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The first I heard of this film was that it was gonna star that TV heartthrob from ER (that I had never seen), who had also been chosen to be the new Batman. I was not yet familiar with Robert Rodriguez and was only just aware of Quentin Tarantino, but can you imagine what a hoopla there would have been, were all three of these names mentioned today? Forget Clooney’s turn as Batman (I still maintain he would have been a good one, had Warners not chosen to brighten and completely screw the franchise), this was the film that put him on my radar and many others not privy the workings of Doctor Doug.
Seth (Clooney) and Richie (Tarantino) are lawless bank robbers on the lamb from the cops in Texas. They kidnap a family, consisting of a faithless preacher (Harvey Keitel) and his two kids (Juliet Lewis and Ernest Liu) in their RV and hot tail it over the border into Mexico… And that is where shit hits the fan—the bar they stop at is actually an ancient vampire temple, and they are dinner.
If you’ve never seen the flick, it makes for a confusing and then exhilarating ride. The first half is a straightforward bad guys flee the law flick, and, once they get to Mexico, it almost instantaneously becomes a schlock horror movie to the goriest extreme.
Most of the characters are well drawn and highly memorable, but the standout for this reviewer is Michael Park’s Texas Ranger, Earl McGraw (who also popped up in Tarantino’s Kill Bill flicks.) The writing, not surprisingly, is sharp and oozing with Tarantino-isms: foot fetish makes its most graphic arrival in the guise of Selma Hayek’s toes being crammed into Tarantino’s mouth. It is humorous, unpretentious, and just a fun flick to watch.
It is as entertaining now as it was back then, and has lost none of its value with the passing of time. What may have been forgotten is the controversy of the production using a non-union crew to shoot it. Folk were up in arms and attempts were made to shut the production down. This reviewer is glad they were unsuccessful; the filmmakers claimed in their defence that they were using a tightly banded bunch of people to make an old school film, fun and unhindered by strict union rules—it worked.
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence and gore, language and nudity.
