‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ should not see the light of day
New Tarantino, Rodriguez flick fails to capture success of
previous works in exploitation cinema works
By Brandon Wilson
At an on-campus confab last year with Bruin film students at
Melnitz Hall, filmmaker Paul Schrader (writer of "Taxi Driver,"
director of "American Gigolo" and UCLA alumnus) posed a question
regarding the success of the ubiquitous Quentin Tarantino. Was
Tarantino’s brand of
post-modernist-you’ve-seen-all-the-same-films-I-have cinema
replacing Schrader’s brand of
modernist-angst-ridden-tales-of-existential-loners-on-the-edge
cinema and rendering him obsolete?
No definitive answer was reached, but Schrader’s concern over
this shift in the zeitgeist was heartfelt and genuine. If "From
Dusk Till Dawn" is any indication, Mr. Schrader needn’t lose a wink
of sleep.
"Dusk" is a feature-length example of post-modern
genre-splicing, the result of an unholy union between a
buddy/crime/road picture and an American International-style horror
flick. Based on an early Tarantino script and helmed by kindred
spirit Robert Rodriguez, the film is an unabashed celebration of
the pair’s mutual love of lowbrow exploitation cinema. It opens
with the nefarious and black-clad Gecko brothers marauding through
Texas and leaving a string of dead Rangers and burning liquor
stores in their wake.
The brothers are like Steinbeck’s George and Lenny refracted
through Tarantino’s cracked prism. While both are thieves and
killers, Seth (played by George Clooney) is the level-headed
professional and younger brother Richie (played by Tarantino) is a
hair trigger loose cannon who isn’t all there. The duo hijack an
RV-travelling family and force them to shuttle them into Mexico,
where sanctuary lies. The Fuller family’s patriarch is Harvey
Keitel, sporting a beard and the Texas twang he wielded in "Thelma
and Louise," and the eldest daughter is played by Juliette Lewis
who makes like Mallory Knox’s demure twin sister.
The Geckos and the Fullers make their way to the Titty Twister,
a hellacious biker bar in the middle of nowhere that has been
designated the rendezvous spot for the brothers and their Mexican
contacts.
But wait, there’s more! The bar is actually a front for ravenous
bloodsucking freaks who lure in their prey with T & A, only to
bolt the door and turn the watering hole into a slaughterhouse.
Forget Anne Rice, or recent indie vampire flicks like "Nadja" and
"The Addiction." These vampires are stripped of all metaphorical
value and reduced to slobbering hellspawn.
Much like his recent "Desperado," this new Rodriguez opus is at
once action-packed and lifeless. The second half delivers all the
bloodletting and special effects that genre fans will lap up, but
the first half is curiously slow and plodding. The Geckos banter
and bickering pales in comparison to that of "Pulp Fiction" hitmen
Vincent and Jules, and compared to "Natural Born Killers" couple
Mickey and Mallory, their southwest marauding seems minor
league.
The attempt to meld the two genres ultimately doesn’t come off
since the first hour could be more efficiently handled in a ripping
five minute opening credit montage. Rodriguez stages and edits his
action sequences with crackling precision, but the half-assed
condition of the script ultimately sabotages everything that adorns
it. The dialogue ranges from sharp to repetitive (Seth and Richie’s
would-be tough guy threats get old quick), and the general lack of
imagination or originality keep the film second-rate (see "Evil
Dead II" to experience what "From Dusk Till Dawn" aspires, but
fails, to be).
The repetitious invocation of "exploitation cinema" by the
filmmakers feels like an excuse for stale thinking and shoddy
filmmaking. The film has its moments, but since the filmmakers are
aiming fairly low, the good parts can only be praised so much.
"From Dusk Till Dawn" isn’t bad, but it certainly won’t have the
longevity of the B-movies that inspired it.
(Left to right) Quentin Tarantino, George Clooney and Salma
Hayek star in Robert Rodriguez’s new film "From Dusk Till
Dawn."
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