From
Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
"I suddenly have some amazing opportunities,
after a time when I thought I'd be doing nighttime soaps
and sit-coms for the rest of my life. You've got to
remember I came out of a world of very mediocre TV before
"ER" and I probably gave some very bad performances.
I was in the middle of television hell." - George Clooney
Actually two films in one (Quentin Tarantino called
it a film and it's sequel combined), "From Dusk Till
Dawn" begins as a riveting madmen on the lamb film and
ends in a gore-fest of vampires and their blood-lust.
Unfortunately the former is much more interesting. The
last half of the film, while quite good, seems like
kind of a letdown.
The film is yet another collaboration from Hollywood's
newest wunderkind Tarantino and "El Mariachi " director
Robert Rodriguez. These guys have done for Sundance
what everyone hoped Steven Soderbergh ("sex, lies and
videotape") would do. Anyway, Tarantino wrote this script
for 1,500 bucks, apparently for Robert Kurtzman who
gets a story credit here, a few years back. It kicked
around for awhile until the kid got famous. Tarantino
wanted Rodriguez to direct it and the producers who
owned it agreed. Rodriguez agreed to the project after
Tarantino agreed to rewrite it. Somewhere along the
way, Q got himself cast in a lead role as well. Additionally,
this film was released literally just weeks after the
now prolific duo's short film collaboration (with two
other directors) called "Four Rooms" came out. Here,
more so than in that project, the teamwork yields great
results.
The opening moments of this film, the first half of
which is an homage to 70's exploitation, begins with
a wonderful segment featuring the beefy, aging Michael
Parks. Here, once again, Tarantino also seems to be
showing his love of David Lynch. Parks, who was once
best known for his 70's cult motorcycle TV drama "Then
Came Bronson," is now probably better known for his
appearances is Lynch's 90's TV cult masterpiece "Twin
Peaks." Parks is wonderful here and he gets a classic
Tarantino cinematic moment to shine in. Parks shares
the scene with a young actor who holds his own with
seeming ease. The only problem with this segment is
that it is over much too quickly but it sets a tone
for the film and establishes the boundaries within which
Rodriguez and Tarantino are working. The film is a true
collaboration with Q's classic action and dialogue coupled
with Rodriguez's frenetic pacing, which is in turn propelled
by his exquisite editing. The resulting mix is nothing
short of intoxicating. At least until the buzz wears
off.
After this opening set-up, the real picture begins
with Q and TV's George Clooney ("ER") as brothers on
the road. Clooney has a history with Q - he auditioned
for "Reservoir Dogs" and he starred in numerous TV shows
(remember Q is a pop culture maven); Also Q directed
an episode of "ER" in 1995. In this outing, the TV actor
really does a 180 in characters. We've never seen him
play the bad guy before. With a wild tattoo, which literally
leaps out from under his shirt collar and out onto his
neck, and dressed in black, Clooney certainly looks
the part. But the actor really stretches out here into
a role that few would have guessed him capable of handling.
I've never considered him much of an actor - and the
smugness of everyone involved with "ER" (it's not that
great of a show) really puts me off. But the actor's
understated characterization in this film really hits
the mark. In what I always consider the trademark of
a good performance, Clooney does the improbable; He
makes us forget we are watching George Clooney. He simply
becomes his character.
Tarantino, whom I love to refer to as Q, has just
the opposite effect here. We never forget we are watching
Quentin Tarantino. The director really needs to stay
behind the cameras and leave the acting to actors. He
is little more than smug and goofy here. As a maniac
and rapist, Q seems more like a loveable oddball. Of
course, his appearance isn't really that horrible; We
have little trouble believing this oddball could be
a murdering rapist. We just don't digest it. Before
long, Q is back on the road with Clooney and we forget
the horrendous crime he has just committed in the previous
scene. It has no resonance. Q charms us with his eccentric
charisma but he never makes us believe he could have
such a dark side (whereas Clooney's always seems to
be bubbling underneath). I suppose some might say this
is very true to Q's character of Richie but regardless
of this, we like him too much for this role. We just
can't (or won't) believe Tarantino as a horrendous criminal.
Someone darker needs to be cast here. Q's appearance,
even more so than the one he turns in during "Four Rooms,"
is masturbatory at best.
Eventually the duo hooks up with Harvey Keitel, Juliette
Lewis, and a young Asian newcomer, a boy of about 15
or 16 named Ernest Liu. This is Keitel's family. In
an homage to the Westerns of the past, Keitel plays
a holy man who has lost his faith. Lewis and Liu are
his children. Keitel is simply great here. Hidden behind
a mask of greying facial hair, Keitel has his best role
in eons. He adds depth and complexity to a character
that must have many layers in order to succeed. This
role could have been mishandled by many others but it
seems like putty in the hands of a consummate actor
like Keitel. He makes it look way too easy. If Oscar
nominations were given to those actors who truly earn
them, Keitel would be very deserving here. Even when
the film denigrates into a silly vampire picture midway
though it's run, Keitel keeps his characterization intact
and his character still grows. Lewis, meanwhile, gets
the job because she is a 20-something actress who can
play a 15 year old. No other reason. The script calls
for an adult to handle the role because she has to deliver
a very lurid line. Unfortunately, this film is so reminiscent
of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers," that we can't
help but thinking about the cinematic entanglements
here and it distracts us from the film. Lewis is also
here, obviously, because Q enjoys being in close proximity
of her. It's written all over his face. Luckily, it
fits the script as well. Liu, for what it's worth, is
little more than decoration. He gets two great moments
in the film when Q puts the barrel of a shiny silver
gun in his mouth and leads him to a bed and, finally,
when he is eaten - limb by limb - by vampires. Both
scenes are rife with sexual overtones. Otherwise, he's
an extra.
Eventually, one has to discuss the second half of
the film and that's where things get sticky - and gory.
The segment begins wonderfully with Rodriguez really
showing his ass on screen. The set we get here is a
splendid backdrop for all the action that is about to
take place and the director uses his frenetic pacing
and erratic editing to drive us deep into this new,
uncharted territory. Here, too, we get more well-known
cinematic icons making appearances in American Pop movies.
No less than three as a matter of fact. The most stunning
of these is Cheech Marin (of Cheech and Chong fame)
who appears in three roles in the film. The most wondrous
of these is the "barker" outside of the film climax's
setting, a nudie biker bar called - get this - the Titty
Twister. It's sort of a darker Porky's. Marin delivers
a wonderful soliloquy that opens this sequence as a
pitch man advertising the pleasures that await one inside
the bar. He works one dirty word in particular into
the dialogue about a hundred times. It's hilarious and
it, once again, sets the tone for the next 20 minutes
of the film. The other familiar faces come later.
Once inside the bar, the brothers, who are still accompanied
by the family of 3, treat us to some tension with the
locals until Keitel acts as a mediator. The tension,
which is punctuated by music from ZZ Top and Tino and
Tarantula (the latter appear on screen quite a bit),
is further quashed by some fine titty dancing. Rodriguez
and Q seem highly at ease and within their natural element
here. Rodriguez films at least 20 minutes here like
an extended music video and it works wonderfully. His
editing and his pacing, which are punctuated by the
musical soundtrack, all add up to an intoxicating piece
of film. We literally feel transplanted into this alien
terrain. We feel like we are really at the Titty Twister.
Rodriguez also uses this segment to introduce us to
two more characters who will figure prominently in the
finale here, played by 70's blaxploitation fixture Fred
Williamson and former make-up artist and sometime director
Tom Savini. Both of these icons look somewhat older
and puffier, but their actions on screen are never sluggish.
Savini gets to (literally) whip out a special effect
that I bet he's been waiting 20 years to use in a film.
It's appearance and usage is so hilarious and so unique
that I simply cannot reveal it here. Williamson, meanwhile,
gets to whip out his arsenal of quick moves and huge
biceps to remind us of what a great cult action character
he's always been. These cinematic legends really shine
here with Q and Rodriguez exploiting their legacies
for all they're worth. When Williamson goes off on a
seemingly familiar dialogue about his time in 'Nam -
one he's probably delivered in numerous films in the
past, Rodriguez, guided by Q's script, eventually pulls
away from him and moves to some other action leaving
him to continue in the background. It's quite amusing.
Unfortunately, Q's script can't keep up the pace and
the film really begins to lag when the vampires appear.
This isn't a good idea. Q, wisely yet unfortunately,
kills his character off here and the film suffers even
more. The whole sub-plot about vampires and the gore-fest
battle between the demons and our heroes which ensues
here is wonderful from a special effects angle but kind
of dull from a cinematic standpoint. It simply goes
on way too long. Still, it has moments, Keitel gets
to see his character reach that resolution that we all
see coming and Williamson and Savini get an incredible
amount of screen time, much to our delight. One wonderful
visual gimmick in the film comes when Keitel blast a
huge gun at oncoming vampires while it is embedded in
Williamson's gut. We haven't seen that before. But moments
like that start to seem few and far between. furthermore,
Lewis, Clooney and Lui get lost in this mess. Left to
tie the film together after it's (anti)climax, the remaining
characters are left with little too do and everywhere
to go. Q's script sends them nowhere. It's like that
line from that Laurie Anderson song: "At the beginning
of the movie you know they have to find each other -
but they ride off in opposite directions." The only
saving grace is the final shot - which is a humorous
visual joke that almost makes it all worth while. In
it's second half, "From Dusk Till Dawn" misses the bull's-eye,
but only by a hair.
Tarantino and Rodriguez hopefully have many more films
in them. One expects they will make many more together
as well. Rodriguez's style of direction suits Q's script
work well. Q just needs to stay behind the camera, at
least for a while - or at least for most of the running
time of his movies. It's nice to see him in cameos and
minimal parts -or playing smugly with his image as he
does in "Four Rooms." But in "From Dusk Till Dawn" he
really opens no new territory for himself as an actor.
He simply glides.
In their respective role behind the camera, however,
both he and Rodriguez move quickly ahead in their cinematic
evolutionary progression. Q's scripts keep getting better
and Rodriguez's direction grows greatly as well, while
still maintaining it's unique vision. I dub these auteurs
and their genre "American Pop Culture Cult Films." Let's
hope we get a lot more from these two in the future.
Notes: Also with John Saxon. The band Tito and Tarantula
play the bar band here and perform several of their
own songs on screen. They get a few moments in the film's
plot as well.
Robert Kurtzman acts as Co-producer and gets the "Story"
credit. Special effects are also by an organization
called Kurtzman, Nicotero, and Berger EFX Group. Q gets
Co-producer, Screenplay and Acting credits. Rodriguez
gets a Co-producer credit as well as Editing and Sound
Editing nods. Lawrence Bender, Q's longtime Producer,
also gets a Co-producer credit. Director of Photography
is Guillermo Navarro. Score is by Graeme Revell.
Tattoo Artist is Gil Monte. The Titty Twister set
was designed by Jerry Martinez. The final Matte painting
is by Illusion Arts Inc.
Filmed partially in Mexico.
Clooney has appeared on "Roseanne" (the first season)
and "The Facts of Life" (when the girls owned the novelty
store) among other TV shows. He is related to singer
Rosemary Clooney.
Review written in 1996
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