--- title: "From Dusk Till Dawn: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/from-dusk-till-dawn/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/from-dusk-till-dawn" critics_score: 65 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # From Dusk Till Dawn (1996): what the critics said Critics' score 65 from 12 reviews: 8 positive, 2 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics like it, and most of them like it for the same reasons. The reviews are warm about the first hour, the hostage-taking and the drive for Mexico, and about George Clooney, whose performance is picked out again and again as the film’s centre of gravity. Rodriguez’s inventive kills and the gruesome effects work draw praise, as do the dialogue and the energy of the thing. Several critics recommend going in knowing as little as possible. The reservations cluster on the second half. Even admirers call the vampire mayhem uneven or juvenile, and the spread is wide. The Hollywood Reporter finds the horror-comedy overblown and revolting rather than substantial, and the Los Angeles Times admires the fight choreography while dismissing the conceit itself as road kill. The New Yorker calls the second half cheesy and derivative. The 1996 notices are the coolest; later reviews are fonder, treating the genre switch as the point. ## Empire — Mark Salisbury Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic calls it a rollicking, slam-bang piece of entertainment that fuses guns and vampires for a blood-soaked blast. They single out the fun monster mash and strong performances, especially George Clooney's. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/dusk-till-dawn-review/) ## Radio Times — Alan Jones Rating 4/5. This splatter-action horror delivers sharp dialogue, excessive violence, great effects, and bad taste with stylish verve as crooks take hostages and face vampires in a sleazy bar. Energetic filmmaking and engaging performances make it a hilarious, raucous gore-fest. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-rkwvrm/from-dusk-till-dawn/) ## Time Out — TCh Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The critic recommends going in blind for maximum effect and highlights the film's over-the-top mix of gun-crazy sleaze, macho mayhem, and vampiric strippers. Rodriguez is praised for inventive kills and turning Clooney into a star while giving Tarantino a decent performance. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/from-dusk-till-dawn) ## The AV Club — Jesse Hassenger Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 28 July 2020. The review describes the film as a fun, gory hybrid where the first half delivers tense Tarantino crime drama and the second unleashes Rodriguez's kinetic vampire action with gruesome effects and sight gags, singling out Harvey Keitel's performance as a standout grounding force amid the mayhem. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/quentin-tarantino-and-robert-rodriguez-first-joined-for-1844493564) ## The Independent — John Lyttle Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 June 1996. The film has nothing new to add to vampire lore and borrows its plots shamelessly, but it is hard to care because of the many treats, jokes, stunts and gross FX along the way. It exemplifies big, tired junky genre pictures played fast and furious and funny. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/entertainment/john-lyttle-on-film-5612906.html) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 1996. The critic finds the first hour promising and down-and-dirty as the Gecko brothers take hostages and head for Mexico, but notes the film raises questions about its violent, profane style. She highlights George Clooney's star potential and the pitch-black satire in the early sections. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/19/movies/film-review-enough-blood-to-feed-the-thirstiest-vampires.html) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 21 January 1996. The critic calls it a deliriously trashy, exuberantly vulgar exploitation picture that will appeal to teenage boys with its road-kill and vampire gorefest elements, while noting it provides potent box office potential for the target audience. George Clooney's star-making performance is singled out as a center of gravity amid the juvenile gross-out material. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/from-dusk-till-dawn-1200444406/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 1996. The critic finds the first half a clever Tarantino-style crime/hostage story with strong dialogue and the second half a gory vampire mayhem sequence, praising Clooney's debut and some inventive touches while noting the film is a skillful but uneven pro job that the filmmakers could have elevated further. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/from-dusk-till-dawn-1996) ## The New Yorker Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 1996. The film is seen as a modestly berserk action picture that delivers expected unnatural disasters with confidence after an entertaining opening, though the second half turns cheesy and derivative of Night of the Living Dead. Rodriguez's wild action sequences and editing nearly redeem the sluggish first half. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/02/05/wet-and-wild) ## Los Angeles Times Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 1996. The review describes the film as a film nerd’s fever dream mixing mismatched genres and styles, with the first hour focused on bank-robbing brothers holding hostages and the second delivering frantic bloody mayhem. It praises the craftsmanship of the fight sequences but calls the overall conceit road kill. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-01-19-ca-26209-story.html) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Hunter Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 18 January 1996. The film starts promisingly as a tense crime drama but turns into an overblown, grotesque horror-comedy that fails to deliver. Rodriguez's hyper-kinetic mayhem and excessive gore leave a lasting impression of revulsion rather than substance. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/dusk-dawn-review-1996-movie-1076015/) ## Polygon — Isaac Rouse Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2026. The critic recalls the film's shocking genre shift from crime thriller to vampire horror as a defining moment that turned him into a horror fan. He praises its audacious structure and enduring appeal as a cult classic that influenced later works. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/from-dusk-till-dawn-anniversary-30-years-ryan-coogler-sinners/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/from-dusk-till-dawn.md