From Dusk Till Dawn is a very fast-paced, action-horror movie. It may start out slow, but it suddenly jumps into an all-out fight for survival. It's full of gore, violence, and the unnecessary nudity and language. However, what it is lacking is a story and good performances. But if you like that sort of thing, this movie could be for you.
George Clooney gives one of the two performances that I think is actually good in this movie. He and his brother, Quentin Tarantino, are bank robbers who are on the run from the law. After killing, several cops and civilians, they arrive at a hotel just inside the border of Mexico. After Tarantino shoots their only hostage, they go out to find another one. They happen upon a pastor (Harvey Keitel) and his family. They take the family hostage and force them to drive them to Mexico.
Once they get to Mexico, they have to go to a biker bar ("Titty Twister") and meet Carlos (Cheech Marin, in one of his three parts). While there, they decide to have some fun. Unfortunately, everyone associated with the bar is a blood-thirsty vampire. These vampires are different from most vampires in movies. If these vampires even bite you (doesn't have to be on your neck), you become one of them. If they are stabbed with a stake (doesn't have to be through the heart), they die.
Probably the best thing about this movie is Juliette Lewis, as the pastor's daughter, and the blood and gore. Lewis provides the best character in the movie. The character wasn't very good, but Lewis makes all her characters stand out from the rest of the cast. From Cape Fear to Natural Born Killers, she is a very versatile actress. Everyone in the movie dies, except for Clooney and Lewis. I was glad that my two favorite characters survived, while the other one-dimensional characters were killed off.
The other good thing is the blood and gore. Most horror movies are about bad taste, and this one really has bad taste. The vampires rip their victims to shreds (i.e. decapitation, ripping arms and legs off, rearranging body parts, etc.). The blood is thick and there is plenty of it. There are a lot of scenes where the vampire is stabbed and blood gushes up onto the stabber. The gore is cool and somewhat original. However, the first half of the movie is violent, but slow. I was expecting some more violence than this, but the second half more than makes up for it.
From Dusk Till Dawn is rated R. The violence and gore is plentiful and gives the movie its R rating. But of course, director Robert Rodriguez added the strip club scene and a lot of harsh language. Without Clooney and Lewis and the violence, this movie could have been a lot worse. And watching Tarantino act, I realize how good of a director he is... and how poorly he can act. Maybe Rodriguez should have just made a movie where Lewis and Clooney kill the vampires and fall in love, instead of trying to mix a story into this messy film. I would have paid to see that.