FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (1996)
Starring Harvey Keitel and George Clooney
Quentin Tarantino is known for being a big splatter film fan. At his own film festivals, the gangster movie-maker always shows a plethora of gory exploitation movies that have been long since forgotten and he was responsible for the re-release of Lucio Fulci's "The Beyond" in 1998. So it was natural he would write a vampire pic. He got friend Keitel to star as a family man abducted with his family by hoodlums Clooney and Tarantino. The first two thirds of the film are like your basic Tarantino movie, with lots of one-liners and of course plenty of crime.
But in the last scene, the family and kidnappers alike find themselves pitted against a Mexican strip club, the Titty Twister, filled with vampires. As a homage to exploitation films in general, the film features John Saxon ("A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Tenebre") and Tom Savini (the make-up man behind "Dawn of the Dead" and "Friday the 13th") in small roles. It's an unconventional, entertaining horror film that was a huge hit. With big-name actors and a Tarantino script, the film coasted on the coattails of "Pulp Fiction" at the box office.
Two kick-ass sequels were also made, but were relegated as direct-to-video releases. Some fans, expecting another mainstream movie like this one, were disappointed that the two follow-ups didn't have star actors, but to hell with those people. The sequels were more than satisfying, particular Part 3. Rodriguez, known for his Tarantino-like action films, would go on to direct another horror pic, Dimension Films' "The Faculty."