With a cracker of an opening scene setting the tone, filmmakers Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino make their presence known very quickly in From Dusk Till Dawn, their first collaborative effort which features a mash of two distinctively different genres.

The film – written by Tarantino, based on a story by Robert Kurtzman – stars George Clooney and Tarantino as Seth and Ritchie Gecko, two savage criminals on the lamb who abduct a lapsed preacher (Harvey Keitel) and his two children (Juliette Lewis and Ernest Liu) in order to use their camper van to cross the Mexican border.

However, once in Mexico things take an unexpected twist when their rendezvous point – a biker bar/stripper club named the “Titty Twister” – turns out to be a haven for vampires who feed on their unsuspecting occupants.

Other notable cast members include Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Fred Williamson, special make-up artist extraordinaire Tom Savini, and a scantily clad Salma Hayek who sizzles with a sexy dance while flanked with a large snake.

A highly entertaining, ultra violent, sex fuelled B-grade horror farce, From Dusk Till Dawn toes the line between the ridiculous and the thrilling, as copious amounts of blood is spilt and limbs are severed at a record rate.

George Clooney uses his jittery charm to play the ultimate bad ass in his first high profile post ER role; alongside him is Tarantino, who is actually not that bad as the sadistic Ritchie Gecko; and Harvey Keitel provides his usual solid work in his third collaboration with Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction being the other two).

The screenplay by Tarantino is typically dialogue heavy and contains some great lines in the first half of the film only to become corny and clichéd in the second half, which comes across as a tribute to vampire films and it conventions.

Where the film truly excels, however, is within its technical aspects, most notably the excellent special make up effects, the crisp sound effects, and the impressive set design with its “Tittie Twister” concoction.

So overall, From Dusk Till Dawn is a good watch for some old school horror splatter theatrics driven by Rodriguez and Tarantino’s energetic spirit.