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Film: From Dusk Till Dawn II: Texas Blood Money
Year: 1999
Director: Scott Spiegel
Writer: Scott Spiegel and Duane Whitaker
Starring: Robert Patrick, Bo Hopkins and Duane Whitaker
Review:
This film begins with a man and woman, they are both lawyers and it seems like they just won a case. She is played by Tiffani Thiessen and he is played by Bruce Campbell. They get into an elevator. It then turns off and they are stuck. Campbell checks above it and a maintenance man falls in, dead. Campbell goes to check the shaft, but they are attacked by bats. They kill the two lawyers and then attack the cable until the elevator falls. The screen goes static.
We then realize that it was a movie. Watching it is Robert Patrick and his girlfriend. He has been stealing cable, which is why it is not reliable. He messes with the television and we learn that there is a solar eclipse that will be happening the following day. We also learn that Duane Whitaker has escaped from jail.
Patrick is then visited by Bo Hopkins and James Parks, who are the sheriff and deputy respectively. They ask Patrick and his girlfriend questions about Whitaker, but they are not cooperative. Hopkins tells Patrick this is his last chance, he won’t go easy if he is lying. Patrick continues with his story.
As the two police officers are leaving, Patrick gets a phone call who he says is his mother. The problem is that she is dead. It is really Whitaker. They are going to rob a bank just into the border of Mexico. Whitaker wants Patrick to get a crew together.
He goes to get muscle in the form of Raymond Cruz. He is a dogfighter that has his pit-bull on steroids. He also looks like he uses them too. Cruz doesn’t want one guy on the crew, but Patrick tells him not to worry about it.
Patrick then recruits Muse Watson and Brett Harrelson. Once they are all together, they set off for Mexico and the El Coyote motel.
Whitaker is driving to meet them, when he hits a giant bat. He pops his hood to see what it was and it jumps at him. Whitaker ends up shooting it. He then has to walk. He ends up at the Titty Twister, the bar from the first film. There he meets Danny Trejo, who is the bartender. Whitaker asks if taxis come out this far and learns they don’t. Trejo ends up offering him a ride to the motel, especially after hearing that he killed a bat.
Patrick and the crew are in their motel room, waiting. They were starting to get worried when Whitaker calls and tells them what happened. He states he will be there soon.
Trejo takes him the wrong way, back to his jeep. There we learn that the bat he hit and then shot was actually Joe Virzi, who is a vampire. Trejo is one as well. They attack Whitaker.
Cruz is tired of waiting and he leaves the room. There was a good looking Mexican woman they met when they arrived and he goes to make love to her. Afterwards, he falls asleep and she goes to take a shower. A bat gets into the room and attacks her. She dies in the tub, blocking up the drain with her hair.
When Cruz wakes up, he sees the bloody water and goes to check it out. He then runs into Whitaker. He reveals that he is a vampire and a fight ensues. The woman wakes up and attacks him as well. Cruz uses a part of the mirror to decapitate the woman, but he ends up being bit by Whitaker.
Cruz is now a vampire too. They go back to the motel room and the plan is laid out to rob the bank tonight. Patrick doesn’t like it, but he goes along with the plan, since everyone else wants to.
Whitaker becomes a bat to enter the bank. He kills the security guard and they go about their plan. Patrick doesn’t like that he killed the guard; it isn’t how they usually operate. Everything goes smooth until Whitaker and Watson get into an altercation. It ends up with Whitaker making him a vampire as well. During their tussle, the alarm is tripped.
Patrick tries to convince everyone that they need to get out of there, but he is the only one not a vampire at the end. The police drop tear gas in and Patrick flees by jumping through the glass door. He is now in police custody. Can he convince them what is going on before it is too late? Will the cops be able to stop these vampires or will they get away?
I do have to say that this has an interesting concept. I like that they have a plan for robbing this bank and it just gets easier as they become vampires. I liked Patrick in this film, even though he is a little bit cheesy in the role. The fight scenes aren’t bad, except I feel like the go-to move was for a vampire to throw someone and humans to make a cross to ward them away, it gets a little bit repetitive. I also liked the references to the Gecko brothers and to the original From Dusk Till Dawn film.
I have already touched that this film is a little bit corny and that during the fight scenes it always seems to be someone getting thrown and then a cross is used to ward off the vampires. I also had a huge issue with the solar eclipse. I understand what the film wanted to use it for and I liked the idea, the problem is that I don’t feel everything gets as dark as night like the film shows. I also felt this film takes a large step back from the original.
With that said I would only view this film if you are a huge fan of vampires and want to continue on with the From Dusk Till Dawn series. This one’s acting is a step back from the original and is pretty corny to be honest. The fight scenes aren’t bad, just a little bit too repetitive. The story has a good concept, but not enough to save this film for me. If it sounds good, give a viewing, but this one is more of a watch with friends and you might get a good laugh.
My Rating: 4 out of 10