Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999)

5/12/2018

From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999) - Spiegel's vampire heist disappoints

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A red-tinted, murky, dusk-like darkness hangs over this poster for Scott Spiegel's From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money

A gang of criminals plan to rob a bank in Mexico but before they get to it, they are attacked by some blood-hungering bats that carry a frightening virus.

From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money is written by Duane Whitaker (Stripteaser (1995)) and co-writer-director Scott Spiegel (Intruder (1989)), with Boaz Yakin (Max (2015)) contributing story elements, as the sequel to Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). It is something as rare as a vampire heist movie, which lends it a certain 'fun-to-watch' quality.
But although Spiegel's direction has clear Tarantino ambitions, (Quentin Tarantino stars in and co-wrote the original film with pal Rodriguez and executive produced this pic), it lacks finesse: Exaggerated action and unfortunate effects mar Texas Blood Money, which also is bogged down by a sorely unengaged lead performance from Robert Patrick (True Blood (2012-14)). After the exhilarating original film, the earth-bound failure of this sequel is a shame.

Related posts:

Scott Spiegel: Hostel: Part III (2011) - Spiegel ends Roth's beloved gore franchise

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Evil Dead II/Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987) - Campbell, Spiegel and Raimi's crazy, gory classic (co-writer)
From Dusk Till Dawn franchise: From Dusk till Dawn (1996) - Tarantino, Rodriguez and chums' enjoyable Mexico vampire extravaganza

Listen to an interview with Spiegel here

Cost: 5 mil. $
Box office: Unknown (mainly a direct-to-video release domestically and in many other markets)
= Uncertain (but likely successful commercially)
[From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money premiered 16 March (USA) and runs 85 minutes. Shooting took place in South Africa. The film was reportedly intended to be a test venture for Dimension Films of the direct-to-video market, but it was also theatrically released in several markets. The film's gross and video sales are not immediately available online, but there is a good chance the film was successful. Another sequel followed, P.J. Pesce's From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter. Later came From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series (2014-16). Spiegel eventually returned to directing with My Name Is Modesty: A Modesty Blaise Adventure (2004). Patrick returned in The Vivero Letter (1999). From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money is rotten at 9 % with a 2.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

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Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

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Philip Baker Hall has died

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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5/12/2018

From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999) - Spiegel's vampire heist disappoints

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