Between directing From Dusk Till Dawn. The movie starts off as the kind of pulpy neo-western crime saga that Tarantino is known for, but it turns into a blood-drenched horror movie at the midpoint when the characters arrive at a haunted Mexican strip club.
Directed by Robert Rodriguez—Tarantino’s close friend and collaborator with whom he’d later make Grindhouse—the 1996 cult classic is filled with memorable lines.
“If You Try To Run, I’ve Got Six Little Friends And They Can All Run Faster Than You Can.” - Seth Gecko
Tarantino wrote Seth Gecko as a classic pulp antihero; in the early scenes, Seth is filled with slick, menacing one-liners like, “if you try to run, I’ve got six little friends and they can all run faster than you can.” Seth begins the movie as an Elmore Leonard stick-up man cut from the same cloth as fellow Tarantino gangsters Mr. White and Vincent Vega, but he ends the movie as a seasoned vampire slayer.
“Are You So Much Of A F****** Loser, You Can’t Tell When You’ve Won?” - Jacob Fuller
When Seth is complaining at the strip club despite the success of his plan, Jacob pointedly asks, “are you so much of a f****** loser, you can’t tell when you’ve won?”
From Jacob’s point of view, Seth is a reckless criminal who got away with theft and murder, took his entire family hostage, and made it across the border. He explains to the narrow-minded gangster that, “the entire state of Texas—along with the FBI—is looking for you. Did they find you? No. They couldn’t. You’ve won, Seth, enjoy it.”
“‘How’s Your Hand, Richie?’ It Hurts Like A F****** Son Of A B****, Thanks For Asking, Seth!” - Richie Gecko
After Richie injures his hand in a stick-up gone wrong, Seth complains that he was just supposed to buy a map and leave, not stick the place up. Seth is furious that they needlessly had to kill everyone inside and blow up the whole store.
But, sociopathic Richie is just miffed that Seth hasn’t asked how he’s feeling after hurting his hand. He sarcastically imagines how he believes the conversation should be going: “‘how’s your hand, Richie?’ It hurts like a f****** son of a b****, thanks for asking, Seth!”
“I Don’t Believe In Vampires, But I Believe In My Own Two Eyes, And What I Saw Is F****** Vampires!” - Seth Gecko
Traditional vampire movies’ protagonists are unfamiliar with vampiric lore until they’re attacked by a pale bloodsucker, just like traditional zombie movies don’t have characters who are familiar with zombie movies. In From Dusk Till Dawn, Tarantino has some fun with meta-references to existing vampire fiction. Throughout the whole movie, the heroes are in complete disbelief that they’re fighting vampires.
After fighting off the first wave, Seth tells the survivors, “I don’t want to hear anything about ‘I don’t believe in vampires,’ because I don’t believe in vampires, but I believe in my own two eyes, and what I saw is f****** vampires!”
“Peter Cushing Does That All The Time.” - Sex Machine
When Seth asks ex-preacher Jacob if he has a cross, he says it’s back in the Winnebago, so Seth fears they have no deterrent against the vampires. Then, Scott points out, “we got crosses all over the place. All you gotta do is put two sticks together and you got a cross.”
Sex Machine recalls that he’s seen the same trick used in countless classic vampire movies, remarking “he’s right, Peter Cushing does that all the time.” The characters’ awareness of vampire movies in From Dusk Till Dawn is comparable to the characters’ awareness of slashers in Scream.
“Under The Circumstances, I Think I Ought To Get A F****** Academy Award For How Natural I’m Acting.” - Pete Bottoms
At the beginning of From Dusk Till Dawn, when Seth and Richie are ripping off a liquor store, they tell the clerk, Pete Bottoms, to act natural. They’re furious when a cop, who’s a regular, comes into the store, and he lets him use the bathroom—but, since the cop uses the bathroom all the time, he argues that turning him away would’ve been acting unnaturally.
With guns pointed at his face, Pete argues, “look, you asked me to act natural, I’m acting natural. In fact, under the circumstances, I think I ought to get a f****** Academy Award for how natural I’m acting.”
“Plants Don’t Talk.” - Seth Gecko
When Seth sent Richie into a liquor store to get a roap, he wasn’t expecting to rob the store and blow it up, let alone bring away a hostage. They take their hostage, Gloria, back to their motel room, and Seth sternly tells her, “plant yourself in that chair.”
She begins to ask a question “what are you gonna do with...” and he quips, “I said, ‘Plant yourself.’ Plants don’t talk.” Seth’s logic is sound, but Gloria’s concern as a hostage of two violent criminals is also understandable.
“Well, It’s Been One Long G****** Hot Miserable S***-Ass F****** Day Every Inch Of The Way.” - Earl McGraw
When Texas Ranger Earl McGraw is trying and failing to track down the Gecko brothers, he exasperatedly says, “well, it’s been one long g****** hot miserable s***-ass f****** day every inch of the way.” Given the circumstances, it seems like a fairly accurate summary.
Earl McGraw is one of the most frequently recurring characters in the Tarantino movie universe. After being introduced in From Dusk Till Dawn, he reappeared in both Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Death Proof.
“Seth, Should I Save The Last Bullets For Us?” - Kate Fuller
When things look bleak for the protagonists of horror movies, proceedings can take disturbingly dark turns. There’s a scene near the end of Shaun of the Dead in which Shaun and Liz discuss taking drastic measures once they run out of ammo.
In From Dusk Till Dawn, when Kate asks the only other survivor, “Seth, should I save the last bullets for us?,” Seth roundly rejects this plan, countering with “no, use ‘em on the next two f**** that try to bite you!”
“All Right, Vampire Killers... Let’s Kill Some F****** Vampires.” - Seth Gecko
When the survivors dwindle down to Seth, Jacob, and Jacob’s two kids, they barricade themselves in a back room to get their weapons ready for the final showdown. Before going back out to face the undead horde, Seth says, “all right, vampire killers... let’s kill some f****** vampires.”
This line calls back to and pays off a couple of Seth’s earlier lines: “all right, ramblers... let’s get ramblin’,” and “okay, hard drinkers, let’s drink hard.” The “vampire killers” line is a delightfully blunt way to set up the movie’s blood-soaked finale.
