While horror movie watching is a year-round event, this is that time of year when all of us can flourish, embracing the weird.
So, come one, come all, beasties unite! It’s Haunt-Tober time!
We all know and appreciate Quentin Tarantino at this point, but have you seen his earlier penned horror entry? One in which he has a supporting, uncomfortably creepy role? This is camp, this nightmare fuel, and it boasts a stellar cast. Yes, I’m talking about From Dusk Till Dawn.
One of my go-to horror comedies that never seems to run out of steam (or blood) is the uniquely wild Robert Rodriguez-directed mayhem fright fests.
Ramblers, Let’s Get Rambling
It starts as a crime thriller with the Gecko brothers the brains Seth (George Clooney) and the disturbed Richie (Quentin Tarantino) being pursued by the law after robbery and murder. They decide to head to a place beyond the Mexican border: El Rey. But first, they need to meet at a local biker bar and find transportation to do so.
They find a family on vacation who seem like easy pickings to take hostage. Patriarch Harvey Keitel, his daughter Juliette Lewis, and son Ernest Liu are trying to reconnect after the passing of his wife.
But this journey has nothing easy about it. For where they are heading is a place where evil traps their prey.
It’s gonna be a long night.
This is a horror that doesn’t hold back from a tendency to lean into self-awareness and embrace the dark humor that Tarantino emphasizes with his dialogue. Each eccentricity is on full display, and it’s got a killer cast, including Salma Hayek.
The practical effects are delightful. The over-the-top phrases and kills are a blast and the combination of characters, forced into this violent confrontation of survival is wielded with ample parts creativity and silly, gory rampage.
From Dusk Till Dawn has stylish direction coaxing its genre-bending narrative, with bouts of dark hilarity, all centered by the charismatic George Clooney. This vampire jaunt has a one-of-a-kind bite.
Today’s Winner:
Wonderfully Weird & Horrifying 