One of writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s early screenplays is revived by director Robert Rodriguez (“Desperado”) and turned into an all-out feeding frenzy of ultra-violence, vampires, and charismatic characters. Tarantino co-stars with George Clooney as the infamous Gecko brothers.

Clooney plays Seth, the cool, calculated, non-nonsense brother who uses his good looks and charm to win over a situation. Tarantino is Richard, the hot-headed, short-tempered brother who likes to kill. After robbing a bank, the Gecko brothers hi-jack a vacationing father (Harvey Keitel) and his two children (Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu), using their motor home to sneak across the Mexican border to meet a contact. Unfortunately, their contact chose a notorious biker bar in the middle of nowhere.

Making matters even worse, the bar is also a night spot for some nasty Aztec vampires. Salma Hayek’s on hand as the woman of Richard’s dreams and nightmares. Great, gory fun as the brothers and the family team up to fend off the blood suckers. Not for the squeamish, the film is loaded with Tarantino’s irreverent wit and hip dialogue.

COMPLETE CHECK-UP

VISION: [ X ] EXCELLENT [ ] GOOD [ ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.

Captured in it’s original 1.85:1 widescreen glory, “From Dusk Till Dawn” bristles with sharp colors and vivid tones. Film to digital rendering maintains the dizzying quality of Guillermo Navarro’s cinematography with crystal clarity.

HEARING: [ X ] EXCELLENT [ ] GOOD [ ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.

Dolby Digital Surround puts you in the middle of the action. Good use of separation makes the third act especially chaotic. The soundtrack really rocks, so pump up the volume.

ORAL: [ ] EXCELLENT [ ] GOOD [ X ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.

Subtitles in Spanish.

COORDINATION: [ ] EXCELLENT [ ] GOOD [ X ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.

You just know there’s an Unrated, director’s cut of “From Dusk Till Dawn” sitting in a film vault somewhere. DVD would have been the perfect format to introduce such a cut. Oh well. At least the film is in widescreen (no pan-and-scan here, sorry). There’s also the original theatrical and teaser trailers, but not much else.

PROGNOSIS: [ X ] EXCELLENT [ ] GOOD [ ] RESUSCITATE [ ] D.O.A.

Okay, bottom line. I loved this movie. I’m thrilled it’s on DVD. I’m thrilled it looks and sounds great. If that’s all that matters to you, then sink your fangs into this one.

VITALS: $29.99/Rated R/108 Min./Color/26 Chapters/Keepcase/#14373

ATTENDING RESIDENT: John Larsen

PATIENT: FROM DUSK TILL DAWN

BIRTH DATE: 1996

HMO: Dimension Home Video

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2001 at 6:40 pm and is filed under Film Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.