From Dusk Till Dawn/Trivia

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN

• Available DVDs
• Trivia
• Cast & Crew
• Movie References
• Soundtrack
• Script
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Trivia

• References to previous movies that Quentin Tarantino has been involved with Pulp Fiction (1994), True Romance (1993), and Reservoir Dogs (1992): Big Kahuna Burger (in the hotel room), Red Apple cigarettes (on the dashboard of the Gecko's Cougar), Seth's line to Harvey Keitel: "Okay ramblers, let's get rambling."

• The film was originally to be the follow-up to Tales From The Crypt Presents: Demon Knight, but due to disagreements with producers, Tarantino and Rodriguez took the film elsewhere. The retaliation of Universal was the C-movie Tales From Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood.

• The gun that Sex Machine wields is one of the weapons found in El Mariachi's guitar case in Desperado (1995), also directed by Robert Rodriguez. Chango beer (also from the earlier film) is available at the bar.

• Cameo: Lawrence Bender the film's executive producer is sitting at the first booth at the diner where we first see Jacob, Kate and Scott.

• The band playing in the Titty Twister is Tito & Tarantula, featuring Robert Rodriguez.

• The introduction Razor Charlie gives Santanico Pandemonium ("The mistress of the macabre, the epitome of evil, the most sinister woman to crawl on the face of the Earth.") is taken directly from the intro used for 1970s Los Angeles TV Horror Host "Seymour", played by the late Larry Vincent, (and predecessor to "Elvira").

• The name of the movie is taken from the signs found on drive-ins. These signs indicate the length of the shows, which ran "from dusk till dawn". The movie is full of references to midnight movies and films which were often intended for teenagers to watch late at night from their cars.

• In the original script, Quentin Tarantino made all the Fullers and the Geckos survive the ordeal, but changed it because he felt it'd be more exciting with victims.

• Some of the growling noises of the vampire dog that Sex Machine turns into were provided by Robert Rodriguez's baby son who was just learning to talk.

• Writer Trademark (Quentin Tarantino): [trunk shot]: When the opening credits finish and the Geckos retrieve their hostage, we look from the woman's point of view from inside the trunk of the car up at the Geckos. This is, of course, the familiar type of angle Tarantino puts in all of his films.

• The famous line, "No thanks, I've already had a wife," was improvised by George Clooney. Director Robert Rodriguez never intended it the to be in the final cut, but after the studio included the line in a trailer, he felt obliged to include it in the film.

• Salma Hayek did not have a choreographer for her dance. Director Robert Rodriguez just told her to feel the music and dance to it. Rodriguez would later use the same tactic with Jessica Alba in Sin City (2005).

• Some of the body parts were from other films by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.

• Body count: 122

• The Titty Twister set was built in a desert in California.

• The characters of Sex Machine and Frost were originally written with the other way around: Sex Machine was to be the muscular, scarred, leather-wearing biker while Frost was to be a more slender (yet deadly) individual.

• There was a special makeup effect in which one of the stripper-vampires has a large mouth instead of a normal stomach. In the particular scene, she shoves a bar attendant's head in the large mouth, and bites it off. The effect was so graphic that writer/actor Quentin Tarantino didn't even want to see it. The scene can be accessed in the outtakes section on the special edition DVD.

• Tim Roth and Steve Buscemi were approached to play Pete Bottoms but neither could fit it into their schedules.

• William Sadler was cast as FBI Agent Stanley Chase.

• Erik Estrada was lined up to play Carlos the gangster that Cheech Marin plays at the end.

• Green blood was used for the vampires to get the movie past the censors.

• Originally, Santanico Pandemonium was called Blonde Death. Quentin Tarantino decided to go for a Latino/Mexican star, so he used Salma Hayek after seeing her in Desperado (1995). The name Santanico Pandemonium came from the title of a gory Mexican horror movie called Satantico Pandemonium (1975) which Tarantino had seen on the shelves of the video store he worked in.

• In real life, Salma Hayek hates snakes.

• According to the DVD featurettes, when Sex Machine is throwing around the other characters, Tom Savini actually punches many of the actors, including George Clooney.

• Before George Clooney was cast, Tim Roth, John Travolta, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, and Christopher Walken were offered the role of Seth Gecko. All passed because of scheduling conflicts.

• Quentin Tarantino was originally set to direct the movie, but decided not to direct so that he could focus more on the screenplay and his role as Ritchie Gecko.

• This is one of several movies directed by Robert Rodriguez that feature the tattooed tough guy, Danny Trejo. He was also in Desperado (1995) and Spy Kids (2001). In all three movies, his character had a "knife" name: Navajas in Desperado (Navajas is Spanish for "knives", which his character used as throwing weapons), Razor Charlie in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), and Isador "Machete" Cortez in Spy Kids.

• Quentin Tarantino wrote the screenplay after winning the Oscar for Pulp Fiction.

• Set in the The Movie Movie Universe.