Starring: Michael Parks, Marco Leonardi, Ara Celi, Temuera Morrison

Director: P.J. Pesce
Released: 1999

Mood: If you’re so completely burnt out that you can only handle a movie that gives you lots of action and attractive things to look at but asks nothing in return from your brain.

From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter is more of a cheap knockoff of the original From Dusk Till Dawn than an equally cinematic prequel. No surprises there.

But like one of the better knockoff perfumes, replica purses, or no-name condiments, it gets the job done.

I was mostly entertained throughout the movie. Not at the level of the original, but to be fair, that’s because the original was somewhat shocking in its gratuitousness. From Dusk Till Dawn 3 has the same amount of smut and gore, but by the third installment you’re expecting it – and also a little bit numbed to it. This one also has move overtly funny dialogue.

As far as vampire Westerns go, you could do a lot worse than this movie. Trust me, I have.

From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter takes place in 1913 Mexico.

• Fun Fact #1: From Dusk Till Dawn 2 and 3 were both filmed in South Africa, where there are no Old West stagecoaches or horses trained to pull them. The wrangler had to train 12 local horses to pull a modified prop from a local steakhouse.

The overarching plot is like the original’s: a couple of devout Christian Americans get kidnapped by some outlaws and end up at a seedy Mexican joint, where they are immediately tempted by debauchery and assaulted by vampires.

The inn is called La Tetilla del Diablo – translation: “The Devil’s Nipple,” the humble beginnings of what would become the iconic Titty Twister strip club.

These folks have to team up with an inebriated author, a raging hangman with a secret, his utterly useless daughter, a sexy outlaw, and a scruffy wannabe outlaw.

Their vampire foes are a high priestess, bartender Razor Charlie (Danny Trejo reprising his role), and a lot of brothel workers who for some reason gain ‘80s glam rock hair as soon as they change form and emit ‘cat fight’ sounds.

Michael Parks steals the whole movie as the frequently drunk writer Ambrose Bierce, and shows us why he’s a favourite of both Tarantino and Rodriguez.

Parks clearly did his research, and plays Bierce like an early 1900s Hunter S. Thompson rather than the more delicate popular authors of the time. He’s wry, he takes no bullshit, he’s completely over the antics of his cohorts, and he’s not afraid to get physical.

• Fun Fact #2: The real journalist Ambrose Bierce did disappear in 1913, at age 71, after joining Pancho Villa’s army as an observer. The location and circumstances of his final days remain a mystery. In one of his final letters, he wrote, “If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico – ah, that is euthanasia!”
• Fun Fact #3: The movie’s title takes its name from a short story co-authored by Bierce, called The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter.

The only other noteworthy performance is Jordana Spiro as Reece, who looks like a filthy teenage boy in her early scenes, wants to be a badass outlaw, and is shockingly progressive as far as a gender non-conforming ‘90s movie character.

Marco Leonardi is charismatic as outlaw Johnny Madrid, but there’s nothing truly gripping about the character beyond his boot blades – which are a fun action element, they just don’t compare to the codpiece pistol in From Dusk Till Dawn. I mean, what even could?

Temuera Morrison looks like a hulking WWE villain as the hangman, which works. And Rebecca is one note until her character turns, and then in her few remaining scenes delivers the manic level of unhinged that we got to see from her in 1998’s Urban Legend.

From Dusk Till Dawn 3 has heaps of pleasingly big action right out of the gate. But after an initial rush, you realize that it doesn’t quite manage to distract from the lack of characters who you can really sink your teeth into. Pun intended.

Quentin Tarantino is a mere exec producer on this installment, so the script is devoid of his sharp humour, intentional choices, and realistic dialogue.

Robert Rodriguez IS one of the story writers, but the actual script was written by his cousin, Álvaro Rodríguez. No shade at all on Álvaro – he was the composer for El Mariachi and wrote the script for Machete, among other projects. But when you pluck out the brilliant horror writer AND the brilliant character writer, you’ve gutted the goods.

The most obvious example is the crone grandmother of Salma Hayek’s sexy snake dancer, Santánico Pandemonium. This badass bitch SHOULD be an all-powerful matriarch that could destroy everyone. But the character is only trotted out to turn the annoyingly feeble Esmeralda into our future Santánico, and then is way too easily killed.

This movie was also an opportunity to do more explaining about the Aztec ruins revealed at the end of From Dusk Till Dawn and how the vampires originated, but nope. You have to watch the TV series for those details.

Still, this From Dusk Till Dawn 3 is fast, funny, and worth a watch if you enjoyed the original.