Cast: George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Ernest Liu, Fred Williamson, Tom Savini
Director: Robert Rodriguez
U.S. Distribution: Dimension / Miramax
U.S. Release Date: 1/19/96
Running Time: 1:48
MPAA Rating: R
George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino are brothers who leave a trail of bodies on their way to Mexico, where true evil awaits.
After a fiery opening sequence, the boys cross paths with a faithless preacher (Harvey Keitel) and his family, who wind up leading them into Hell (a.k.a. The Titty Twister).
At this out-of-the-way bar, the sleazy strippers, bouncers, bartenders and even the band turn into vampires, leaving the patrons to battle the blood-thirsty Mexicans with a few guns, some pool sticks and table legs. (Am I the only one wondering why these vampires had so much wood on the premises?)
Clooney and Tarantino (who also co-wrote) work well together. Juliette Lewis is interesting (as always) in the role of the preacher's daughter. Salma Hayek is especially memorable as Satanico Pandemonium, the sexy, seductive, snake woman. And Cheech Marin pulls off three characters, including an over-the-top "pussy" salesman.
Director Robert Rodriguez packs a lot into his movie, although the latter half is much too flashy and frantic and far too often, repititious. There's more than eough weird, metamorphic stuff (read: gore) and displaced body parts; but just barely enough of Hayek and Tom Savini (a.k.a. "Sex Machine").
USA Today proclaims, it "spares no gory detail" (which should be considered by anyone expecting a nice little thriller starring that guy from ER).
© 1996, Delton Perrodin