Product reviewsFrom Dusk Till Dawn (Blu-ray, 2020)

BIZARRE & ICKY CLOONEY VEHICLE IS A SOLID 4 STAR STOMACH CHURNER.

This is a review of the 2020 All Region Blu-ray from Miramar and Paramount Home Entertainment. It comes with plenty of extras. The sound quality is excellent. The picture colour is very good, but it is just slightly less than pristinely clear and sharp, very slightly disappointing for a Blu-ray, but still fine for viewing.

I confess to being a big fan of good Vampire films. There are a number that are excellent, and several that ooze class, with real emotional depth, superb production values and literate screenplays. ‘Let the Right One In’ (the Swedish original from 2008); ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’(1992); ‘Interview with the Vampire’(1994) all spring to mind. They all approach the subject of Vampires with finesse and subtlety.

And then, there is ‘From Dusk till Dawn’. Finesse? Subtlety? A literate screenplay? Nah! From a concept by special effects guru Robert Kurtzman, who was behind special makeup and creature effects on films from the ‘Nighmare on Elm Street’ and ‘Evil Dead’ franchises, the screenplay was from the pen of master of gore, Quentin Tarantino. He also co-stars, as Richie Gecko, a deranged sexual predator and bank robber, the younger brother of George Clooney.

As an aside, what on earth Clooney is doing in this film, I just cannot fathom. Clooney is an excellent actor, and whether he is in dramas, thrillers or romances, he is always totally watchable. He is also superb in comedies. This film is, at a stretch, a very VERY pitch black comedy, and Clooney is very good in it, but I am not entirely sure the role of cold-blooded murderer and bank robber Seth Gecko should be a Clooney vehicle! The third star, also very good, is Harvey Keitel. His role here is less questionable: he plays Jacob Fuller, a heroic preacher and father. Over the years, Keitel has appeared in some pretty tough movies, but none more so than here.

If all this suggests that we didn’t like the film, I apologise, because we did ~ sort of. It is not EXACTLY a film that you like; and ‘enjoy’ is also probably the wrong word. This is a complete and utter gross-out, a 100% stomach churner, on every front.

The Gecko brothers, bank robbers on the run, are two of the most unsympathetic and dislikable central characters you could meet, and even before they find themselves inadvertently up to their armpits in goo, there are some really blood-curdling scenes. Once they get south of the border, down Mexico way, with poor Preacher Fuller and his kids, then, quite literally, all hell breaks loose. And if you have even a slightly weak stomach, then this is not for you! There is absolutely nowhere to hide! If your bag is fast-paced gore and mayhem, icky goo and chaos, all pretty well choreographed by director and editor Robert Rodriguez, then fill your boots!

One final comment: the ending ~ the very ending ~ is clever. Stay with it till the titles.

Verdict: you have to appreciate this film (or not) on it’s own terms. I rank it at a solid 4 Stars.
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