362: From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

SPEAKER_02 0:04

Having someone's foot in your mouth is literally disgusting. I don't care how hot you are. Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. If we don't got it, you don't want it. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

A total joke, a waste of time.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Or a splash. Totally killer, pun intended. We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with the perspective we've gained from our varied walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slash enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the super flight space guy Mac.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Let's see if it tastes as good as your brother.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

The paranormal paramore Binks. Does anybody know what's going on here?

SPEAKER_03 0:56

Okay, vampire killers, let's kill some fucking vampires.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

This episode of Hacker Slash is brought to you by Adam and Eve. Trusted for over fifty years to bring thrills into the bedroom. No blood suckers required. Whether you're looking for a knight that's a little wicked or very sinful, they've got something for everyone. Stay tuned to learn how you can save 50% off one item at adamandeve.com. This week we're traveling back to 1996 to check out a film born from Quentin Tarantino's first paid riding gig.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

And if you're a patron or Apple Podcast subscriber, you'll also get to hear our B-side at the end of this episode, where we discuss Biggs' chance of survival from Dive Bar Vampires and Chris's own adventure in the sticky world of pole dancing performers.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Years before Quentin Tarantino's writing took center stage with pulp fiction, Robert Kurtzman, Special Effects Maestro and co-founder of K and Bects Group, set out in 1988 with a plan. Kurtzman needed to work for his effects studio, and he drafted the initial treatment for a story he wanted to see come to life. So in 1990, he hired an up-and-coming screenwriter. Tarantino took on the project for about $1,500 and the promise that KNB would handle the makeup effects for his first film, Reservoir Dogs. It was his first paid gig, and the story simmered for years, waiting for its moment. After Pulp Fiction, Tarantino revisited the project and had a director in mind who could bring the story's gritty, unpredictable style to life. Robert Rodriguez. With Rodriguez at the helm and Miramax backing them, the team headed to set in the summer of 1994 to bring Kurtzman's vision to the screen. And the end result was a film that earned a worldwide gross of more than fifty-nine million dollars and several awards for its star, George Clooney. This week we're talking about From Dusk Till Dawn. Who's seen this one before?

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Oh, it's been quite a few years, but this is one I've seen a couple times.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

The only thing I remember about this movie is George Clooney, Tarantino, and Selma Hayek looking hot. And for the longest time, I gotta be honest, I didn't know what fucking Dawn movie this was because it feels like every movie is called Dawn something, Dawn of the Dead, From Dust Till Dawn, then there's Day of the Dead, Living of the Dead. It's all one clusterfuck, quite frankly. So I really didn't really remember which one this was even called for a good fucking while.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

I have seen this movie so many times, and I will continue to be in love with it every single time. But you want to think of the Witching Hour. That's why there's so many Dawns in these spooky Halloween movies. You want to survive till dawn and shit happens at dusk.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

The only Dawn film that I can ever recall is Breaking Dawn. But this will be a close second now.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

Listen, I haven't seen this since I was a kid, but I do remember distinctly loving it. The last time I saw this was probably around the time that it came out, or maybe around the time that it came out for viewing and owning at home. But I do know that this was my first Robert Rodriguez and my first Quentin Tarantino film, although that realization didn't really hit me till years later. So walking into this, I really expected this to be one of those moments where you are watching something that you remember in its entirety, but I could not express and I cannot understate how much I did not remember from this movie.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

Yeah, there's a lot that goes on here, and so if you've seen it in adulthood, it's fairly memorable, at least the important parts are. But if you saw it any earlier, teenage or childhood, depending on how you were raised and what level of access you had, yeah. I think you might get lost in the vampire sauce because so much stuff gets used in other films here and there. But yeah, I think as an adult who's seen this in adulthood, it's not that I can replay it in my mind based on memory alone, but the the major parts are definitely there.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Yeah, that's my thing, is that I feel like I have seen this, but as I was watching it, I was like, wait, maybe I haven't. I really do only remember those three human beings in this movie. And I would say that perhaps I watched this maybe in the background at a party or hanging out with some friends, things like that, because I agree with you, Chris. As it was going on, I didn't remember a thing. So my expectations were kind of set at a low bar from the cover and from the things I have heard in passing about this film. It just didn't seem like it was gonna be one that I would love very much. I'll be real.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

Okay, so I have the opposite for me. I have seen this movie so much that I had it playing on my phone while I was cleaning today, and I had it in my Bluetooth, and I could still quote the movie while it like I knew exactly what was happening without even having to look at the screen. I can picture like where they are in every scene. It's bananas, but this is definitely a favorite for me. And I is it weird to think that this is a movie for like everyone, because there's a little bit of everything, but I remember seeing this as a kid and seeing this every year, and it slaps equally the same. And I was a little like at 96, I was already cool, but you know, it's still one of the movies where I would show my kids if I ever decide to spawn, which I won't, but it's a good one for everyone.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

Yeah, you raised an interesting point about it having something for everyone. I think what it does not have is anything for a fucking six-year-old child. I don't know why I was watching this movie when I was that young. But in terms of a genre taste, I agree. There's a lot of action, there's some crime, there's some sticky heat. This is one of those movies that looks hot, not because of how attractive people are, but because you can feel the warmth and the sweat. This is that style of gritty nihilistic filmmaking. And one of those things that really stood out to me was yeah, okay, there's a lot in here that is for everyone, but there actually is not a lot in here for everyone when you look at it from through a 24 lens, a 2024 lens. Yeah, the language in here is something that doesn't age well. This is distinctly like a period piece for a movie. And honestly, I don't know that I've heard I don't even want to utter the word because it's just not something that I usually say myself, but there's some anatomy that is called out so much in this movie, and I shit you not. They probably said this word more than fuck gets said in Rob Zombies Halloween and Halloween 2 combined, at least I think.

SPEAKER_03 7:26

I love the word, but not as part of the anatomy, but to insult somebody. So I feel like maybe I'm stuck in the 90s because I I still say whack too, so don't judge me. But it's such a powerful word, and the fact that it's not taken in a serious tone, and that's you y'all know, like I love movies that aren't taken too seriously, and there's some deep shit that happens in this movie, but it's still very light and fluffy and fun. There's comedy, action. I don't know. I genuinely think that if you go in feeling just happy and ready to have fun, you're gonna enjoy it and not take it too seriously. I hope.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Light and fluffy is an interesting choice of words because this movie just makes you feel dirty while watching it. Not like in a naughty way, but like in a physically dirty way, like you need to take a shower while you're watching it. And 50% of that is just how everything looks, everybody's wardrobe, everybody's sweatiness. The other 50% is everything involved with Quentin Tarantino. As a character in the film, as a writer of the film, the dialogue just covers you in dirt. 50% of the dirtiness is due to this one man.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Dirtiness is a great way to describe it. I feel like with this film, I was taken aback initially by its first scene because it seemed like it wasn't holding back from being intense. And so I was kind of shell-shocked thinking that this movie was going to be a comedy, but then we have the introduction that we get, and it's very much not comedy to an extent. So I would dare say that this film kind of takes a little bit of a roller coaster. I'm buying into what you're telling me, Veto, about it having a little bit for everyone. But my big thing is that because I had that introduction and that cold splash of water, I then took the film seriously. So then when it go went back to being the stereotypical, like grind house Robert Rodriguez and Tarantino collab, I was already like, oh, I wasn't really in the mood for that. So I think you have to go into this wanting a good time and a silly time. And I, on the other hand, like the more severe and cerebral think pieces that are arthouse horror. And I do like a funny time. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good camp every so often. But I don't know, something about this one was just like, okay, after a while, I just want to wash my body and get rid of this dirtiness and this griminess. I'm a little over it. You can tell that after a while it gave a little bit of like, this is my final project to show what great special effects I can do, which I know is the purpose of this whole film to begin with. And no, nothing wrong with that. Loved it. That part was great.

SPEAKER_02 10:07

Hmm. I think on a scale of Vero to Binks, I'm somewhere in the middle on this film because I do not like arthouse think pieces. A movie can be cerebral and I can get into it for sure, but there's nothing about specifically art house that I'm just yeah, it doesn't drive with me. But then also the really gritty grindhouse films I'm also not a fan of. This somehow managed to strike a balance where when you look and leave all the shit that does not age well on the table, I was still able to have some fun.

SPEAKER_03 10:40

For me, you have to be a special type of person to enjoy this type of movie. And I think there's so many elements that you genuinely connect with from just how you you get into the character, right? Like I would love to be with them. I want to be like the third amigo, the third sister with the two brothers. Like, I would love to be a part of it, and I enjoy the dirtiness and goriness and just being what makes all three of you uncomfortable for me. I'm like, that's where I want to do. I want to be like three days in, no shower, have guts and blood all over me, and just have a good time. And I feel like this movie, without being, you know, the gore scores that high for me, it was still something that I enjoyed because it's a classic. It's a belly laugh for me, to be honest. And I'm a proud Latina. Let's be real. This is like Latina, like all the way, and I'm down for it. Weird to say, but it did make me proud.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

It's weird though, because like with my memories of this film, I remember the bar scene taking up so much more of it, the runtime, and it was like a massive shock to be 50% of the way in and not there yet. That was kind of mind-blowing to me, like how much of this was little just like the humans and the grittiness. It was just like a regular Tarantino film, just a Tarantino crime film. And some of that was fantastic and other parts were disgusting. But like it was giving me a little bit of nostalgia for the 90s when you get Clooney and other things like Out of Sight, where it was, I don't know, it was when Clooney was fun. Let's say that. It was when we had a fun time with action movies and heists and all that kind of stuff. But yeah, I mean, we have this for half the film, probably even more, before we even get into the fun, silly vampire stuff.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

You know what's interesting to me uh about this is I had a similar reaction to you. I remember the bar stuff being so much more of this movie, but it wasn't just the bar stuff. I remember the first portion of the bar stuff being almost the entire movie. So there was a really strange roller coaster that I was on, and I felt like I had to whiplash every few seconds because holy shit, what the fuck is this person doing in this movie? I never forgot about George Clooney. I never forgot about Selma Hayek, but damn I did forget about Juliet Lewis. Damn, I did forget about John motherfucking Saxon. This movie was loaded with people, including Tom Savini. We've gotten so much Quentin Tarantino and so much Tom Savini this year in these movies.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

Yeah, when I saw Tom Savini, I was like, oh my god, this is the second time this month, buddy. That's great. Look at you. Yeah, I was also surprised. I would say that the biggest surprise though, of that casting. I swear, I thought I saw Cheech like maybe five times. I know that he was like a police officer and then he's just like one other character. But why did it seem like everybody was Cheech for a second? I was like, what are you doing here, bro? I felt like this was like an Adam Sandler film when he was bringing back that those couple actors. It that's the equivalent of Cheech.

SPEAKER_03 13:56

Yeah, I had the same feeling. I mean, to be honest, that is probably the only thing that I'm like, oh no, play it cool. Like, I I get it, but I will say that to align with all of y'all, this movie felt so short watching it right now. I just watched what the crap was that movie? Trapped. Bro, that movie is like three hours long. Why does it never end? And it was painful to watch. The fact that this is less than two hours, I want it to be so much longer. It felt really fast. Watching it today, I was like, what is happening? And I used it as like a timer because I was like, okay, I can only do this for an hour and a half, and it was like the movie was done. I was so sad, so sad.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

Damn, that's a real hack. You need a fucking timer, just put on a movie.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

I do that all the time. You guys don't do that?

SPEAKER_02 14:47

I've never noticed that.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Oh, for sure. That is a thousand percent of my timer. That's how I I segment my days with like movies, if anything. Well, my weekends, I should say.

SPEAKER_03 14:58

I am productive at work. The movies are too long now. I can't comprehend there because I feel like it could have ended so many times and they're just dragging it on. But this one, they need like a show or something. Just kidding.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Well, I was gonna say, I think that there is a show because what I thought of when I was watching this film was like, I feel like I would have connected more and liked it more if it was a show. And then apparently there is one, and I'm pretty sure that it has this girl that is from a novella that I really like called Isa Gonzalez, maybe, or someone that looks just like her. But I'm gonna have to look that up again to make sure that I wasn't delusional at 2 a.m. watching it.

SPEAKER_03 15:37

There's a lot. If you are looking for a fun movie that maybe isn't scary, because let's be honest, this movie is not scary at all. This is the one to go. I'm telling you, this if I were to be a kindergarten teacher, I would show the kids in the classroom this movie. Vero.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

You'd get fired so quick.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

Vero, this is not the kindergarten movie. There are so many movies that could be kindergarten movies. From Dust Till Dawn, the crotch gun.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

The crotch gun was fantastic. This is how you learn about your body through dust till dawn. This is look, hold on a second, because that's dance class, okay? So let's also call it for what it is. And I'm here for that part. Actually, what I'm not here for is it's just a lot of brutality, which again, Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, they love that stuff. So, like the gun violence of it all, obviously, there's gonna be that here. Like a cowboy saloon type vibe, right? So you have to expect that. So if you aren't maybe one to love gore, it we'll get into that later on in the episode, but in my opinion, I don't think it's super severe, but I wouldn't suggest it. But as far as like scares, nothing is gonna be scary about this, not even the design of these vampires.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

No, I mean you're getting a really cool design is something that's different from every other vampire film, and so that's a nice change. But they're not really going for the scary kind of vampire, I think. It's really about camp by that point in the movie. I think the only cringe-worthy moments you're gonna have, aside from the socially cringe-worthy moments, are in the first half to two-thirds of the film, and it's between the humans because you're worried about characters, you know, one of them's a loose cannon, you don't know what's gonna happen, and you know that that person can do some dangerous gross stuff. So yeah, I think you might feel a little bit nervous early on, but when it gets to the vampire stuff, I don't think it's really about fear at that point.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

The only thing scary about this movie is how early this was in showing us what kind of character Quentin Tarantino plays, and we still got that same fucking character again in Planet's Error. When do we learn our lessons? He can only do one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

It's himself. Well, about the foot thing.

SPEAKER_02 17:55

But here's the thing. I will give credit to this movie for being different. Mac, you mentioned it's different from a lot of other vampire movies. We get a lot of vampire cinema, we get the Draculas, we get the 30 Days of Night, Fright Night. The whole idea is like, can you give us vampires but with a twist? And this is a movie that does that. This is a movie that doesn't reveal vampires until pretty significantly into the movie, even though I think we commonly realize no of this film as being a vampire movie. So I think its ability to take its time is something that I can appreciate.

SPEAKER_03 18:29

I feel like if you had no idea what this movie was about, the first few minutes of the movie, you would have no idea it's about vampires. You think, oh man, they're two brothers running from the law, they're gonna start kidnapping and killing people, and you feel like this is gonna be a twist of kill bill some sort of way. The vampires come out of nowhere. Not only that, they're in a goddamn strip club in the middle of the night. Like they're the when you're thinking of what other movie has tried to do something like this, it it's not a lot, right? Uh this is a specific genre of mu movies. And I will say it the one thing is it does have Tom Savini, which means it's such a nicely special effect. You you can pause and look at how beautiful some of these vampires look. I know that sounded weird, but I genuinely love that this is a unique movie for sure.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Yeah, it's it's got some originality going for it. That whole gritty crime aspect of the film is not really replicated in, I don't think any other vampire or werewolf or supernatural film that I can think of. And that's probably due to the writing of Quentin Tarantino. I'm not sure maybe this was the original storyline they came up with, but it's delivered in such a way where most of the movie is just a Tarantino flick. That's what it feels like. And then we jump into now something supernatural and and campy and ridiculous, but equally as entertaining.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

And I'd agree that the setting and overall atmosphere feels like one big fever dream. And there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, it definitely feels original. I've been watching a lot of horror movies, especially this October, and this one definitely stands out. I'll give it that, but it also stands out because of its ridiculous ending, in my opinion. That ending is absolutely batshit crazy, and I think that it's already strange to follow main characters that are criminals, and the dynamics of all of these characters are definitely off base, a little off-kilter for sure. Some quite I say daring and borderline interesting. We'll call it that. But the final reveal, like I'm talking like the last couple second seconds, I couldn't have rolled my eyes further back into my head. I couldn't even believe it. But like laughing, but definitely like what in the fuck, quite frankly.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Yeah, see, I don't know. I think the ending might have been one of my favorite parts of the movie. Maybe not necessarily the last couple seconds and what is revealed. Sure. But this movie was a wild fucking ride, and there's a lot of it that I don't like, but there is a lot of it that I do like. And I think what we get in terms of how characters are reconciling with one with another, we have a lot of belief systems that are being challenged and questioned. I think the strength of a family is questioned on both sides of the equation. And I don't know, this is one that looks like it should be really fucking dumb, but is actually really fucking, I wouldn't say super deep, but really interesting in that regard. It's saying a lot more than it seems to be saying at first glance.

SPEAKER_03 21:39

I think everybody at it it shows that no when there is chaos and when there is total madness, it can be okay to get along for a minute and figure out the common goal and get your shit done. And I think for me, the ending of the movie wasn't my favorite. I feel I would live in the gore. Of the middle of the part of the movie, but the ending is something that you giggle at, I guess, Binks. I would say that it's a roll, it's a roll your eyes giggle kind of man. Okay, that's how we did it. All right, let's move on. It was good while it lasted situation for me, the ending of this movie.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Yeah, it was okay. I think as we're getting to the very end of the film, it's weird because it kind of changes, and I think we get some character developments that are necessary in this style of film, and we finally get whittled down to the very last bit of the movie, and it leaves us with a scene that for me feels like a little bit of sequel baiting, to maybe just setting the scope, but then it almost feels like a painted scene from a Star Trek episode. So I'm not mad at it, but it doesn't really match everything leading up to it.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

Well, I can't wait to see what these mixed signals on this ending do for its ratings. But before we get into that, Mac, how would you write the core score?

SPEAKER_00 22:59

We've got a lot of damage going on here. There's a lot shown on screen, whether it's decapitations or people turning into disgusting goo or just some minor bites and bruises and limbs being torn off. So we're gonna call it a nice, happy, medium high.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

And what about the animal report?

SPEAKER_01 23:16

If you were to Google this, it's going to tell you that we're not safe, but that's only because of the design of some of these vampires, actually. So we're actually sh safe. Don't believe Google is basically what I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Well, let's go ahead and get into our ratings then from dusk until dawn, 1996. Is it a hack or a slash?

SPEAKER_00 23:34

This is a tough film to review because we have how however many years of distance between us and the culture that led this to be created. So I think you mentioned earlier, Chris, that the language used in this movie is hard to listen to and many, many points. There are some slurs used that are just not acceptable for film use anymore. Perhaps only Tarantino gets away with it in his films. And so here it's a little bit weird because he's the writer, he's not the director, but you know, they're cool, they're buds, whatever. It's still hard to forgive it for the insensitivities of the filmmakers, you know, 30, 40 years ago. Let's not talk about it. But as a story, it's so good, and it's got such great people involved with putting this on screen. I mean, we've mentioned Clooney, which is just a good time, especially back in the 90s. Everyone loved some George Clooney. He's got that smoldering broodiness, and it was perfect for the role. We've got Harvey Kaytel, who is an amazing actor and absolutely matches that grittiness with an even more seriousness and facial expressions that are, I don't know, textbook, at least they should be the textbooks. But we've got Tarantino grossness scattered all throughout this film. Some of it is obviously on purpose, it's mirroring exploitation films, and other parts are just him revealing himself, and that is not physically or visibly revealing himself, just as a as who he is, as a person. Some of that is not as enjoyable. I think Robert Rodriguez gives us both the camp and the grittiness that we need. I'm a huge fan of some of his other films. Mariachi is fantastic. I, as a child, I believe, maybe 10 years old, saw that and just fell in love with that universe. But it's a weird package to put together. And I think you have to really look at the entertainment value overall. It's a fun ride, it's a great time. As soon as you get into like the meat and potatoes vampire action of this film, you are rooting for some vampires to get a stake. That is for sure. And I think by the time you've made it through, you look past, you feel bad about half of it, and then you feel like you had a really good second half. So I think that puts it into clear slash territory.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Well, I'm about to die. Look, I have very little to to share here because quite frankly, as tactfully as I can say this, I have very little care for this movie. And although I thought that I would enjoy it more than I had expected, because I like Tarantino films. I actually like, you know, some of the Grindhouse ones. I obviously like George Clooney, I like Vampires, Salma Hike shows my birthday, and she looks really hot in this film, and thus I wanted to be her every time I saw like that one particular clip, right? Like an inspiration. But the problem is that as I was watching it, I was hoping that I would love it more and more. And I just felt like more and more of my time was wasted, even though it was fast and fast-paced. And I appreciate it for that. But it's one of those films where I'm glad that it was fast because if it had dragged on, I would have put this at 2x speed. The best parts of this film still felt a little bit like this can get old very quickly. And that's what feels disappointing. You know, the violence, the action sequences, the vampire, like the special effects, like super cool. But what else? I didn't feel connected to a lot of the characters. And I think that the serious plot line of talking about faith and the dynamics between some of these characters, whether it be siblings, whether it be a family dynamic of being a single father, all these things, like it just did not land. It was too silly for any of that to really fucking matter to me. So unfortunately, I know that I'm gonna get a lot of hate for this because some of my own friends, when they saw what I rated this film on my letterbox or when I talked to them about it, they were like, holy shit, like, no way. And I was like, it's just not my cup of tea. So I'm so sorry, Veto. I hope that you forgive me one day. This one's for you specifically. And I'm so sorry it's a Tarantino and his foot fetish, but this is a complete hawk.

SPEAKER_03 27:43

Okay. To be fair, I'm not a Quentin Tarantino fan, shall I say? Okay. But this movie, I don't connect it to him. I know it's really weird to think of it that way, but you have Tom Savini, you have the beauty of what he is able to do with a little bit of prosthetics. You have the ability to be silly, which is what I like. I mean, Tarman is legit, like my favorite character. Toxic Avenger, I would hang out with every single day. I want the boils, I want the explosions, I want to be able to see the multiple layers when someone's skin is melting off. That brings me joy. I don't, I don't like movies again, and I've said it over and over again, where I have to truly think of the characters and care. If you care about characters in this movie, you're fucked because fuck the kids, fuck everybody in this movie, no matter what, if you love God or don't, you're gonna fucking die. Which is one of the things that I love the most about this. But for me, it's a staple in my movies that I watch yearly. It's one of those that gives me belly laughs. I love everything about this movie. I think the this was probably in Vegas, Banks. If I'm they probably filmed it in Vegas, it looks like Vegas. That's probably why you don't like it. Just saying that. But I it's one of those things you can't take it seriously. If you do, then there's so many things that are wrong with this movie, from the first scene to just the kidnapping alone to everything going on in this titty twister. Tw titty twister, the double T, what did we call it? Whatever it is. There's so many things that you could tie back to an issue, but I like it and I want to rate it a double slash. I feel like Sean would have rated it a slash as well, but I want to rate it a slash just because we need a little bit more vampires in this world, and this movie makes me happy.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

It's really the scale of Binx to Veto or Veto de Binx. And I'm right there in the middle of it. Because like Veto, I don't really associate this movie with Quentin Tarantino. But holy shit, the gross shit he does is all over this film. And almost every part of this movie that I hate, ooh, there is Quentin Tarantino front and center. He's got them written all over it. But on the other side of it, Binks, you mentioned that this is a movie that you wanted to like the more it went on, but you just couldn't. And this is one where you know, when we start and we get some of the language and the slurs that are thrown out here, and also I'm just remembering Quentin Tarantino from our Planet Terror episode a few weeks ago, and I'm just like, ugh, I hate this guy. I wanted to dislike this. It started off at a negative for me. But then George Clooney kept being George Clooney. The Gecko brothers continued to have this hilarious but disgusting dynamic. And George Clooney's character, Seth, is a thief. But there's honor among thieves, and there can be honor in some of the crimes that he sees fit. But what really got me about this movie is that it's a really fucking good vampire movie, and it doesn't play like that for most of the film. If this didn't have the vampire component, fuck it all. Not interested. But it does, and it works, and it's a slash. And with that, from Dust Till Dawn from 1996, I learned one hack and three slashes. Now, you can find this movie available online. There is so much to say about it when we come back from the break. You can join the conversation about this film over in our Discord server for free. We have a link to that in our show notes. But when we return from our break, we're gonna dive deep into the spoiler zone territory and dive more into the effects. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

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SPEAKER_02 33:43

Okay. There's a lot to choose from, and I hate to be this person, but I have to start off with what was the most shocking and controversial moment in the experience of me watching this movie. I remember Selma Hayek being a bigger fucking deal. I d never remembered for a second that she gets taken out so fucking swiftly by a chandelier. Holy shit. When that happened, and then I realized, oh fuck, this isn't over. I was like, I can't even remember what the rest of this fucking movie is. Because maybe for me, as a little young baby gay, maybe for me the movie ended when Selma Hayek died. I don't know. But holy shit, how did she go out so quickly?

SPEAKER_03 34:25

Dude, she was pretty much an extra in this movie. The bitch was just dancing around. Mistress of the macabre, and she goes out like a punk. Yeah, I loved it.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

It is very sad though, because like I had the same memory that she was in it for longer. And then when you actually make it into the runtime, what are we talking about? Like five minutes, I feel like that you get with her, which is just not enough time with Selma Hayek. And it's weird though, because that kill it is over in a flash. And I feel like she deserves more.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

Also, that I guess I forgot that she becomes a vampire, obviously. Because then for me, it was processing the fact that, like, oh wait, her pretty face is gone. And we only got that for a short amount of time.

SPEAKER_02 35:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:07

But go off, sis, because you became hella motherfucking famous for your dance moves and looking the way that you did inspired a nation. So bravo.

SPEAKER_03 35:18

Can I talk about how I really say fuck the kids? But Scott dying was beautiful to me. There were so many there was a fuck yeah moment because he was not only a badass by killing his dad, which is great, but then the fact that he goes so hard and explodes and kills multiple vampires at the same time, I think is my favorite. And he he's like smiling through the whole thing. He knows he's already fucked, to be honest. He wants his sister to kill him, but the fact that he takes out so many vampires is pretty cool to see.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

But I liked it. Among the list of memories I had of this movie, Scott's death, specifically his arms being spread and him being nommed on while begging or asking his sister to just kill him.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:09

That shit was burning my memory.

SPEAKER_01 36:11

Definitely tragic.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

Binks and I are the opposite. Yeah. Completely. I'm like, it was beautiful. Binx is like, oh my goodness, poor kid.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

Poor kid, bro. He really championed a lot. Him and his sister, truthfully, they've seen some shit. And this is supposed to be a vacation. God damn. But my kill is very vanilla, very normal. But I guess it's the one that stood out to me because it was the one at the very beginning that I full on like jerked back. I was like, holy shit, wait a minute. And it was this Texas Ranger, and well, I guess I'm cheating because it's both of them, the cashier and the ranger. But when Richie just shoots him in the head out of nowhere, I was like, oh, you're an asshole. Of course you are, because you are play the asshole in these movies constantly. But more importantly, my poor boy. Like nothing actually happened, sir. No warnings were actually given. He was just he was about to fucking leave and he got shot right in the head. It was just a very shocking moment.

SPEAKER_02 37:11

Yeah, that one was super rough. How grounding and sobering his death was, how sudden it was. It's not something that I enjoy seeing in a horror movie. However, Pete's death. Him burning after Richie shot the bottles out, for Seth to have the wherewithal to light something and toss it back. Then this motherfucker still tried to come out guns blazing while he's blazing and the popcorn was popping from the heat of his flames. It was comedic gold. And then it continues with that comedic gold as they're fucking talking about being low-key while a building is literally exploding behind them.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

That was a great moment.

SPEAKER_03 37:53

It shows how much of a spaz Richie is going to be for the entirety of the movie. And how he has lack of control. If you think about it, they are running from the law. So the first person that they want, they're like, oh man, this guy's coming to get us, right? So and it makes sense that he went for it, but Richie is total chaos from the first few minutes. And can you imagine just what is your luck if you are being held at gunpoint and you have the moment to be like to the cop and be like, help me, please help me. And then like your luck is that you somebody saw it and you both get killed instantly. If you think about it, I think it's funny. Binx is shaking her head. So again, the opposite. But to me, it'd be like, that'd be my fucking luck, dude. I have two seconds to say help me, and I get caught. That's it. I deserve to die at that point.

SPEAKER_01 38:48

Yeah, no, I agree. It would also be my luck. And I guess, yes, that part is funny, but also damn, that sucks. I will say the multitasking of it all is quite fantastic about that kill because I did forget about the popcorn popping in the background. And talk about productivity.

SPEAKER_02 39:04

You know, it would have been better almost if they had scooped up a nice little snack on the way out. Might as well. Yeah, a little flesh. Why not?

SPEAKER_00 39:11

Oh my. I was thinking like Cheetos, but speaking of flesh, I do want to talk about a couple other kills. I love the fact that all of the core group get interesting deaths when they die, and especially the new core group that we get. So when we get the sex machine and frost both being turned into vampires, they go out in stunning ways. I mean, first, sex machine lassoed, decapitated, shot in the head, the decapitated head by a crossbow, then turned into what, a giant rat slash bat sort of thing, then shot by a crossbow again and somehow exploded into fire. The whole thing was impressive, and it's our fave Tom Savini. Everything about that whole setup was amazing.

SPEAKER_02 39:54

Yeah, when you're Tom Savini, king of the creatures, king of effects, you can't have a bitch-ass death.

SPEAKER_00 40:00

And I think that was a very deserving way to go. There was just a lot going on when we got that transformation, like that weird bat rathead popping out of the body and it morphs and stuff. I was like, good, you deserve something insane.

SPEAKER_02 40:13

Yeah, it reminds me of a very minor character from the first season of What We Do in the Shadows. And it's one of the virgins who gets transformed into a vampire, and she's just you know, you think for the so much of the episode, just an incompetent vampire, like she's got nothing special going on, even her bat form is fucking hideous. That's what that reminded me of. Actually, side note, just tonight I was watching while preparing my notes for this vampire episode. I was watching what we do in the shadows, and I had the little my haunt box from Pizza Hut. It said fangs out, it's like a little vampire style. You get like garlic pizza. It was really fucking good. Perfect vampire night.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

But the other one for Frost I liked as well because it was also ridiculous, but in a different way, you know, getting stabbed through the torso by a shotgun, then being used as a shield to fire the shotgun, and then as soon as it's removed and held up, he turns into goo without even getting a chance to fight back. It was just so utterly over the top and redoncolous that I loved it. And the character was a lot of fun. I love the little play when he's talking about his experience in Vietnam, and then we flip over to Sex Machine, and Tom Savini's face is just blank, and he's like, Alright, anyway, and he goes off and does his own thing as a vampire. Loved it.

SPEAKER_02 41:28

See, yes, those were fun, Mac, but I'm gonna go for one that isn't really even fun. I just wanted him to go, and that is Richie's death. I'm glad he got got. I'm glad he was the first out of the group to get got, so we wouldn't have to fucking deal with him the rest of the movie, and I'm glad that his brothers take to in the fucking heart. Good riddance. Go on now, get.

SPEAKER_03 41:47

I know he got got twice. The one thing I will say about all of these kills is I feel like the end got a little bit lazy. They give us all of these amazing kills, not only once, but twice. So you get the human and the vampire kill in a lot of these, but then at the end they're like, fucking, just open the door. Like, come on. These people have quote unquote survived days and days of vampireing, and then a little crack in the like, let's be real. I want to see more gore.

SPEAKER_02 42:17

So just one night of vampire, really. But another little great moment that reminds me of what we do in the shadows. I'm not mad at it. Did they get lazy? Yes. They're trying to get the most output with the least amount of input, and I can respect that. Let's just call it being efficient.

SPEAKER_00 42:35

I like that we got different vampires here, though. Like when they die, they don't just explode into flames or glitter. They like melt first and let out a green goo. For whatever reason, their blood is now green, and that's a lot of fun. When Cheech, one of the variations here, this is a variance situation. We got a multiverse going on of Cheech Miren, but this one is Chet, and he is fed the cross pendant. I don't know if he actually swallows it or if it just touches his mouth, but he just melts into goo. And that was like the first death we got to see, like that, of the vampires, and that was fun. There's other Cheech variations going on here though. You don't have to worry too much. But yeah, I think when Chet goes out, it was like, all right, cool, these vampires don't die like other vampires.

SPEAKER_02 43:14

Mm-hmm. The cool thing is that the green blood was done to get around the sensors.

SPEAKER_00 43:18

I love it. What a brilliant move.

SPEAKER_02 43:20

Let me tell you though, as much as I loved the way the prosthetics looked, what I was not a fan of was the transformations that were just slow crossfades and dissolves over each other. A lot of these things either looked really fucking great or really fucking bad. Again, when you actually set portions of this bar on fire, that looked great. When you had the fake fire that looked like it was just one layer on top of the film, that wasn't that wasn't great. It is it is what it is.

SPEAKER_00 43:51

This is a film that would have benefited from after effects existing at the time.

SPEAKER_01 43:54

For a moment there, I thought we were gonna disagree because those parts, yes, are very silly, but that's what. Where I will give it its grace because at that rate, fuck it all. I mean, if this is gonna be a school project, let it be a school project, you know. I will say though, what I was impressed by was the transitions and the effects of when they are human to vampire. You know, I guess I just wasn't expecting that. When they transformed all together, I didn't remember that they were gonna look the way that they did. So when that did happen, I was like, oh, not too bad for a 90s film, actually. I mean, we've seen maybe a little bit better, but it's not the worst special effects I've ever seen or like transitioning in terms of editing at all.

SPEAKER_03 44:36

I think I agree with you, Chris. I that was one of my least favorite parts. It felt like if you blinked, you're like, wait, you're a vampire, wait, I just was looking at you and you were not a vampire and now you're a vampire, or like you just come out from underneath a table and you're a vampire now. It's very not what I would have wanted to see because the special effects probably took 40 hours per person, I want to say. I do like the fact that everybody died differently depending on what the kill was. There was a moment in the movie when they're like, How the fuck do you get rid of a vampire? And they're kind of brainstorming. And every type of different kill, either you get stabbed, you know, the scent you die a different sort of way, which makes it interesting for me, was great. And I think all three of you said it at one point or another that you felt dirty watching it, and you could smell the set from your TV. That smelled like alcohol, it smelled like BO a hundred percent. It smelled like bar food. Your feet are getting stuck to all of the liquor that was dropped. You can feel the actual set, which I think was the best for me, apart from the special effects. It was my favorite.

SPEAKER_02 45:53

Okay, I'm so glad you talked about the smell because this brings me to my favorite scene in the movie, and that is when shit starts to go down. Because at long last, we have a character reacting to smell, and that is Salma Hayek as the mistress of the macabre in the background, and she's reacting to it while the focus isn't really even on her. And sure, you see a little bit of the blood, his whole hand is really fucking bloody, but it's specifically the way that you can see her reacting to the smell of the blood, and we get this in vampire movies, absolutely, but this entire movie back in 1996, you didn't know was a fucking vampire movie, and for this to be the reveal, for the mistress of the macabre to be doing a fucking strip tease or exotic dance on the table, putting her foot in some dude's mouth, only to then reveal she's a bad bitch vampire, what a fucking plot twist. Loved it.

SPEAKER_01 46:55

Well, that was also my favorite scene, of course, because it's like the one that I remember the most throughout my life and what everyone keeps referencing to. But what I'll say more specifically to it is it's her actual dance, and something I notice in general, what I appreciate is she oozes such sex appeal without even being extremely revealing. All the other vampires and the strippers, they are tits out fucking everywhere, you know, and that's fine because that's what you expect in a strip club, but that's not even necessary for her, right? Like she's just really in a bikini and has basically captivated the whole entire place, and then just Selma Hayek specifically has captivated an audience, and everyone remembers her from that scene. It's one of her most famous scenes in her entire filmography, and she's not even doing anything revealing in her choreography either. She's just walking towards them. Holy shit, that is so fucking gnarly. I just love her so much, and I think that it's so cool that you can just captivate people with just the way that you ooze your confidence and that power that she has. So it is very insane to think that she gets got so quickly because you go from being what seems to me one of the most powerful people in that room to then not even being a majority of this film.

SPEAKER_02 48:23

Yeah. See, she's the epitome of less is more.

SPEAKER_03 48:27

There's two things that I need both of you, since you're fans of Selma, to answer me. Where the fuck did the snake go?

SPEAKER_00 48:33

It safely found its way somewhere else away from the danger.

SPEAKER_03 48:36

Really? It's a big ass snake. I wouldn't get bit by the snake before I get bit by a fucking vampire. What the hell? Where'd it go?

SPEAKER_01 48:43

So I literally, when I was Googling the animal report, it was because of that. Because I was like, wait a minute, did I lose track of where the fuck that snake went? And then everyone was saying on Google, like, oh yeah, well, maybe it's people died, but they were saying because the vampires look like snakes and all that, that it counts. Or you know what I mean? Like they look like they're animals themselves to some extent. And I was like, that is such a fucking reach. Please get out of here. No, impossible. But where is that goddamn snake? Where's that goddamn snake? Here's what I think happened to that snake. That snake weasled its way out of the desert or wherever the fuck it was, somehow ended up in Britney Spears' team, and that's how we have toxic.

SPEAKER_03 49:22

Wow. Also, second thing is Selma's accent in this movie. She has gotten so good at English because of this movie. I was like, bruh. I understood her, I felt like for a second. I was like, she said that in Spanish. She didn't fucking say that in English, but kudos to her Rosetta Stones.

SPEAKER_01 49:39

Look, but I was so here for that. That was an authentic girl right there. That was a Latina through and through. I felt it in my bones. I felt like my like an older sister, like my mother was just like talking to me or something like that. It was fantastic. I loved it. What a badass.

SPEAKER_03 49:56

It was. It was great. It was so good. I can share my favorite scene, which probably won't come to any surprise because I'm obviously the demented one tonight. But I think Jacob Fuller challenging his kids with a goddamn countdown with a simple question, like, would you kill me as soon as I turn it? I'm gonna help y'all. I'm gonna try to kill as many of peers as I can, but I need you to kill me the second that I turn into a vampire, and then puts the gun to his head. Mind you, these kids just lost their mom. So he's asking for a lot, but then gives them five seconds and three seconds to answer, talk about trauma, if you were one of those kids. But at the same time, it is such a great scene because it I think it wraps up the ending for me and it really starts getting into those moments where you're like, you know, if somebody that you love actually does turn into a zombie for my this is my world that I live in, or a vampire, or a fucking werewolf, would you hang or would you kill them? And I would hang, I feel like.

SPEAKER_02 51:05

Yeah. I don't think I could have it in me to do what Jacob is asking of his family. It would be like the humane thing to do, right? To honor their wishes and to not let them suffer. But I guess I'm too selfish.

SPEAKER_03 51:18

I would want somebody to do it to me if one of my family members, I wouldn't want to kill a family member as a vampire. That makes sense. I would expect y'all to do it for me. Or I'd do it to myself.

SPEAKER_00 51:31

You think so, but you'd be turned into a vampire, so you don't know.

SPEAKER_03 51:34

Yeah, I wouldn't want to hurt anybody as a vampire. I want to be like the cool vampire that just hang out in the dark and come out at night and not bother anybody. But if it was just my family, I would want them to do the same. But yeah, that scene is a little serious, but at the same time, they make it playful with the countdown. I think the countdown made it fun.

SPEAKER_00 51:57

They their interactions though make for some great scenes. I think the family itself is one of the group of characters that you care about the most, at least Harvey Kartel's character, Jacob. And I think I've got two scenes. I have to split it up. One is the gritty crime movie that we've got the first half or two-thirds of the film, and that's when he's sitting with Seth in the front of the RV, they're driving, he's learning more about him, and he has to cut him off like he went too far. And just like every time they interact like that, he is a man of conviction and he can stand up, he really does care about his family, even though he's still feeling lost himself. First half of the movie, that's I think the best is their interaction because these two characters are the grounding forces for each of their groups. Second half of the movie, where things get a bit more fun. I like anytime you have a vampire or a zombie or any kind of creature like that film, and you have that regroup moment where you've got to get everybody together, you've got to go to the Winchester, get what you need, and take on the bad guy. And I think that moment that we got with them introducing each other, kind of figuring out who's gonna do what, and then we get the storytelling before Tom Savini turns. That whole segment there, I think, was my favorite of the second half because it just feels like a good old-fashioned group versus monsters kind of film.

SPEAKER_03 53:11

Now I want to watch Monster Squad because that's what instantly came to my mind. It's us against the monsters.

SPEAKER_02 53:18

It's those characters, though, that make this film really shine, even when you fucking hate some of the characters. I think about the Gecko brothers, and it would be easy enough for them to just have two Richies who are just chaotic and are just pushing the plot forward with absolute mayhem. That could happen, it's not unheard of. But to have the dynamic between Seth and Richie, to have this moment where he talks about having a code, having a standard. He doesn't kill people, he doesn't have to, and he doesn't assault women. These are the nuances of these characters that I really appreciate, and why it makes sense that he's the last one standing at the end of it. I think Richie is expendable, 100%. Fucking get rid of him. But George Clooney, as Seth, makes this movie.

SPEAKER_00 54:08

Totally agreed. And it's interesting because I feel like when we get to the point where we have all of the final group together, that could be where a typical movie like this starts. And everything that we get before that is somebody's interested in exploring that dynamic and that character in particular. And so we get this, I don't know, over 60 minutes of runtime kind of developing the backstory to what most films would just show as a vampire story. And because the character's so interesting.

SPEAKER_02 54:37

But even the way that he interacts with Jacob, so great.

SPEAKER_03 54:41

I mean, he says it at the end of the movie, right? And he says, I may be a bastard, but I'm not a fucking bastard, which I think explains him this entire movie. Could he have made brought this girl along into this world of chaos or you know, continue ruining this girl's life? Yes. But instead he's like, go fucking home. We're done here. And I think that that shows him, right? And the ability that he's like, you know what? I might be a bastard, but I'm not a fucking bastard.

SPEAKER_01 55:10

Which is true. He's the full antithesis to his brother, which thank God for that. But I don't know if that necessarily absolves him from being someone that I can entirely root for. I don't know if he's extremely likable, also. He seems very much like the annoying, self-centered type of criminal, like the I'm better than you, which warranted because when you have the code of ethics, when you last that long, when you have a um method to the madness type thing, it's necessary, especially when your brother is quite literally the opposite of you. So I I don't have a problem with that. I think it's nice to see two types of bad, terrible fucking people. You know, Richie is the stereotypical one, and he's more acceptable, more palatable type of asshole, or in this case, bastard.

SPEAKER_03 56:07

I mean, he still has a tribal tattoo, so he's not a good person. Correct. His tribal tattoos already share that he's a shitty person. But yeah, there's two types of shitty, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 56:20

I do want to know where El Ray is, because he won't let her come with him, even though this is supposed to be his final destination and place of joy and safety. But like, is it just a city protected by other criminals?

SPEAKER_02 56:36

It's a character in Planet Terror.

SPEAKER_00 56:38

It is indeed El Ray.

SPEAKER_02 56:40

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 56:40

Yeah, I'm I'm curious though, because it's spelled differently. It's like, where what is it? And why is it so bad for her to come with him?

SPEAKER_02 56:46

Yeah, can we just also acknowledge the fact that she has fucking nothing and nobody?

SPEAKER_00 56:51

Yeah, and he's just leaving her.

SPEAKER_02 56:52

She's got money. He gave her money. That's all you need. Yeah, he he gave her some money, but she also just lost her entire family.

SPEAKER_01 57:00

Her entire family. Richie was feeling up on her. My girl has seen a lot of things and been through a lot. So I feel like she's gonna find herself at another titty twister or into titty therapy.

SPEAKER_03 57:18

The fact that the phrase is she's gonna find herself at another titty twister, which by the way, have you ever gotten a titty twister? Not fun. Not fun. Isn't that called a purple nurple? Same. Not that I get them all the time, but no one has ever said purple nurple to me. I've only gotten titty twisters.

SPEAKER_02 57:37

Maybe that's the generational difference between us.

SPEAKER_03 57:40

Maybe, maybe. But I will say, she's got stacks of money and an RV. She can I do I'd be so stoked. And honestly, I like being alone more than with anybody else. So I'd be stoked.

SPEAKER_01 57:53

But here's my problem. This is what's happened to me, okay? And the timing of me watching this movie is that I shared earlier when we were not recording to our patrons and to you guys that at the time of us recording this, I've watched four movies that all have to do with cannibals. And some of which have to do with an RV. So my thought when I saw this film was nah, you see, when you have money, sure, but when you have an RV and you gotta drive that shit in the middle of nowhere, you're also you're fucked because what you're gonna run into is now the hills have eyes too.

SPEAKER_03 58:28

I was gonna say, don't say the hills have eyes, because I am terrified of that RV scene.

SPEAKER_01 58:33

Yep. So now I can't look at RVs the same.

SPEAKER_03 58:36

Sell the RV, get more money, buy a plane ticket, get out of fucking Vegas or wherever the L Ray is, and I don't know, chilling. Also, you might have missed it, but the first time she sees George Clooney, instant crush. That girl puts her hair behind her ear, sits upright, forgets she's talking to her pastor dad, and she's already a little excited about George Clooney. So she likes the bad boys. So yeah, you're right. She's gonna find herself in another titty twister.

SPEAKER_01 59:06

I'm just saying, you know, real recognizes real. And I don't blame her for finding George Clooney attractive at that young age. I had plenty of crushes as a teenager, you know, on actors and all that. Sure. George Clooney is Badman, fuck yeah. What? Get out of here, of course. However, she's gone through a lot of shit, okay? And she'll be the next Sama Hayek, I'm sure of it. And I just hope she doesn't turn into a vampire as a result. Could you imagine going through all that shit and then you run yourself into another vampire situation?

SPEAKER_03 59:36

Can I talk about the characters though? Because we talked about how quick this movie went, but you got to know the characters, even if it was surface level, so fast in this movie. You got to know their issues really quickly. You got to know that the mom died. So you already start from them being sad. The brothers are running from the law. Like you don't need a lot because they're not deep characters, but you do get to know there is no hiding, no hiding anything about these characters. You start thinking, do they believe in their faith? Do they not believe in their faith? Everything is in hyper speed, which for my ADHD brain was like, hell yeah. I don't need a lot. I just need a little bit because I'm gonna forget if you give me too much. But I genuinely think that the characters, this is the the level I needed. I don't want to be sad and really connect with them, but I also am okay if I forget them, you know, like once they die, I don't need to think about them anymore. So for me, it was the perfect balance when it came to development of characters for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:42

Yeah, we also get information on characters that don't even fucking really matter. This movie does spread the love really nicely, and I think one of my favorite moments of that is when we get the news broadcast that really explains who the Gecko brothers are. That's where we have John Saxon. That's where they also give a nice little recap on what the body count is so far on their day. They were at 16 dead, even broken down into the demographics of who was killed. The characters really work. Do I fucking hate most of them? Yeah. But damn, they work. Especially when you have this moment with Jacob, he has this like really specific line, and he's talking about you know, people who are in service of religion or their faith, and they said they all have one thing in common. You'll look into the mirror and ask yourself, Am I a fool? And for that to be the introduction we get to his character, and to see the journey that he goes on, to see that he loses his faith and then regains some semblance of his faith, or he makes peace with his faith or lack of faith. I just really, really enjoy that.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:48

I mean, he doesn't even curse, he doesn't drink. We know this about me. I get really connected to my trauma as a kid and growing up Catholic, and you know, it has taken over so much of my identity. Simple things around the connection of faith. We have a cross that my mom got in Italy. It's so weird growing up in such a faithful home or whatever it is, but we have a cross that Bobby thought it'd be funny and he put it upside down, and I legit saw it, and I was like, no, you can't like you, you have to put it right. Like, please don't. Not that cross. That cross is like literally blessed by priests from Italy. It's a legit cross. I was like, no, that one will kill us. And he's like, it's a joke. And I was like, I joke, but that's not a joke. And that's just how crazy, even though I say I don't believe in a lot of it, it's still embedded in me. So I love seeing him go from I want to get away, I want to disconnect myself, to then at the end actually showing that a little bit of faith can, you know, make holy water and fucking a cross. So I don't know. It was good to see both sides for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:58

This makes me really want your take on the new Salem's Law movie.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:01

Oh, I'm so sad I missed that one. Loved it. I mean, I love the original too, but yeah, it's a creepy one.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:08

I'd like to go back to what I think was the worst part of this movie, and it has both to deal with characters and Quentin Tarantino. And look, Quentin Tarantino light likes to write broken characters and horrible characters and really interesting characters. It's just strange to me that he would write himself the grossest of characters in two completely separate films. It's very strange. It's a weird choice, at least. He might be the nicest, sweetest guy on earth, you know? Maybe that's who he is. Maybe he's not creepy at all, not weird, not sus in any way, and just happens to like feet and the n-word, apparently. But it's just strange to me that he ends up writing for himself and playing the most disgusting characters in several movies. That is one thing. But the second thing is the dialogue choice in this film is just littered with words that we would never even consider using today. Not like, oh, we don't say it you know in public. It's just like, no, we wouldn't say that in private either. Almost all of us here. And so that is one of the things that takes us back, what, 30? Let's say 30 years, right? It's only around 30 years. So it takes us back that far to a very different culture. And that can kind of take you out of the enjoyment phase of this film, being who we are now.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:25

There's a lot of serious things that are worthy of being the worst part of this film, but I want to circle back to the foot thing of it all. Because an additional thing is the worst part for me. And I say again, having someone's foot in your mouth is literally disgusting. I don't care how hot you are. I digress.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:43

He opens wide for her foot. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:47

He deep throats her foot. Let's be honest.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:49

He deep throats her foot for sure. I just feel like here's the thing. I'm pretty convinced that, and this might be the end of me, perhaps, for the Tarantino massive lovers, and I actually like a lot of his films, but I'll call a spade a spade and I'll call it how I see it. Sometimes when you write these characters and you portray yourself as these characters, it's like a scapegoat to get away with how you really feel. And to a scapegoat to kind of like, I don't know, let's dig a little bit deeper, right? Seems a little sus that you continue to write a particular way, portray yourself in these particular scenarios. And why? Do you secretly enjoy it? Let's just hash it out, right? So that's my theory after watching this film for sure. And it seems like there's a pattern. My best part of this film isn't some high. Well, it is duh, but I'm actually going to give our listeners a little bit more than that because I can only repeat it so much. I've I've got to say that for as much shit as I've talked about this film, the overarching world is fun and it looks cool. And that's why I want to explore the TV show for sure, because I think that the premise seems like a good time. I love Villains and origin stories and those kinds of things. I love it in other films that I enjoy, in television shows and other forms of media. So I don't necessarily have a problem with us having criminals as the main characters and them not necessarily being likable. I think the overarching idea of them being stuck in this, like, I don't know, I've only seen one John Wick movie, but I think there's like a hotel that they are at, like with a bunch of criminals. Like it's giving that kind of vibe. I like that. Do I find it curious and bizarre that they're on top of an Aztec temple or whatever the hell that last second was? That was fucking weird, but I'm gonna pretend like that never happened. Sure. But I find it interesting enough to want to explore. So the best part would definitely be the world building at that point.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:48

I just heard that you became more fun from the beginning of this episode to the end. I heard it grow with you just saying that you are now gonna re-watch this movie and have some belly laughs, which is what it's all about, to be honest. For me, the worst part is that it does not take that long. It's such a short moment to get to Mexico. And I wish that that whole scene of them crossing the border would have been more. I feel like we missed some really good moments of the stresses that it is to cross to Mexico and the impact that this family will have once they get there. And culturally, I would wanted to have seen a little bit more. I would want to see not just Mexican vampires. I would have wanted to see it actually being an oh shit moment for a longer time. I do like that it was just in this one spot and it was, you know, I like the comparison to John Wick, even though there's like multiple hotels in those movies, not just one. But I the fact that this they were gonna meet in this one place in the desert, away from everybody, like I would want more titty twisters, you know? Like I want it to be a thing where it there's a oh shit moments throughout. And I would have liked to see that a little bit more. It would be more, I don't know what lame place would be, like right in San Diego. It would have to be San Diego, right? Or like Southern California before they cross the border. Two tacos. Is that too gross? The taco joint that turns it turns into well that sounds like a Baja blast for now.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:30

There you have it, folks. From dust till dawn from 1996, has earned one hack and three slashes. Now we've certainly had a robust discussion here, but the conversation doesn't end here by any means.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:42

If you want to find out how you can go further than this episode, consider supporting the show by subscribing through Apple Podcasts or visiting patreon.com/slash hackerslash, where you can enjoy even more of the show, including bonus content with early access, extended episodes with our B-sides, movie nominations, and live shows.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:58

And if you love spending time with us talking about the Titty Twister, leave us a five-star review wherever you get your podcasts. This helps us continue to deliver great content for all you horror fiends out there.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:09

Our thanks again to Adam and Eve for helping make this episode possible. We'll see you next time, folks. And remember, Simon says sit the fuck down.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:16

I'll be a lapdog of Satan.