I was flipping channels last night when I came upon “From Dusk Till Dawn.”
“From Dusk Till Dawn” is a lot of things: one of George Clooney’s first starring roles after jumping to the big screen from ‘ER,’ a vaguely entertaining killers-on-the-run turned Vampire massacre movie, another example of why Quentin Tarantino should stick to directing over acting, and it also showcases Salma Hayek at the absolute peak of her seductive powers, a mastery which director Robert Rodriguez lovingly displays in a slow-motion, writhing bikini-clad dance complete with an oversized snake wrapped around her. Seriously. 
But the film holds a special place in my heart for reasons largely outside of its relative cinematic merits. During college, over the course of a 1-week span, I took three different girls on dates to see this movie for reasons that even now remain an absolute mystery to me.
“From Dusk Till Dawn” is not a good date movie – it’s violent with frequently rough language and then it descends into a grotesque killing spree once the vampires appear. It wasn’t the violence, however, that seemed to up the dating ante, but rather an extended speech given by Cheech Marin outside of the vampire bar which caused me to utilize my peripheral vision to warily to gauge reactions from my dates. 
Marin dominates the particular scene by grabbing a microphone and loudly proclaiming:
All right, pussy, pussy, pussy! Come on in pussy lovers! Here at the Titty Twister we're slashing pussy in half! Give us an offer on our vast selection of pussy, this is a pussy blow out! All right, we got white pussy, black pussy, Spanish pussy, yellow pussy, we got hot pussy, cold pussy, we got wet pussy, we got smelly pussy, we got hairy pussy, bloody pussy, we got snappin' pussy, we got silk pussy, velvet pussy, Naugahyde pussy, we even got horse pussy, dog pussy, chicken pussy! Come on, you want pussy, come on in, pussy lovers! If we don't got it, you don't want it! Come on in, pussy lovers!
To be fair, during my first date, I had no idea this extended speech was coming into play, but after that initial experience, the scene provided an always uncomfortable litmus test moving forward.
I can’t say that any of the girls loved that scene (I don't either) nor can I articulate my rationale for continuing to take first dates to this specific film, however, all I can say is that things worked well afterwards 2 out of 3 times and sometimes you have to protect a winning streak regardless of the circumstances.
Or maybe “From Dusk Till Dawn” is actually a great date movie that has flown under the radar – until now.
-BDS
After the movie, you wanted your dates to say, "Hey, have you got an oversized snake layin' around anywhere ? " ADMIT IT, and feel free to elaborate on the snake joke.
I saw this movie for the first time about a year ago. I remember staying up really late because I was interested in seeing what happened. The first part of the film had my attention, and I thought it was going to be an excellent movie. Yeah, all that changed when the vampires came out. It turned hokey in a hurry. Harvey Keitel lost some credibility. And Quinton, well, he’s just weird anyway.
I think it's funny that you took 3 first dates to see it. Did any of them lead to 2nd dates?
What a funny story. Most people I know who have seen this movie loved it. It has a beloved spot in my personal DVD collection. Pretty sexy stuff, not surprised that it worked out well for you.
Heff - I admit nothing. Ha. It never pays to cop to it, although I do occasionally like to employ the trouser snake language as I think it sounds funny.
Kmwthay - Yep. It's really two movies & the first is better as the second part gets repetitive in a hurry. I really loathed Keital's son too (irritating as hell). The dates didn't lead to second ones, but I also didn't ask as I was going through a period where that wasn't the driving force. Ha.
Linda - I like the movie, and own it on DVD. The opening scene in the gas station is great. But I am suprised it worked out so well, then again, it was probably a residual Clooney effect that blotted out Marin's speech for my dates. Ha.
I'm with kmwthay on this one. I didn't see this until about two years ago. I liked it up until the vampires came out, then it just got all kinds of cheesy. But, if it makes you feel any better, I took a girl to Kill Bill Vol. 1 on a first date.
Kill Bill was her idea, not mine. That was when I thought I had a keeper. Turned out I was wrong.
Native Minnow - Agree with both of you on this one . . . and that's too bad about 'Kill Bill' as that would have impressed me as well if she suggested it. On the other hand, it might have been a sign of things to come, eh?
Any woman who will watch that movie with me comes home to meet momma, 'cuz she's a keeper.
So, I went to see Kill Bill vol.1 when it first came out in the theaters. It was the first QT movie I'd ever seen, so I had zero advanced warning what was in store for me.
Shortly after, I went and rented all the QT movies I could get my hands on. After watching Natural Born Killers and Reservoir Dogs, I thought there was no way I would ever see another movie that could be as good.
To date, there have been that have come close to the excellence of RD, but none have surpassed.
My older brother loved this movie and brought it to a family "Movie Clip Night" when people bring 2-3 minute clips from their favorite movie (sometimes we picked a certain genre.) My young nephew was in the room and after his clip, my sister turned to him and said "What did Mom and Dad do to you?" Ahahaha. I've never seen this, or the Kill Bill series and I'm trying to think how I was have reacted if a date brought me to see this.
Oh, I know. I would have said:
"What did your parents do wrong?"
hee.
WhatIgot - She'd be a worth a long look, I'll grant you that. Feel free to use this on yr. next date as the test & report back. Ha.
Kmwthay - I found 'Reservoir Dog's in high school & loved it immediately. I still recall skipping homecoming day at school (I did have the giant mum, went to the game and dance w/ date, etc.) to see 'Pulp Fiction,' which pound for pound is as good and maybe better than 'Dogs' in my opinion. It's also more bloated as it's hard to beat the lean qualities of 'Dogs' & Madsen was awesome in that film.
Boxer - Ha. That's a somewhat vague & open-ended question don't you think? In this case, it's pretty specific and your movie nights sound like a lot of fun, especially if you would allow clips from films like 'Dusk' to be shown. To be fair, I was worried about your reaction or some derivative from my dates, but outside of 1 which went nowhere, it didn't seem to be a deal killer. Luckily.
LOVE this movie. Love the first half; love the second half. Saw it in the theatres. Would've gone on 2nd AND 3rd dates with any guy who took me to this one on a first date. Or, um, shall we say, been perfectly happy not to have a second date, so long as the first one ended as I would've expected from this movie being the first date. :) As I've told Timber, Richard Roundtree scares Chuck Norris into submission.
RD is indeed better than Pulp Fiction but it's close. Really only for the reasons you've already stated.
The second half is alittle cheesy but cheese is good!
I've never seen this one because I heard it kinda went wrong and listened to the bad reviews, but always liked "Reservoir Dogs". I'm not sure if what you did is worse than taking all your dates to the same restaurant. ha
thanks, I'll be needing the pointers soon.
It would be cool to take a first date to a porn.
Bostonpobble – Ha. Love that Roundtree line as this movie was my first extended exposure, and I would have to agree as that is one bad man. And yr. first date philosophy lined up with my own thinking about that particular time, so the movie served its purpose even though it seemed risky – very risky. And I could make a strong argument for either ‘Dogs’ or ‘Pulp’, however, they are both just absolutely stellar films.
Nobich – Agreed on both fronts as good cheese can be very good, and this leans towards that category versus stinky cheese. Definitely.
Jlee – This is far worse than the restaurant idea as at least you can order different things off the menu there. Ha. This is probably worth renting sometime as Clooney is very cool & Hayek is great & it’s pretty fun if you let it wash over you.
Slopmaster – No worries, although I don’t know how well it translates to Africa. But you should still give it a shot.
Getoffmylawn – You better believe it as I don’t think she will ever top it (at least for me). And nice one ending that speech by Marin as I had almost forgotten the capper & have no idea why I left it off in the post. Good stuff indeed.