From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

reviewed by
Totoro


                         FROM DUSK TILL DAWN
               A film review by Totoro
                Copyright 1996 Totoro

I am not a regualr contributor to this group, more a lurker who has enjoyed hearing the well formed opinions of others while trying to pick a movie to see or rent. However, since I am probably among the first to see this movie, having gone to a sneak preview on wednesday, I decided to share my thoughts. Let me warn you folks that my inexperienced style may accidently release a spoiler or two, so ignore my review if you wish to remain unspoiled.

This movie a collaboration between two of the hottest young movie making talents making movies Richard Rodriguez directing, Tarrantino writing has enormous promise. It does not let one down. The satire in this movie is often enough to make a person want to collapse from irony. Such as when we see a news report on our protagonists (played by George Clooney and Tarrantino) giving a running death total. The simultaneous shot at critics of movie violence and TV news is two-bird-with-one-stone writing that we have come to expect from Tarrantino.

Mostly, I would describe this movie as a hip 90s update of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Except that I was ambivelent toward TCM and I very much liked this movie.

I do have a few nitpicks. The dialogue was sparse and minimalist. I expected more, particularly a few good soliloquies from Tarrantino, though one could make the case that many parts of this movie are his soliloquies on the state of the world. In addition, at the very end of the movie we learn the topless bar is apparently part of an ancient temple. We never got a chance to explore the depths of the place, and one wonders what still might be lurking in there, perhaps good fodder for a sequel.


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