Facing the wrath of churches, politicians, and freaked-out soccer moms, small indie-cinemas had to shut down. At the time, the public viewed arcades and grindhouse theatres as seedy places inhabited by burnouts and criminals. When From Dusk Till Dawn made its debut in the mid-nineties, multiplexes, cable TV, and video-store franchises had virtually wiped grindhouse cinema off the map. Grindhouse cinema is one of Tarantino’s central creative influences, and From Dusk Till Dawn is his attempt to share his love of the genre with a new generation of cinephiles. We can define Tarantino’s career by his numerous crusades to preserve and pay homage to the cinema of his youth. Instead, the duo created a trashy, low-budget genre flick featuring Tarantino’s trademark snappy dialogue, over-the-top violence….and vampires. While Hollywood expected the young director to get right to work on his next masterpiece, he and Rodriguez had other intentions. Critics and audiences crowned Pulp Fictionan instant classic the film injected 90’s cinema with a shot of adrenaline akin to the big-ass needle Vincent slams into Mia’s heart during Pulp‘s infamous overdose scene. The film features a script by Tarantino, who at the time of production was still riding high on Pulp Fiction‘s colossal wave of success. Released on January 19, 1996, From Dusk Till Dawn is a cinematic tag-team between Tarantino and his frequent collaborator, director Robert Rodriguez. 25 years ago this month, while still a director on the rise, Tarantino made a similar decision. Instead, he opted to create a small-scale, intentionally divisive social commentary. With enough clout, career accolades, and financial flexibility to do as he pleased, Tarantino decided not to chase commercial success. While superstar directors often work with a high degree of autonomy, back-to-back films grossing a combined $700 million and universal critical praise translated to Tarantino receiving creative carte blanche. In the context of Tarantino’s career, it makes perfect sense that The Hateful Eight, his most polarizing film, would follow Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, his two highest-grossing films. If Tarantino retired today, pulpy crime thrillers, dusty westerns, and blood stained revenge fantasies would define his legacy. Think about this: Tarantino continues to rack up critical acclaim - Oscars, Golden Globes, and BAFTA awards and nominations - for making genre pictures. What’s more amazing is that the auteur director has left an indelible mark on Hollywood while staying true to his artistic vision. In addition to sporting an encyclopedic knowledge of all things cinema, he is one of the most talented and respected filmmakers of his generation.
DUSK TILL DAWN CAST SALMA HAYEK HOW TO
Hayek will next be seen in How to Be a Latin Lover, in theaters April 24.There is a strong possibility that Quentin Tarantino has forgotten more about movies than most film buffs will ever know. George Clooney was like, ‘How come she doesn’t look at us?’, ‘Because I’m the writer.'” “Where of course he makes me dance only for him. “So I did it and from that dance, Quentin wrote me the part in From Dusk Till Dawn,” Hayek explained. “He said, ‘Just put a bathing suit on, and we won’t see your face.'” He and Tarantino were working on the anthology film Four Rooms (1994) and needed a stripper, so Rodriguez reached out to his Desperado star on the day of filming. Hayek was recruited to the project after doing a favor for friend Rodriguez.
Because you can’t choreograph a snake, we don’t know what she’s going to do!” I had to go on trance to do the dance… And there was no choreography. “So it was good because I had to overcome my greatest fear. To prod the actress, Tarantino claimed that Madonna was interested in the role, and that she would have no problem being wrapped in python. It’s my greatest fear,‘” Hayek recalled (watch above). “Quentin told me, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re dancing with a snake.’ I said, ‘I can’t do that, I can’t do that. Hayek said at multiple points during our recent Role Recall interview that her memories of filming the scene were blurry because she had gone “on trance” due to some serious ophidiophobia. But she doesn’t remember all that much about the actual filming. Salma Hayek remembers how she got the role of a snake-dancing stripper vampire in the Quentin Tarantino-penned, Robert Rodriguez-directed thriller From Dusk Till Dawn (1996).