When Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino put their heads together to knock out certifiable cult classic From Dusk till Dawn in 1996, it neatly summed up both of the filmmakers and their genre preferences in a nutshell.
The first half was a hard-boiled crime thriller packed with Tarantino’s signature dialogue and pop culture references, while the Titty Twister scenes saw Rodriguez indulge his penchant for overblown action, grisly violence, and practical effects. It’s an insane genre-bending delight, but not one that anybody expected to launch a franchise.
Sequels Texas Blood Money and The Hangman’s Daughter arrived in March 1999 and January 2020 respectively, just to give you a hint as to how quickly the VOD successors were knocked out. Rodriguez and Tarantino may have received ceremonial executive producer credits, but their fingerprints were nowhere to be found on either.
Rotten Tomatoes scores of just nine and 20 percent, as well as shockingly low 20 and 23 percent user ratings, paint a pretty clear picture that fans of the original may want to avoid the bargain basement cash-ins. Then again, a recent Reddit thread has been shining a much more flattering light on Texas Blood Money and The Hangman’s Daughter than they maybe deserve, and it’s even influencing a couple of commenters to track them down and find out what the fuss may or may not be about.
If you love cameos from B-tier titans, then you’ll get a kick out of seeing Robert Patrick and Bruce Campbell swing by, while From Dusk till Dawn OGs Michael Parks and Danny Trejo appear in both. That being said, we’d advise you check out the underrated episodic reboot instead, which is a cut above either of the shoddy follow-ups in terms of quality and entertainment value.
