From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) has been on my Netflix watchlist for what seems like an eternity and, for reasons of having a list which will take me years to get through, I have never got round to watching it. I was always tempted to throw it on whenever I saw it sitting there. It looked like a lot of fun and it had a cast that I liked and so I don't really know what was holding me back. So on Friday I just thought fuck it, I can't have it sitting on my watchlist forever. After seeing it I can say that it was fun, but I feel on the whole it was pretty average and is a film that I don't see myself going back to anytime soon. The film follows two bank robbers, Seth Gecko (George Clooney) and Richard Gecko (Quentin Tarantino), who are attempting to escape a manhunt and get to Mexico. In order to do this they kidnap and use the Fuller family. Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) and his children, Kate (Juliette Lewis) and Scott (Ernest Liu), are used as a front so that the two criminals can get across the border safely and wait for their associate to meet them. They are told to bunker down in a sleazy bar and wait for him, but there situation becomes a lot more dangerous when it turns out that this particular bar is occupied by vampires. It has now became a survival mission, with the two brothers and the Fullers attempting to fend off the vampires until dawn.
Quentin Tarantino has his finger prints all over this film. Not only is he one of the key players acting wise, but he also wrote the script and you can tell (including women's feet). This is not a negative of the film, not at all. I personally really enjoy his writing style and so I am not opposed to the fact that his writing style is very apparent in the film. The problem comes in that I just don't think this is Tarantino's best writing. It has his witty style about it, with his clever and funny interactions between the characters, but the character development and motivation is missing for the most part. It also has the problem of introducing characters and taking these characters nowhere. They are introduced and placed as being somewhat important, but then suddenly their importance is gone and it seemed odd to give them so much to do in the first place. But a lot of the film is still written well (I mean it's Tarantino so it is going to be a least pretty good) with several funny moments and I was invested enough in the characters even if they are not always written the best. The other aspect of the film which is less than stellar is in the CGI effects. Now, I am going to put most of this down to the time it was released as CGI was very much a new thing and so I can't expect these effects to look completely real. But, at the same time, Jurassic Park (1993) came out 3 years before this film and I think most of the CGI in that film still holds up remarkably well so maybe I am going to easy on From Dusk Till Dawn. What Rodriguez does do though is use the CGI sparingly and mixes it in with practical effects so as to hide (as much as he can) the lack of quality in these effects. I don't think the CGI holds up that well, but at the same time it isn't so heinous that it drags you out of the film.
Speaking of effects, the practical effects that I mentioned earlier are absolutely stellar. They may not look completely authentic, but they really fit into the films mood and style and, mostly, they are used to make this film really fun. There is a ten minute sequence in this film where our heroes are fighting the vampires which is so ridiculous and over the top, but it is easily the most fun part of the film. This is mainly due to the super creative way in which the scene is made and the really funny and ridiculous ways in which the practical effects are used. I was smiling and laughing pretty much non-stop throughout this scene and there were a couple of mouth open moments when the scene got super ridiculous. I would argue that this scene is good enough to be worth watching the film for regardless of the rest of the film, it is just that much fun. As for performances they are very mixed, ranging from poor to great. I think Juliette Lewis and Ernest Liu are not very good in their roles, with some pretty dead pan line delivery and stone cold faces. Even Harvey Keitel isn't all that good. I don't think he puts in a bad performance because I am not sure he is capable, but it was a pretty forgettable performance. Tarantino was surprisingly not awful and actually pulled off being a sick psychopath quite well. There are moments where you can see that he is not an actor but on the most part he is pretty solid. Clooney puts in the best performance in the film. He is really entertaining and has a brilliant screen presence which completely overshadows the rest of the cast. He is the most memorable character and every time he is on the screen you can't take your eyes off him.
From Dawn Till Dusk is ultimately a mixed bag of ridiculousness. It is mixed bag in regards to its writing, with elements of the writing being great and others being poor. It is a mixed bag in terms of its effects, with the CGI having aged badly but with the practical effects being stellar. It is a mixed bag in terms of performances, with Clooney being very entertaining in his role but with no one else matching him in this regard. But, ultimately, it is very silly and never takes itself too seriously and so some of these aspects, in a strange way, match the films tone more than hinder it. I probably would recommend it if you fancy something stupid and ridiculous, but I don't think you need to rush out and watch it. It is probably not a bad idea to do what I did. Put it on your watchlist and keep it there for a rainy day, it probably isn't worth more than that.