From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Directed by Robert Rodriguez. Starring George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Quentin Tarantino, Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu, Cheech Marin, Salma Hayek, Tom Savini, Fred Williamson, Danny Trejo, Michael Parks, John Hawkes. [R]

Sibling bank robbers (Clooney, Tarantino) racing for the border take Keitel and his family hostage, their destination a scuzzy strip bar in the middle of nowhere that (unfortuitously) happens to be a den of monstrous bloodsuckers. As much a tale of two halves as Grindhouse was (in half the time); for about an hour, it’s a nihilistically hip Tarantino crime picture, then it transforms on a dime into a trashy vampire gore-comedy delivered in Rodriguez’s in-your-face style. Modestly enjoyable junk has attitude to spare as well as some respectable blood-and-guts special effects and makeup (not to mention enough boundless creativity to negate any attempt at logic/rules-of-lore in the frenetic back end), but a little more restraint and/or better staging would have served it better. In his first role since breaking through on TV’s “ER,” Clooney proves he has the screen presence and unforced charisma to be a legitimate movie star; Tarantino doesn’t fare nearly as well, but it’s still one of his least obtrusive showings in front of the camera. Sultry Hayek, wearing little besides a giant snake, steals the whole movie, of course.

69/100