50 Fun Facts About From Dusk Till Dawn

Which ER star landed his first major film role as bank robber Seth Gecko in From Dusk Till Dawn?

George Clooney was playing a television doctor on ER when the film opened, and the part won him an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance.

Who plays Santanico Pandemonium, the vampire queen who dances on a table, in From Dusk Till Dawn?

Salma Hayek has only a brief role, a year after the same director gave her an English-language breakthrough opposite Antonio Banderas.

What live animal does Santanico Pandemonium perform with during her dance in From Dusk Till Dawn?

A snake shares the stage with the dancer, and the TV series later restaged the routine with a Spanish version of the same song.

The final shot of From Dusk Till Dawn reveals that the desert bar stands on top of what?

An Aztec temple lies buried beneath the bar, ringed by abandoned trucks from several decades, a hint at how long the vampires have been feeding there.

Who wrote the From Dusk Till Dawn script for just $1,500 as his first paid writing job?

Quentin Tarantino took the fee from a makeup effects company in 1990, and he also appears on screen as Seth Gecko's unstable brother Richie.

Which filmmaker, later the creator of the Spy Kids franchise, directed From Dusk Till Dawn?

Robert Rodriguez also edited the film himself and shot it with a non-union crew, unusual for a production with a budget above $15 million.

What kind of vehicle do the Gecko brothers hijack to slip across the border in From Dusk Till Dawn?

A motor home owned by the Fuller family hides the fugitives at the border, and its license later gets the group into a bar that admits only bikers and truckers.

Frost, who tells a combat story mid-siege in From Dusk Till Dawn, served in which conflict?

Vietnam War veteran Frost is recounting how he alone survived an enemy attack when a bitten biker turns into a vampire behind him and bites.

From Dusk Till Dawn opens with a deadly shootout at which kind of Texas roadside business?

A liquor store clerk, forced at gunpoint to act as if nothing is wrong, is killed along with a Texas Ranger who had stopped by, and the building is destroyed.

Which comedian, half of a famous stoner duo, plays three different roles in From Dusk Till Dawn?

Cheech Marin plays a border guard, the bar's doorman and the gangster the brothers are waiting to meet, in one of seven collaborations with the film's director.

Which star of The Piano plays Jacob Fuller, the father taken hostage in From Dusk Till Dawn?

Harvey Keitel, who became a co-president of the Actors Studio in 1995, plays a widower travelling with his two teenagers.

What is the job of Jacob Fuller, the widowed father who is taken hostage in From Dusk Till Dawn?

Pastor Jacob is doubting his faith when the story begins, which matters once the survivors need crosses to hold the undead back.

Which Cape Fear actress plays the hostage family's teenage daughter in From Dusk Till Dawn?

Juliette Lewis earned an Oscar nomination for Cape Fear, and a New York Times review called this clean-living role an ironic departure for her.

Besides Seth Gecko, who is the only person to walk out of the bar alive in From Dusk Till Dawn?

Kate drives off alone in the family camper with cash from Seth, who refuses to take her along to his criminal hideout.

Which actor, later famous as Machete, appears in all three From Dusk Till Dawn films?

Danny Trejo is the only actor in all three, each time as a character nicknamed Razor: Razor Charlie in the first and third films, Razor Eddie in the second.

Which makeup artist, famed for Dawn of the Dead, plays biker Sex Machine in From Dusk Till Dawn?

Tom Savini earned the nickname the Sultan of Splatter for his effects on films such as Friday the 13th, but here he is the one cracking a whip on screen.

Which former football player, nicknamed the Hammer, plays the veteran Frost in From Dusk Till Dawn?

Fred Williamson played for the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl, then became a 1970s action star in films such as Black Caesar.

Who plays Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in From Dusk Till Dawn and reprised the role in later films?

Michael Parks made four appearances as the lawman, and his real-life son James played the character's son Edgar in the second film.

What is the Mexican sanctuary that Seth Gecko pays to enter in From Dusk Till Dawn called?

El Rey is a haven for outlaws on the run, and the film's director later gave the same name to the cable network that aired the TV series.

How does Seth Gecko finally kill the vampire queen Santanico Pandemonium in From Dusk Till Dawn?

Seth shoots down a chandelier whose wooden frame impales her, ending her plan to keep him as a slave.

Where on his body is Richie Gecko shot during the opening gunfight of From Dusk Till Dawn?

His hand is stabbed again in a bar brawl, and the sight of the blood is what triggers the vampire queen's transformation.

In From Dusk Till Dawn, Seth Gecko buys dinner from which fictional chain also seen in Pulp Fiction?

Big Kahuna Burger is one of several invented brands the screenwriter reuses across his films in place of real product placement.

The codpiece pistol worn by biker Sex Machine in From Dusk Till Dawn first appeared in which film?

Desperado introduced both the hidden gun and the fictional Chango beer, and the two props were carried over to the vampire film a year later.

The T-shirt worn by teenager Scott Fuller in From Dusk Till Dawn honors which John Carpenter film?

Assault on Precinct 13 is a fitting nod, since Variety described the film's second half as an offshoot of that siege thriller.

Ranger Earl McGraw, shot dead early in From Dusk Till Dawn, turns up again in which later film?

Kill Bill brought the lawman back in 2003, played by the same actor, and he appeared again in both halves of the double feature Grindhouse.

In return for the From Dusk Till Dawn script, an effects studio did the makeup for which crime film?

Reservoir Dogs got its notorious torture scene out of the 1990 deal, six years before the vampire script itself reached cinemas.

When rescuers blast open the bar door in From Dusk Till Dawn, what destroys the remaining vampires?

Sunlight floods the room just as the last two survivors are surrounded, after thin rays through holes in the walls had held the vampires back.

Which country's censor banned From Dusk Till Dawn outright in 1996, a ban not lifted until 2004?

Ireland's censor Sheamus Smith called the violence irresponsible and gratuitous, coming weeks after the Dunblane and Port Arthur massacres.

Which critic gave From Dusk Till Dawn three stars out of four and praised its skillful action?

Roger Ebert enjoyed the ride, while the San Francisco Chronicle's critic predicted it would rank among the worst films of the year.

The outlaw haven Seth Gecko wants to reach in From Dusk Till Dawn is from which Jim Thompson novel?

The Getaway, published in 1958, ends with its fugitive robbers reaching a refuge for criminals where residents are slowly bled of their money.

Which rock group appears on screen as the house band of the vampire bar in From Dusk Till Dawn?

Tito & Tarantula were written into the film after the director heard singer Tito Larriva playing a song of his about vampires.

Which song by the bar's house band accompanies Santanico Pandemonium's dance in From Dusk Till Dawn?

After Dark was written before the film existed, and it later became the theme song of the television series.

Which Texas rock band has two songs on the From Dusk Till Dawn album, including Mexican Blackbird?

ZZ Top, formed in Houston in 1969, supplies two tracks to an album made up mostly of Texas blues.

Which film covers the making of From Dusk Till Dawn, including a union protest against its crew?

Full Tilt Boogie was directed by Sarah Kelly, whose own documentary crew was non-union just like the production it was filming.

Robert Kurtzman conceived From Dusk Till Dawn to create work for which effects studio he co-founded?

KNB EFX Group is named for the surname initials of founders Kurtzman, Nicotero and Berger, who had worked together on Evil Dead II.

What is From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter in relation to the story of the first film?

A prequel set in 1913, it shows how a hangman's daughter named Esmeralda became the vampire queen Santanico Pandemonium.

The two direct-to-video From Dusk Till Dawn follow-ups were shot back to back in which country?

South Africa had no horses trained to pull wagons, so the wrangler on the Western-style third film had to train a dozen for the job.

Which Terminator 2 villain actor leads From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money as bank robber Buck?

Robert Patrick, who played the T-1000, returned to the franchise years later as Jacob Fuller in the television series.

In From Dusk Till Dawn 2, what lets the vampire bank robbers attack police in daytime?

A solar eclipse darkens the sky mid-siege, and the hero later destroys one vampire by bouncing the sun's rays off his sunglasses.

Which Evil Dead star makes a cameo appearance in From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money?

Bruce Campbell had history with director Scott Spiegel, a school friend who co-wrote Evil Dead II.

Which real American writer, who vanished in Mexico, is a main character in From Dusk Till Dawn 3?

Ambrose Bierce, author of The Devil's Dictionary, really did head to Mexico in 1913 at the age of 71 and was never seen again.

In From Dusk Till Dawn 3, whose rebel army is the travelling American author hoping to join?

Pancho Villa haunts the film's opening nightmare, in which the author dreams of being killed by the rebel general.

Which future Star Wars actor plays Mauricio, the executioner father, in From Dusk Till Dawn 3?

Temuera Morrison played the future vampire queen's human father shortly before he was cast as Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones.

Which Baby Driver actress took over as Santanico Pandemonium in From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series?

Eiza González made it her first English-speaking part, after finding fame on the Nickelodeon teen sitcom Sueña conmigo.

Which Miami Vice actor plays Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series?

Don Johnson's lawman is killed in the first episode but returns in flashbacks, with his own son Jesse playing the younger version.

Which Starship Troopers actor plays a professorial Sex Machine in From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series?

Jake Busey's version is Aidan Tanner, an archaeologist of Maya culture working undercover, a backstory invented for television.

Which actor, later Oscar-nominated for Winter's Bone, plays Pete Bottoms in From Dusk Till Dawn?

John Hawkes dies in the opening scene here, years before playing merchant Sol Star on the HBO western Deadwood.

From Dusk Till Dawn was named Best Horror Film at which ceremony, which later honored its sequel?

The Saturn Awards also named its leading man Best Actor, while the screenwriter's own acting drew a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor.

The 2001 From Dusk Till Dawn video game finds Seth Gecko locked up in what kind of unusual prison?

A converted tanker called Rising Sun, floating off New Orleans, holds Seth until vampires slip aboard disguised as inmates.

Which fantasy painter did the director of From Dusk Till Dawn commission to design a poster for the film?

Frank Frazetta completed the painting in 1996, and the film's director later announced plans to remake Fire and Ice, the 1983 animated fantasy Frazetta co-created.