Abierto hasta el amanecer 3: La hija del verdugo

From Dusk Till Dawn 3 (1999)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

After the pretty mediocre part two, the third film in the series strikes back in a very entertaining way and serves as a prequel centering on how Santanico Pandemonium (played by Salma Hayek in the original) became a vampire. As Santanico and her bandit boyfriend arrive at a strange brothel, they're also joined by Civil War vet Ambrose Bierce (Michael Parks) and other characters who are soon battling vampires. FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 3 is certainly a step in the right direction after the previous film, which was disappointing to say the least. I thought this one here was quite rare for a sequel/prequel in that it actually has a brain and tries to do something rather clever. For the most part I think the film succeeds mainly because director P.J. Pearce does such a nice job with the screenplay by Alvaro Rodriguez. The screenplay comes up with a very good story and I especially liked the Western elements that take up 2/3rds of the film. I thought these scenes were very authentic and the director does a great job at building up an atmosphere. Most low budget films have a hard time making you believe they take place in the past but that wasn't the case here. The performances were also quite good with Parks leading the way in his bit. He's actually so good that I wish he had been given even more screen time. I also enjoyed Rebecca Gayheart, Danny Trejo and Temuera Morrison in their roles. FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 3 doesn't have the budget for as many special effects as the first film but I thought what they did have was put to good use and what they were lacking the filmmakers made up with it through some clever tricks. The film certainly isn't perfect or going to be considered a masterpiece but fans of the original should enjoy it.

I have a problem with the whole fact of Rodriguez and Tarantino doing a sequel, let alone sequels, of a highly original, totally off-the-wall movie like From Dusk Til Dawn. But where #2, "Texas Blood Money," was a waste of film, #3 "The Hangman's Daughter" is the ONLY one they should've attempted. It tells the story of Salma Hayek's character in the first one and actually has a plot, good acting, lasts just long enough and has enough content to be entertaining and not exhausting. I also want to add that Ara Celi is a GREAT substitution for Salma cause she is just as FINE! :)

The movie does suffer from some of the hokey tricks that plagued Texas Blood Money and is campy, but that's half the appeal of these types of movies. They're not Shakespeare, they're to entertain...and bringing back Michael Parks was a stroke of genius and if you want to see how diverse an actor he is, watch this movie and the first moments of the original where he's featured. If you're jonezing to revisit some old friends at the Titty Twister saloon, rent this one and TOTALLY AVOID the second sequel.

It begins with the getaway of Johnny Madrid (Marco Leonardi) , a nasty local bandit , from the gallows who then kidnaps his hangman's (Temuera Morrison) beautiful daughter , Esmeralda (Ara Celi) , with a little help from Reece, a female outlaw from the U.S. With the hangman and a local posse on their trail, Johnny meets with his gang who all rob a stagecoach which contains American author Ambrose Bierce (Michael Parks) along with newlywed couple John and Mary Newlie. As night falls, all parties coincidentally seek shelter in an isolated inn which is run by vampires led by the high priestess Quixtla (Sonia Braga) . However , the team unwittingly come into contact with the vampire denizens of the bizarre bar and soon join the ranks of the undead , taking place the usual carnage . Along the way a violent posse formed by the handman , deputies and underlings go after them . Esmeralda is revealed to be the half-human, half-vampire princess Santanico Pandemonium, whom the vampires want as their heir in which all the humans must join forces if they are to survive the night from the vicious blood-suckers.

Ridiculous , but entertaining horror/western , it results to an absurd prequel to ¨From dusk to Dawn¨ 1995 by Robert Rodriguez who here produces, in which a bunch of delinquents led by Marco Leonardi and other partners-in-crime decide to knock over a stagecoach and subsequently taking shelter at the weird brothel , then things go awry , while describing the tale of the birth of the vampire princess Santanico Pandemonium . Direct-to-video follow-up , it is a passable entry , quickly made , being set 100 years ago in Mexico , earlier the first film's massacre . This gory vampire movie contains thrills , chills , plot twists , brief doses of humor , gore and guts as well as go-for-broke action set pieces. The film is starred by Ambrose Bierce/Michael Parks , a notorious author who missed in Mexico , in fact the title of the film, "The Hangman's Daughter," is taken from the title of a short story titled : "The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter¨. As the protagonists suffering the bite put on them , except for Ambrose Bierce who manages to avoid momentarily the ordinary slaughter with lots of blood and gore . There are sympathetic and snappy dialogues but with no much sense and full of profanities and bad taste . This "Prequel" to the first From Dusk Till was professionally directed by directed by P.J. Pesce . Rating : 5.5/10 , this one is an acceptable film of the saga . Average . Only for ¨From dusk till dawn¨ saga followers and completists.

The saga is formed by the following ones : From Dusk to dawn 1995 by Robert Rodriguez with George Clooney , Quentin Tarantino , Harvey Keitel , Juliette Lewis , Fred Williamson , Salma Hayek . From dusk till dawn 2 : Texas Blood Money 1999 by Scott Spiegel with Tiffani Amber Thiessen , Bruce Campbell , Robert Patrick , Danny Trejo , Bruce Campbell , Muse Watson , Duane Whitaker who also wrote it , Raymond Cruz , James Parks . From dusk till dawn 3 : the handman's daughter 3 , 1999 , with Michael Parkas , Rebecca Gayheart , Sonia Braga , Marco Leonardi , Temuera Morrison , Ara Celi Danny Trejo . And TV series 2014-2016 created by Robert Rodriguez , Robert Kurtzman with DJ Cotrona , Eliza Gonzalez , Jesse Garcia , Jake Busey.

What everyone seems to be missing is the significance of Ambrose Bierce. He's a real 19th century author, and the film takes it's title from one of his books. He's best known for the classic twist at the end of "Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge". (It was made into an episode of the original Twilight Zone.) This film hints a few times that a similar twist will take place... but it never does. Why is there no payoff after building up the Bierce character with so much historical detail? Anyway, the film is not bad, which is surprising, considering that they just rewrote the script from the first film into a Old Western setting.

Bierce's story "The Damned Thing" was produced as an episode of Showtime's "Masters of Horror."

However, what it delivers isn't a little.

The prelude, if you will, actually lasts the majority of the movie. The horror doesn't start until very late. Until then it's a violent western tale to be told. And if there was time and money on this project I think it could have delivered a whole lot more.

Still doesn't measure up to the first movie, but was a whole lot better than the second one. Besides, Western/Vampire Horror Movie isn't something you see every day and it earns points just for that.

I definitely recommend this movie, it's not about to change your world, but it's different enough to be entertaining and imaginative enough to be interesting.