From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Starring: George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, Fred Williamson, Michael Parks, Brenda Hillhouse, John axon, Marc Lawrence, Kelly Preston, John Hawkes

More info: IMDb

Tagline: One night is all that stands between them and freedom. But it's going to be a hell of a night.

Plot:Two fugitive brothers at gunpoint get an ex-minister and his two children to take them accross the border into Mexico. They drive to a Mexican biker bar to rendevous with other crooks. While at the bar, a few unusual things happen.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes

The first time I saw this I loved the first half with the crazed killers on the run to Mexico and hated it once it became a horror flick. Seriously, I knew nothing about this movie except the cast and who directed it - no trailer, synopsis, spoilers, nothing. Once the shit goes down in the bar, that's when it lost me. Since that initial shock of the film's tonal change, I love the whole damn thing. Clooney is a badass. Tarantino does a pretty good job for a change. Keitel straddles a fine line from being good to being miscast (if he's trying to sound like a Southerner he's not even close). Juliette Lewis is great (and has the Southern accent down pat), and it's an awful lot of fun watching Tom Savini, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo and Fred Williamson. But nothing compares to how much I dug the AMAZING Michael Parks as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw and his scene with John Hawkes's Pete Bottoms.

I really dig this flick. It's so much fun and I'm glad that Earl McGraw was revived for several more Rodriguez and Tarantino flicks. The music was great, too, especially in the bar scenes. I recognized the drummer from somewhere, thinking it was Los Lobos, but it turns out he was the drummer for one of my all-time favorite bands, Oingo Boingo, and Rodriguez was on guitar and vocals. Neat stuff. I haven't seen either of the two sequels yet but I will this month. It's about time I did. I'm sure they're not in the same ballpark as this one but at least the third one has Michael Parks in a starring role. That guy can do no wrong. Besides, I'm looking forward to going back to the Titty Twister.