Rish Outfield's reviews
A Western for the most part, this prequel to the first From Dusk Till Dawn is set in Mexico at the turn of the century. It focuses on an outlaw named Johnny Madrid, who kidnaps Esmerelda, the daughter of the local executioner. We follow them as well as a newlywed couple, a would-be girl outlaw, and American horror writer Ambrose Bierce (does anyone remember him besides me?), as they evade the local posse and Esmerelda's old man. Well, they all end up at a secluded bar/boardinghouse/brothel which is also a haven to more bloodsucking vampires than you can shake a stick at. Unless you're a very fast stick.
The Western is a great, noble genre that sadly, has pretty much died out. It's nice that Robert Rodriguez has managed to bring us a couple of new ones, even if they have other genre elements in them. I enjoyed it, maybe not more than the second one (Texas Blood Money), but enough. It had a good cast with a mix of unknowns and not-quite-unknowns. The actor who played Ambrose Bierce was good, seeming noble and self-serving at the same time. Sonia Braga plays the leader of the vampires and is quite evil. Rebecca Gayheart (who's probably done her share of horror) appears as the virginal missionary, but seemed the scariest of the vampires once she turned (sorry if that gives things away, but they show it on the cover). Danny Trejo reprises his bartender role, and big ole Temuera Morrison appears as the Hangman. It was similar in tone to the first one, with the brothel/bar taking a more major role. Again, absolutely no vampires show up until one hour into it. A lot of Spanish was spoken, which I had fun with, and there was a big body count, utilizing KNB makeup again, this time highlighting a rainbow assortment of different vampires, ranging from humanish ones to snake monsters. The cruddy bat-like creatures don't quite work, but most of the rest of the effects were nice, especially for a Direct-To-Video film. It displayed disgusting gore effects, including a guy's face blowing off, a disembowelment, and worse. Indeed, one supremely violent scene was so graphic and gratuitous. . .that I DIED. Just kidding, but it was shockingly repugnant.
Strange, sad, with many ambitious subplots, The Hangman's Daughter was ultimately unsatisfying.
The ending is very similar to the ending of the first Dusk Till Dawn, all the way to the crane out and bad matte painting, and I found myself let down with the finale, just as I was with the first one's. Another problem I had with, I think, all three movies in this series was that I found the first non-horror half of the movie more interesting than the vampire-filled second half. Maybe that's just me. The dream sequences/flashbacks confused me, as did a sepia-toned dance sequence in the middle of the film. Maybe they were trying for Art there, I never know.
I'd Recommend It To: Fans of the series.