Every From Dusk Till Dawn Movie Ranked, Worst to Best – Screen Rant

The 1996 crime thriller turned vampire horror movie From Dusk Till Dawn spawned a brief franchise, and here's how all three entries stack up. Unless one counts the Death Proof half of 2007 double feature Grindhouse, the world has never been lucky enough to receive a horror film directed by Quentin Tarantino. Considering Tarantino's love for brutal murders and geysers of blood, he would seem like a natural fit for the genre, of which he's also a noted fan. Yet, the prospect has never come to pass.

Tarantino has teased the possibility of directing a horror film before he retires many times, but for whatever reason, has also seemed to get sidetracked with a different project. If he never helms one, fans will just have to settle for From Dusk Till Dawn, which was directed by Tarantino's pal Robert Rodriguez, but co-stars and was written by Tarantino himself. It may not quite be Tarantino, but it's fairly close, featuring charismatic characters, snappy dialogue exchanges, and lots and lots of violence.

Related: All of Quentin Tarantino's Movies, Ranked

From Dusk Till Dawn pulls a fun trick on first time viewers, starting out as the story of two criminal brothers taking a family hostage to try and avoid the police on the way to hiding out in Mexico, and then taking a left turn partway through into horror when the group winds up at a bar filled with vampires. A critical and commercial success, it's no surprise From Dusk Till Dawn got sequels, albeit direct to video ones. Here's how they shake out.

Directed by Scott Spiegel, From Dusk Till Dawn 2 tries desperately to rise above its direct to video origins and be a satisfying sequel. It has a pretty amusing opening scene featuring cameos by Bruce Campbell and Tiffani Thiessen, and smartly casts genre veteran Robert Patrick as its lead. The story concerns a group of bank robbers that run afoul of the surviving vampires from the first film, slowly being turned one by one. It's an interesting idea, but From Dusk Till Dawn 2 just can't help but feel like an inferior retread of the original, with worse characters, worse special effects, and worse plot twists.

Like From Dusk Till Dawn 2, director P.J. Pesce's From Dusk Till Dawn 3 isn't a terrible movie, and is a fine one-time watch for fans of action/horror mixes. Still, it continues to feel like an inferior retelling of the first movie, but at least gets some bonus points for being the rare vampire/western, as it's set in the early 1900s. The story sees a condemned outlaw kidnap the hangman's daughter, and they, her father, and the various passengers on a stagecoach end up at a precursor to the bar from the original film. In a fun bit, a young version of Salma Hayek's Santanico Pandemonium makes an appearance.

It's the obvious choice for a reason, as 1996's original From Dusk Till Dawn film tops this ranking, and easily too. One of the coolest horror movies ever made, From Dusk Till Dawn is just plain fun, despite the darkness of its subject matter, especially the behavior of Quentin Tarantino's Richie Gecko. Still, it's perhaps the best mix of crime thriller and horror ever attempted, and George Clooney's Seth Gecko is one of the most badass antiheroes in the history of the genre.

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Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that's been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since 2014. In that time, Michael has written over 2000 articles for the site, first working solely as a news writer, then later as a senior writer and associate news editor. Most recently, Michael helped launch Screen Rant's new horror section, and is now the lead staff writer when it comes to all things frightening. A FL native, Michael is passionate about pop culture, and earned an AS degree in film production in 2012. He also loves both Marvel and DC movies, and wishes every superhero fan could just get along. When not writing, Michael enjoys going to concerts, taking in live professional wrestling, and debating pop culture. A long-term member of the Screen Rant family, Michael looks forward to continuing on creating new content for the site for many more years to come.

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Every From Dusk Till Dawn Movie Ranked, Worst to Best - Screen Rant

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero