Profanity and Gore From Dusk Till Dawn

Written by PTC | Published September 10, 2016

This supernatural gangster drama isn’t for kids – or anyone with a weak stomach. The Gecko brothers are a mismatched pair in over their heads. Seth is a violent, amoral thug. Richie, though more refined and intelligent, is no better ethically. When Seth’s kidnapping of a family for profit scheme goes wrong, they find themselves mixed up with criminal gangs – which are actually a front for a world of vampires! From Dusk Till Dawn blends the horror and gangster film genres with a hefty dose of Latino cultural flavoring from Aztec and Mayan mythology. (The show’s vampires, called “culebras,” are ancient beings who controlled Central American civilization before the arrival of Christianity.) As could be expected from a TV show based on a movie by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino (film critic Leonard Maltin described the movie From Dusk Till Dawn as “indefensible trash”), the series is saturated with unbelievably horrific gore. In the episode screened, a monster rips off several people’s heads and hurls them into a crowd; a demonic being thrusts his hand deep into a man’s chest, and rips out and displays the man’s heart before incinerating it; and a group of vampires split a man open and feast on his blood and internal organs. This is in addition to traditional action staples like brutal fist- and gunfights. Language is no better, with characters barely able to complete a sentence without a torrent of unbleeped f- and s-words. There was no sexual content in the episode screened; but if nudity and sex were shown on the program too, it wouldn’t be surprising. While undoubtedly popular with the young male demographic that seeks out “grindhouse” fare, From Dusk Till Dawn should be avoided by anyone not comfortable with extreme violence and gore. Needless to say, the program is not appropriate for children. We hope El Rey rates this program TV-MA…because no program ever earned that rating more.