From Dusk till Dawn is a 1996 American action horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino from a concept and story by Robert Kurtzman. Starring Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Ernest Liu, and Juliette Lewis, the plot follows a pair of American criminal brothers (Clooney and Tarantino) who take a family as hostages (Keitel, Liu, and Lewis) in order to cross into Mexico, but ultimately find themselves trapped in a saloon frequented by vampires.

The film was released on January 17, 1996, and received mixed reviews from critics, who described the film as well-made if overly violent. After enjoying financial success at the box office, From Dusk till Dawn has since become a cult film and spawned a media franchise of sequel films, a video game and other media adaptations.

Plot

Fugitive bank robber brothers Seth and Richie Gecko hold up a liquor store, killing clerk Pete Bottoms and Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in a shootout. They inadvertently destroy the building as they leave. At an inn room where they are hiding out, Seth returns from getting food to find Richie has raped and murdered a bank clerk they had taken hostage, much to his anger.

Jacob Fuller, a pastor experiencing a crisis of faith brought on by the death of his wife, is on vacation with his teenage children Kate and Scott in their RV. They stop at the inn and are kidnapped by the Gecko brothers, who force the Fuller family to smuggle them over the Mexican border. In Mexico, they arrive at the Titty Twister, a strip club in the desert, where the Gecko brothers will be met by their contact, Carlos, at dawn. Carlos will escort them to sanctuary at El Rey , a place of safety for fugitives from justice whose admission fee is 30 percent of everything they have. When Richie complains to Seth that this is too high, Seth tells him it is non-negotiable.

During a bar fight, the bar employees reveal themselves as vampires and kill most of the patrons. Richie is bitten by a stripper, Santanico Pandemonium, and dies, but Seth manages to kill her by shooting at a chandelier above her that impales her. Only Seth, Jacob, Kate, Scott, a biker named Sex Machine, and Frost — a Vietnam veteran — survive. The others are reborn as vampires, including Richie, forcing the survivors to kill them all. When an army of vampires, in bat form, assembles outside, the survivors lock themselves inside, but Sex Machine is bitten, becomes a vampire, and bites Frost and Jacob. Frost throws Sex Machine through the door, allowing the vampires to enter while Frost turns into a vampire.

Seth, Kate, and Scott escape to a storeroom, followed shortly by an injured but still alive Jacob, brandishing a shotgun. In the storeroom, they fashion weapons from truck cargo the vampires have looted from past victims, including a stake mounted on a pneumatic drill, a crossbow and holy water, which requires Jacob to recover his faith to bless. Jacob, knowing he will soon become a vampire, makes Scott and Kate promise to kill him when he changes.

The group makes their final assault on the undead. Sex Machine mutates into a large rat-like creature and attacks Seth, but is killed. Jacob becomes a vampire but Scott hesitates to kill him, allowing Jacob to bite him. Scott hits Jacob with holy water and shoots and kills him. Scott is overwhelmed by vampires, who begin to devour him; he begs for death and Kate shoots him dead in an act of mercy. As vampires surround Kate and Seth, streams of morning light enter through bullet holes in the building, making the vampires back away. Carlos arrives and his bodyguards blast open the door, letting in the sunlight, which kills the vampires.

Seth chastises Carlos for his poor choice of meeting place, and negotiates a smaller tribute for his admission to El Rey. Kate asks Seth if she can go with him to El Rey, but he refuses, apparently concerned for her safety, leaving her with some cash. Kate drives away in the RV, leaving the Titty Twister behind, which is revealed to be the top of an eight-level partially buried Aztec temple.

Cast

• Harvey Keitel as Jacob Fuller
• George Clooney as Seth Gecko
• Quentin Tarantino as Richie Gecko
• Juliette Lewis as Katherine Fuller
• Ernest Liu as Scott Fuller
• Salma Hayek as Santanico Pandemonium
• Brenda Hillhouse as Hostage Gloria Hill (her last role)
• Marc Lawrence as Old Timer Motel Owner
• Cheech Marin as Border Guard / Chet Pussy / Carlos
• Michael Parks as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw
• Kelly Preston as Newscaster Kelly Houge
• Tom Savini as Sex Machine
• John Saxon as FBI Agent Stanley Chase
• Danny Trejo as Razor Charlie
• Fred Williamson as Frost
• John Hawkes as Pete Bottoms
• Tito & Tarantula as The Titty Twister House Band

Special make-up effects creator Greg Nicotero appears as Sex Machine s buddy.

Development

From Dusk till Dawn was conceived by Robert Kurtzman, who hired Tarantino to write the script as his first paid writing assignment. Universal Pictures originally considered Tarantino s screenplay for From Dusk till Dawn as the follow-up to Demon Knight and the second in a proposed Tales from the Crypt film trilogy, but ultimately produced another vampire film, Bordello of Blood, instead.

Production

References to other titles

The El Rey hideout in Mexico was borrowed from The Getaway, a 1958 crime novel by Jim Thompson.

Earl McGraw became a recurring character in Rodriguez and Tarantino s works, later appearing in Kill Bill, Planet Terror and Death Proof. Chango Beer and Sex Machine s codpiece gun are references to Rodriguez s 1995 film Desperado. Seth also returns to the hotel with Big Kahuna Burgers, which were used in Pulp Fiction and mentioned in Death Proof. Seth Gecko also says the line All right, Ramblers. Let s get ramblin ! , a quote from Tarantino s Reservoir Dogs. Scott s T-shirt decoration reads Precinct 13 , a reference to John Carpenter s 1976 film, Assault on Precinct 13.

Non-union crew

As with many of Rodriguez s films, From Dusk till Dawn employed a non-union production crew, which is unusual for a production with a budget above $15 million.

Release

From Dusk till Dawn had its world premiere on January 17, 1996. On its first week, the film grossed $10,240,805 in the United States making it the highest-grossing film of the week. The next week, the film fell to third highest in the box office where it grossed $4,851,921 being beaten by Mr. Holland s Opus and Bed of Roses. From Dusk till Dawn grossed $25,836,616 in the United States and $33,500,000 internationally, for a worldwide gross of $59,336,616.

On May 1, 1996, the film was banned in Ireland; Irish Film Censor Board head Sheamus Smith cited its irresponsible and totally gratuitous violence, which he felt was particularly untimely in the wake of the then-recent Dunblane and Port Arthur massacres. On January 27, 2004, the video release was passed with an 18 certificate.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 61% of 50 critics reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.99/10. The website s consensus reads, A pulpy crime drama/vampire film hybrid, From Dusk till Dawn is an uneven but often deliriously enjoyable B-movie. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 48 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B− on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and described it as a skillful meat-and-potatoes action extravaganza with some added neat touches . In her review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, The latter part of From Dusk till Dawn is so relentless that it s as if a spigot has been turned on and then broken. Though some of the tricks are entertainingly staged, the film loses its clever edge when its action heats up so gruesomely and exploitatively that there s no time for talk . Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, Rodriguez and Tarantino have taken the let- em-eat-trash cynicism of modern corporate moviemaking and repackaged it as junk-conscious attitude. In From Dusk till Dawn, they put on such a show of cooking up popcorn that they make pandering to the audience seem hip . However, in his review for The Washington Post, Desson Howe wrote, The movie, which treats you with contempt for even watching it, is a monument to its own lack of imagination. It s a triumph of vile over content; mindless nihilism posing as hipness . Cinefantastique magazine s Steve Biodrowski wrote, Whereas one might reasonably have expected that the combo of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez would yield a critical mass of nuclear proportions, instead of an atomic fireball s worth of entertainment, we get a long fuse, quite a bit of fizzle, and a rather minor blast . In his review for the San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle called the film, an ugly, unpleasant criminals-on-the-lam film that midway turns into a boring and completely repellent vampire comedy . If it s not one of the worst films of 1996 it will have been one miserable year . In Marc Savlov s review for the Austin Chronicle, he wrote, Fans of Merchant Ivory will do well to steer clear of Rodriguez s newest opus, but both action and horror film fans have cause for celebration after what seems like a particularly long splatter-drought. This is horror with a wink and a nod to drive-in theatres and sweaty back seats. This is how it s done .

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Subject	Result
Fangoria Chainsaw Award	Best Actor	George Clooney	Won
MTV Movie Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance		Won
Saturn Awards	Best Actor		Won
	Best Horror Film		Won
	Best Makeup		Nominated
	Best Director	Robert Rodriguez	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Juliette Lewis	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Harvey Keitel	Nominated
		Quentin Tarantino	Nominated
	Best Writing		Nominated
Razzie Awards	Worst Supporting Actor		Nominated
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards	Worst Supporting Actor		Nominated

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features mainly Texas blues by such artists as ZZ Top and brothers Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan on separate tracks. The Chicano rock band Tito & Tarantula, who portrayed the band in the Titty Twister, appears on the soundtrack as well. The film s score is by Graeme Revell. Dark Night by The Blasters plays over the film s opening and closing credits.

Video game

A video game of the same name was released for Windows in 2001. It is based on events that transpire directly after the end of the film.

Sequel and prequel

From Dusk till Dawn was followed by two direct-to-video installments, a sequel From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999) and prequel From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman s Daughter (2000). They were both received poorly by critics. Danny Trejo is the only actor to appear in all three, although Michael Parks appears in both From Dusk till Dawn and The Hangman s Daughter. Rodriguez, Tarantino and Lawrence Bender served as producers on all three movies.

Television

On March 17, 2014, a television series inspired by the films premiered on the El Rey network, produced and directed by Rodriguez. The show was intended to explore and expand on the characters and story from the film, providing a wider scope and richer Aztec mythology.

The series ended production in 2016 with Deadline Hollywood reporting that the actors have been released from their contracts as of October 31, 2016.

Year	1996
ReleaseDate	1996-01-19
RuntimeMins	108
RuntimeStr	1h 48min
Plot	Two criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.
Awards	Awards, 7 wins & 13 nominations
Directors	Robert Rodriguez
Writers	Robert Kurtzman, Quentin Tarantino
Stars	Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis
Produced by	Elizabeth Avellan,Lawrence Bender,John Esposito,Paul Hellerman,Robert Kurtzman,Gianni Nunnari,Robert Rodriguez,Quentin Tarantino,Meir Teper
Music by	Graeme Revell
Cinematography by	Guillermo Navarro
Film Editing by	Robert Rodriguez
Casting By	Elaine J. Huzzar,Johanna Ray
Production Design by	Cecilia Montiel
Art Direction by	Mayne Berke
Set Decoration by	Felipe Fernández del Paso
Costume Design by	Graciela Mazón
Makeup Department	Mark Alfrey,Karrie Aubuchon,Howard Berger,John Bisson,Kamar Bitar,Norman Cabrera,Evan Campbell,Mario Castillo,Gino Crognale,Michael Dudley,Jeff Edwards,John Paul Fedele,Jillian Glass,Audrey Goetz,Connie Grayson Criswell,Heidi Grotsky,Ted Haines,Eric Harris,Rob Hinderstein,Bill Hunt,Hiroshi Kan Ikeuchi,Gary Jones,Luke Khanlian,David Kindlon,Robert Kurtzman,Don Malot,Nick Marra,Rodd Matsui,Robert Maverick,Mike McCarty,Jake McKinnon,Gill Montie,Greg Nicotero,Douglas Noe,Larry Odien,Ermahn Ospina,Jeremy Padow,Ron Pipes,Brian Rae,Chris Robbins,Shannon Shea,Greg Smith,Mark Tavares,Noelle Thurin,Melanie Tooker,Wayne Toth,Matthew Travison,Alan Tuskes,Henrik von Ryzin,David Wogh,William Butler
Production Management	Paul Hellerman,Luz María Rojas,Tamara Smith
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Douglas Aarniokoski,Brian Bettwy,Dieter Busch
Art Department	Stan Atkins,Michael Atwell,Colin Bardon,Chris Barnes,James C. Beeson,Alex Bogartz,Michael J. Brady,Chris Carriveau,Kenneth Carriveau,Beto Casillas,Carlos A. Chavez,Robert Clark,Scot Cummings,Colin De Rouin,Paul Dowler,McPherson O. Downs,James Michael Drury Jr.,Jennifer Flynn,Christine Gebele,Marc Gillson,Melissa Hale,Bruce Harris,Jennie Harris,Gregg M. Hartman,Shawn Hawkins,Jeff Hay,Steve Ingrassia,Wendy Jerde,Adam Lustig,Adam Markey,Brian Markey,Jennifer Martinez,Jerry Martinez,Larry McCauley,Howard Payne Miller,Martin Milligan,Amy Montgomery,Adam Nagel,Mary Patvaldnieks,Mark Peters,Oswaldo Rojas,Ronald Russom,Chris Scher,Abigail Sheiner,David Shwartz,Ramsey Smith,James Stanberry,Pedro V. Suchite,Floyd Valero,Michael Whetstone,Caylah Eddleblute,David Esparza
Sound Department	Dana Austin,John Bates,Beth Bergeron,Dean Beville,Matthew C. Beville,Allan Bromberg,Gary W. Carlson,Carrie Cashman,Gloria Cooper,Scott Curtis,Robert Deschaine,Thom Coach Ehle,Thomas Raymond Fabbricante,Tom Gerard,Tim Gomillion,Dana Gustafson,Warren Hamilton Jr.,Greg Hedgepath,Steve Heinke,William Jacobs,Patricio A. Libenson,Laura Macias,Derek Marcil,Charles Maynes,Patrushkha Mierzwa,Harry B. Miller III,John Pospisil,Sergio Reyes,Robert Rodriguez,Sean Rowe,Solange S. Schwalbe,B. Tennyson Sebastian II,Frank Smathers,Charles Ewing Smith,Christopher Sposa,Mark Ulano,Bob Wishnefsky,Jeffrey Kaplan,Edmund J. Lachmann,Rob Nokes,Folmer Wiesinger
Special Effects by	Charles Belardinelli,Thomas L. Bellissimo,John C. Carlucci,Johnny Franco III,Jack M. Harvey,Frank Iudica,Thomas Liberto,Larry Odien,Cary Stuart,Christy Sumner,Malia Thompson,Shannon J. Thompson,David Gallion,Karin Hanson,Alan McFarland,Hal Miles
Visual Effects by	Gary Anderton,James Belkin,Bruce Berman,Diana Dru Botsford,Cheryl Budgett,Jeff Burrage,Linda Cordella,Joe Davenport,Karen deJong,John D.J. Des Jardin,Drew Digenova,Antoine Durr,Jason Elias,Gregory Elwood,Daniel Fort,Eric S. Foster,Mark Franco,Julie Ann Glazer,Rochelle Gross,Rhonda C. Gunner,Jack M. Harvey,Nicole P. Hearon,Bryan Hirota,Richard E. Hollander,Josh R. Jaggars,Andy Kopra,Christopher Kutcka,Harry Lam,Lynn Ledgerwood,Todd Lincoln,Liz Lord,Brian Louks,Jose Ricardo Stickshift Martinez,Morris May,Gregory L. McMurry,Rudy Pahoyo,Craig Reynolds,David Rimer,Mark Sawicki,Rob Schultz,Ahryn Scott,Steven J. Scott,Karen Skouras,Taylor Evan Sparks,Peter Sternlicht,Robert Stromberg,Catherine Sudolcan,Kevin Wadowski,John Warner,Gina Warr,John C. Wash,Mike Wassel,Genevieve Yee,Manuel Rey Gonzalez,Matthew Paulson,Stephen Sobisky
Stunts	William Atwell,Robin Lynn Bonaccorsi,Bob Brown,Troy Brown,Michele Burkett,William H. Burton Jr.,Jennifer Caputo,Samuel Dauria,Steve M. Davison,Tim A. Davison,Charlie Estepp,Richie Gaona,Lance Gilbert,Troy Gilbert,Nadine Grycan,Randy Hall,Thomas Robinson Harper,Anita Hart,Rosine Ace Hatem,Dana Hee,Freddie Hice,Steve Holladay,Billy Hank Hooker,Buddy Joe Hooker,Tommy J. Huff,Jeff Imada,Matt Johnston,Henry Kingi,Billy D. Lucas,Gary McLarty,Bennie Moore,Greg Nicotero,Hugh Aodh O Brien,Marina A. Oviedo,Manny Perry,Chad Randall,Troy Robinson,Danny Rogers,Erik Rondell,Frank Torres,Tim Trella,Scott Wilder,Spice Williams-Crosby,Steve M. Davison,Michael Haddad,Gene Hartline,George A. Sack Jr.,Eddie L. Watkins
Camera and Electrical Department	Lennon Bass Jr.,David Berryman,David Chameides,Alan Cohen,Young Vance Cohen,Jason Jake Cross,Ziad Doueiri,Flint Ellsworth,Camille Freer,Nathan Hathaway,James Irons,Bob Ivanjack,Timothy James Kane,Jeremy Launais,David Lee,Gerardo Manjarrez,Guillermo Navarro,Heather Hillmeyer Newsom,Robert Rodriguez,Joyce Rudolph,Tim Soronen,Rick Stribling,Bryan Swerling,Andy Watts,Patrick Yackett,Jeff DeVuono
Casting Department	Mary Jane Fendler,Barbara Harris,Jeff Olan,Terry Zarchi
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Jacqueline Aronson,Nathan Easterling,Mary Kay Jensen,Jillian Ann Kreiner,Ireri Mazón Salas,Houston Sams,Britt Thorpe Sherwood,Lovelynn Vanderhorst,Stephanie Wise,Malou Magnusson
Editorial Department	Joaquin Gonzalo Avellán,Daniel Fort,Mo Henry,Ethan Maniquis,David Orr,Laura Rush,Jim Cricchi
Location Management	Robert Earl Craft,Douglas Dresser,Kyle Oliver
Music Department	Wolfgang Amadeus,Mark Curry,Chuck Kelley,Mary Ramos,Tim Simonec,Joel Soyfter,Dan Wallin,Brian Williams,Joshua Winget,Craig Braginsky
Script and Continuity Department	Lou Ann Quast
Transportation Department	Bruce Callahan,Jeff Coffman,Steve Earle,Don Feeney,Scotty Goudreau,Jason McCord,Robert McCord,Mack McInville,George Nadian,Tom O Donnell,Derek Raser,Geoff Teagardin,J.T. Thayer,Earl Thielen,Tracy Thielen,Paul Burlin,Thomas O Donnell,George A. Sack
Additional Crew	William Atwell,Jay Beattie,Steev Beeson,Carles Berot,Ken Bondy,Daniel Myers Boone,Amy Minda Cohen,Taylor A. Cummings,Dawn Todd Curfman,Teresa Delucio,Maureen Duffy,Craig A. Emanuel,Carlos K. Goodman,Geoff Hale,John Patrick Hardin,Steve Joyner,Richard W. Kopenhefer,Loren Lockwood,Victoria Lucai,Chandra Marrs,Courtney McDonnell,Alvin Mears,Corinne Needle,Tommy Nix,Lowell Northrop,Ben Parker,Aaron Penn,Cathy Ragona,Nick Roberts,Pam Rosenberg,Andrew T. Rothmund,Laura Rush,Daniel J. Shaw,Peri Silverman,Jon Sperry,Jules Sylvester,Mark Thornhill,Nicholas Toth,Jan D. Tys,Venus Ventura,Kurt Woolner,Salma Hayek,Giuppy Izzo,Gianluca Lazzaroni,Melanie Long,Ante Novakovic,Taylor Saxon
Thanks	Scott Spiegel
Genres	Action, Crime, Horror
Companies	Dimension Films, A Band Apart, Los Hooligans Productions
Countries	USA, Mexico
Languages	English, Spanish
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	7.2
ImDbRatingVotes	312869
MetacriticRating	48
Keywords	stripper,held hostage,u.s. mexico border,priest,strip club