From Dusk Till Dawn is a voraciously vulgar and violent film that illustrates how talented filmmakers can create a deliberately bad movie. Scripted by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Robert Rodriguez (Desperado), the film can best be described as a Mexican road picture turned self-conscious vampathon with a droll postmodern slant. Remarkably, the narrative consists of two contrasting types of films crudely soldered together. The story begins as a Pulp Fiction-type gangster tale featuring the sharp and profane dialogue seen in Tarantino's other films. Then with no warning, the movie suddenly transforms into a zany, vampire bloodbath similar to the tongue-in-cheek horror works of Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson. However, Tarantino is able to turn the genre on its undead ear, creating an over-the-top gorefest featuring holy-water condom balloons, quadruple impalement, and Harvey Keitel sucking blood as a preacher-turned-vampire. This bold and bizarre Tarantino/Rodriguez effort is laden with frenetic editing and fresh dialogue, but all style and cinematic skill fall to the wayside when the body count abruptly begins. This is a tour de force of outrageous bad taste coupled with delicious talent. Those who relish the work of Quentin Tarantino will certainly find merit in the first half of the film. Others who consider themselves horror aficionados will go bloody crazy over the eventual monster mash.
