Review: From Dusk till Dawn trilogy

Recently, I watched all 3 films in the From Dusk till Dawn trilogy. The first was great, while the sequel and prequel (film #3) were not really worth anyone’s time.

There will be some minor spoilers ahead.

From Dusk till Dawn – Filmed in 1996 and starred George Clooney. Decent film all around; as you might expect from Quentin Tarantino it is quite bloody, oh and there is a decent bit of (topless) nudity from the female vampires before they start the killing. The bar they are at is called the Titty Twister, what did you expect? The main attraction of the Titty Twister is Santánico Pandemónium (played by Salma Hayek), and as we learn in film 3 (the prequel) she is half-human (dad)/half-vampire (mom and grandma). In the end, only 2 people survive and the Titty Twister is partially destroyed. The final shot shows us that it sits on a cliff with what looks like an Aztec temple beneath it and lots of old vehicles strewn around said temple.

Intriguingly, the Texas Ranger the Gecko brothers (George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino) kill at the beginning of the film is Earl McGraw, who has appeared in a 3 other Tarantino films to date: Kill Bill Vol 1 and the Grindhouse films (Planet Terror and Death Proof).

From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money – 3 years later, a sequel was made. It is tied to the previous film in that Earl’s son is mentioned as still being upset that “them Gecko brothers killed his pa”, and one of the characters briefly visits the Titty Twister (Which looks much worse on the inside this go around), oh and Danny Trejo is also in it for a few minutes. He probably gets as much screen time as Bruce Campbell does in the beginning of the film. This film was boring and really seemed to lack the action of the previous flick.

From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter – A year after the sequel, the prequel was made. This time we are opening in Mexico and getting ready to watch a hanging. The Hangman’s Daughter is Santánico Pandemónium, or will be later in the film, for now she is just Esmeralda and played by Ara Celi. She was… okay, but there were some real acting failures, like when she is supposed to be looking into Johnny Madrid’s face, but is instead staring at the camera (while he is to the left of the camera).

Really poor acting throughout, and all together a waste of time.

In summary, watch the first one, and forget the other 2 ever existed.