by Matthew Molgaard

Created on: April 18, 2010

Horror films earn cult status for a number of reasons. Perhaps it's an outrageously humorous horror film, maybe the gore is over the top, maybe it's just a great film that legions of fans and supporters have clung to. Over the last fifty years, an incredible amount of horror films have earned cult status. I'd like to confront one of the more recent additions to the Cult Catagory: From Dusk Til Dawn. And I would just personally, for the record let it be known that this film was destined for great things upon my first viewing back in the 1990's.

A cool blend of action, comedy and horror, From Dusk Til Dawn burst onto the screen in 1996. Twelve years later, the movie has reached cult status, and is one of the most played horror films on television today. A star studded cast consisting of a tattooed George Clooney, arrow straight Harvey Keitel, the blundering Juliette Lewis and of course Quentin Tarantino this one would have to be horrible to fail. Lucky for us, it's a great horror flick!

Robert Rodriguez mans the helm perfectly, and Tarantino turned the script into gold. There’s plenty of cameos (most notably Selma Hayek) to be caught as well. Clooney provides a slew of tongue in cheek lines, and Cheech Marin (who also happens to play multiple characters throughout the film) delivers some one liners that could conjure a cough from a cold corpse. Keitel is great as a former preacher battling some inner demons (and questioning his faith after his wife’s death), and Lewis is frighteningly convincing as the air head daughter. Why didn't they die her hair blonde? The make up designs were great, plenty of grotesquely misshapen vampire faces and creepy surprises keep the gore laughable (keep an eye on the band) and exciting.

The action operates overtime, and at just one hour and forty minutes, this one flies by quickly. The good news for Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, the films success didn't just fly by (nor did their careers, as both have been highly successful since). Fans must still love to see Selma Hayek wrestle a giant snake (I know I do). Stay tuned to your television, you'll catch this young cult classic at least five times a week on a variety of different stations. If you somehow miss it, cross your fingers your local movie outlet still has a copy to rent, it always seems to be out when I look.

Overall Rating: 3.5/4

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