. It's campy. It's filled with naked t*ts, flying fists and some really good make-up effects. It's not Shakespeare, but we don't go into this kind of flick expecting it to be so. While it tries its hardest to be original, it's still susceptible to a handful of genre cliches that affect the enjoyment of the presentation. It's simply a middle-of-the-road monster movie with a better than average cast and a bit more humor than most of its competition.