Review by Karolina Gruschka
From Dusk Till Dawn, as a series – who would have envisaged this to happen back in 1996? I remember recording it on VHS while my parents were asleep, and then watching it every single day for a couple of weeks. George Clooney, then mainly known from TV Drama, surprised (and absolutely convinced) me as the charismatic gangster Seth Gecko, while Quentin Tarantino conveyed credibly the character of a perverted weirdo with a foot fetish. Both had such an amazing onscreen chemistry which contributed to the genesis of From Dusk Till Dawn becoming a cult classic.
I am neither a fan of remakes, nor of the current trend of churning out a vast amount of TV series (aaargh I can’t catch up anymore), yet I always try to be open minded, and give it a go. Maybe it is curiosity, the chance to see a story from a fresh/different perspective or the opportunity for re-engagement and a continuous experience with certain material. When I heard that Rodriguez was remaking and adapting From Dusk Till Dawn as a TV series I was actually really excited. He still had me when it was anounced that the series is the novel to the short story of the original. After watching the pilot, however, Rodriguez lost me and I knew I was in for a tedious task trying to finish the whole first season.
Some things are simply better left unexplained. If you are going to unravel why Seth got his tattoo, please, please come up with a cool kick-ass reason, not some sentimental bullshit. In the original film Seth mentions to Santanico that he used to be married, but I do not require seeing him bicker and get all emotional with his partner. I think learning about the Gecko’s background made them appear more common, vulnerable, weak and boring, while the original Geckos were, almost like Dracula: dangerous, selfish, unpredictable, yetstrangely alluring. When Clooney goes “Everybody be cool,” I respect him, but D.J. Controna in his clean cut suit (and sometimes ridiculous wannabe gangster sunglasses) uttering the same words makes me just want to reply “oh shut up.” The Fullers come across as a family out of a telenovela (especially young Lindsey Lohan-esque Kate) rather than characters of any substance, and Sex Machine – I got no words for what Rodriguez has done to this character. All in all, if I were to compare the film and the TV characters, the latter are mere shadows of the originals.
Carlos has developed from a reasonable gangster boss to a greedy snake (literally) of lower rank (played by That 70s Show Wilmer Valderrama). On the one hand I do miss the idea that Carlos had chosen the Titty Twister simply because he had seen it driving past a couple of times and therefore, by coincidence condemned the Geckos and Fullers to an eventful night with “exploding psychos”; on the other, I find it intriguing to see him in the series as one of the main string-pullers. Valderrama as Carlos delivers a great performance; hopefully, this series will get him some good movie credits. Eiza Gonzalez, a Mexican singer and telenovela star also gets my thumbs up for her portrayal of sultry Santanico Pandemonium. Having been originally certain that no woman could have nothing on Salma Hayek’s Santanica, Gonzales convinced me otherwise by adding a touch of sweet innocence to the character. The series introduces a new character, Freddie Gonzalez (Jesse Garcia), a family man and ranger on a retribution mission for father figure Sheriff Earl McGraw (Don Johnson) who was killed by the Geckos. He holds it all together by being the one who, like the viewer, tries to find out what the heck is going on.
The basic story of From Dusk Till Dawn is fairly simple: The Gecko brothers, Seth (D.J. Cotrona) and Richie (Zane Holtz) are on the run from law enforcers after a bank heist. In order to increase their chance to make it across the border to Mexico, they abduct the Fullers – dad Jacob (Robert Patrick), daughter Katie (Madison Davenport) and Son Scott (Brandon Soo Hoo) – as a family in an RV is not as suspicious. Once in Mexico, the Geckos are supposed to meet the gangster Carlos in a trucker bar called The Titty Twister. As it turns out, all the bar staff like to suck blood and everyone non-demonic is left to fight for their lives. In the series, Rodriguez does explore the serpent-like vampiric demons far more than in the original movie; for this purpose he draws on Mesoamerican mythology. This is really new and interesting, however, the mystical element does get annoying at times. For instance, Richie has too many visions, too early. Already in the first episode the audience knows that there is more to Richie than sheer sociopathy. I would have preferred if Rodriguez were to play a bit with ambiguity. Furthermore, the whole concept of destiny (as opposed to the original film’s randomness) adds another pile of cheese to the already cheddar flashbacks and parmesan dialogues.
While we get introduced far too early to the vamps and the supernatural aspect, the story develops too slowly. Imagine: A film of 100 min extended to 450 min. Until the characters finally reach the Titty Twister I am bored out of my head. The reason for this might be the fact that having watched the movie I always know what is coming (despite the newly added mystical touch) and instead of viewing it eager to find out what is going to happen next, I am waiting impatiently for certain things to occur. It would be interesting to hear the responses of audiences who have not seen the movie version of From Dusk Till Dawn.
Another thing that also slightly infuriated me was the (ab)use of Tito and Tarantula’s ‘After Dark’ for the intro. In a way I understand why (it was the iconic song of the original movie) but still, this remix lacks the oomph and becomes a rather cheap cultural reference. In fact, there are quite a few cultural references which probably were meant to make me laugh, but instead resulted in head shaking: “it sounds like a freakin’ Bunuel movie”, “give me a bad review on Yelp,” or one of the characters attempting to play Jedi tricks on somebody.
All in all, I did not feel for any of the characters and could not get into the series. This has got me nervous for the TV adaptations that are to follow, such as Scream or 12 Monkeys. I genuinely wish I had something better to say about From Dusk Till Dawn the Series; I really tried. I usually love Robert Rodriguez’ work, and since I got respect for him I will probably watch season 2 as well. Who knows, it might even be better considering it takes off after The Titty Twister, therefore potentially entering new territory.
From Dusk Till Dawn: Season One will be released on 22nd September 2014 by Entertainment One onto DVD. According to the Press Release the discs will also feature audio commentaries, the trailer, a “Best Kills” video, a making of, on set footage, character bios, commercials featuring some of the characters, a featurette and a Q&A with Rodriguez and the cast from the series’ premiere.