FROM DUSK TIL DAWN 3:
THE HANGMAN'S DAUGHTER
Please, PLEASE forget about part 2

  What's wrong with those guys at Dimension?  I've heard that From Dusk Til Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter was actually filmed before From Dusk Til Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money.  Now, if this is true, that they'd be released (and numbered) in "reverse" order is weird but not stupid; what's stupid is that FDTD2 was so terrible that it probably scared off most of the people who had intended to see FDTD3.

FDTD3 follows a similar path as the original film (right up to the final shot), in that it spends its first half gathering its characters in a more conventional "real-world" setting (this time taking place about a hundred years ago), and then dumps them in a vampire-infested Mexican bar for the second half.  Among these characters, in one group, is Marco Leonardi as a recently escaped outlaw, Jordana Spiro as the outlaw-wannabe who freed him, and Ara Celi as the titular hangman's daughter who's along for the ride.  Another group has Lennie Loftin and Rebecca Gayheart as a missionary couple out to convert some of those awful heathens, and Michael Parks as writer Ambrose Bierce (!). (Loftin and Parks have two of the worst fake beards I've seen in a while) Danny Trejo turns up yet again as the bartender, though the bar has yet to be given a name as colorful as "The Titty Twister".

How these people get together, set up their own conflicts and end up doing battle against the creatures of the night I'll leave for the viewer to discover, but if you liked the original film, there's much to love here.  Sympathy for the characters, the only one of which who's even remotely a sweetheart being rather nauseating, fades in and out with their actions, though this makes for some enjoyable character revelations (particularly when it's revealed that one otherwise meek character can deliver a formidable ass-whuppin').  Many characters come to relate to others in unexpected ways.

FDTD3 takes itself a little more seriously than its predecessors, one silly vampire-testicle sight gag aside.  The vamp-splat action of the film's second half is played for gruesome thrills with fewer giggles, and there's a lot of nasty violence here that makes for a shade of actual tension, which the original film traded in for laughs.

All of the actors are fine, and for once I could even stomach Gayheart who, like Jennifer Lopez and Mena Suvari, is inexplicably regarded all around as being totally hot.  I don't get it.  Due to a naturally lower budget, it's a little cheaper-looking than the original, with unconvincing CGI bats and a some rather hokey-looking vampire bodysuits.  But it's all in good fun; even a hokey-looking vampire is fun to look at when he's getting impaled through the head.   And for once, that "vampire movie which never uses the word 'vampire'" conceit actually works for me; after all, a hundred years ago, how many people knew what a vampire was? (though this does lead one to wonder just how they know how to kill these vamipres)

This one was directed by P.J. Pesce, and has a story credit by Robert Rodriguez (Alvaro Rodriguez - who I'm guessing is related - wrote the screenplay).  Don't let the execrable part 2 keep you from giving this one a look if you liked the original.

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