Language - English
Genre - vampire, gangster, supernatural
At the time of writing we are only 2 episodes in to the new ‘From Dusk
till dawn’ series. As a fan of the three films (yes even the terrible ‘Texas
Blood Money) thought I’d give a review of my first impressions. Warning
this will contain spoilers.
The ‘From Dusk till Dawn’ starts with a woman being thrown into a pit of
snakes in what looks like an Aztec ceremony by her looks and other events
further on in the series it looks like this is going to be the ’Santanico
Pandemonium’ character fro the first movie. The episode then jumps to
modern times and runs with the same story as the first film. We join the
Gecko brothers as they are on the run from a bank job that resulted in the
death of Texas rangers, they pull in to a Liquor store for a toilet stop and,
as anyone who has seen the film knows, things go downhill from there. The
bulk of the first episode is set in the liquor store where the brothers stop
off for the toilet break at the same time as a local sheriff and his partner
also stop off for the same reason. The series breaks off from the film by
having the Sheriff and his partner whereas in the film there is only the
sheriff. The sheriffs partner is outside the store for most of the episode
which is how the plot can follow almost the same story as the film.
For anyone who has not seen the film, the Gecko Brothers are in the
liquor store to get supplies as they are heading to the Mexico border so that
they will be safe from the American police, whilst they are in there a local
sheriff enters, as he often does to use the restroom, he is unaware that the
Geckos are there. The Gecko brothers move to the back of the store
taking two women hostage in the hope that the sheriff will leave without
noticing them. As in the film Richie Gecko starts a gun fight when he
believes that the store owner is trying to pass a hidden message to the
sheriff, unlike the film he is also having visions of the two hostages being
some kind of monsters who are trying to trick him. The Geckos escape and
the sheriffs partner, Freddie Gonzalez sets out after them.
Episode 2 is a mix of flashbacks to the bank robbery and the Geckos
getaway from the liquor store and the introduction of the Fuller family which
consists of Jacob, the dad who is a preacher, his daughter Kate and his adopted
son Scott. The second episode is used to fill in some of the back story
on the Geckos and show how Richie’s visions are affecting him. It is also
used to develop some the other characters, we see how Freddie Gonzalez is
tracking the Geckos and that Richie may be responsible for some crimes that
Seth does not know about.
We are also shown the family dynamics of the Fuller’s and a bit of an
explanation of why the two children are going along with their fathers trip
even if they do not fully agree with it.
One other character who is present in the first episode and expanded on
in the second is Carlos who in both
the film and the series is contact that is arranging the Geckos safe haven once
they reach Mexico. Carlos is a very different character in the
series and it looks like he is going to play a much larger role in the series
than the film. The main points of episode 2 seemed to be the development
of Carlos and to give more of an insight to Ritchie’s visions/mental issues.
We also see our first vampire.
I’m trying to decide whether seeing the films is going to be detrimental
to watching the series. I can’t help but compare the two. The
changes made to the character of Carlos and the fact that Ritchie is
hearing more that just perverted thoughts show that the show is taking a more
supernatural direction than the film and it is this that may ruin the series
for fans of the film. I think that the fact that the vampires are
appearing before any of the cast get to the ‘Titty twister’ will help the flow
of the series as the film was definitely a film of 2 half’s starting as a
gangsta road movie and then changing to a vampire movie halfway through, i know
that this tactic is part of what made the film so good but i also know of
people who were confused or put off by it and i think that, if the series went
down the same path it may cause more confusion because the change would either
have to happen part way through an episode, making it hard to follow if you
miss it or it would have to change at the end/beginning of an episode meaning
that people may think they have missed something.
Over all the series is looking good, it is staying close enough to the
film for the fans to recognize the story they like but changing enough to open
the series up to more than one story. It will remain to be seen if the
more supernatural aspect will negatively affect the series in any way but for
now I will keep watching.
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