While From Dusk Till Dawn isn’t a proper Quentin Tarantino film, he wrote and acted in the thing as opposed to directing it, the effort still figures into the man’s public persona. But while most folks who’ve written on the topic of this movie, it seems that most of those lines were reserved for plot summary. That endeavor really shouldn’t have taken too much. While there’s action and occurrences in this flick, the narrative can be summed up pretty quickly.

Two brothers, Richard and Seth Gecko (Tarantino and George Clooney respectively), stole some loot, shot a cop, kidnap a family and make their way to a bar where the pair’s set to be ushered to safety. It just turns out that the bar in question – the Titty Twister – is a haven for vampires. There ya go. That’s the whole thing. People die, get bitten, burst into flames, the whole deal.

And yeah, From Dusk Till Dawn is willfully campy. But that’s how Tarantino and director Robert Rodriguez want it. There’s not shortage of decent acting and all, but waiting to hit that point when viewers know vampires make an appearance takes a pretty long time.

The set up for the film, during which the Geckos characters are defined, takes a pretty long time. Of course, after kidnapping that family – which comprises Juliette Lewis and Harvey Keitel – things get a bit more interesting. But it seems that Lewis’ character is there simply to complete the character background on Tarantino’s character, who’s referred to as a sex offender. The tag gets beared out again and again.

It’s interesting, though, to have encountered the fervor surrounding Tarantino’s portrayal of women in his Death Proof and then look back at his inhabiting this character. Objectifying women, while a part of Hollywood in a general sense, seems to be a problem this actor, writer and director gets saddled with on a frequent basis.

Working in the role of a murderous thief and sexual deviant should make some wonder why Tarantino took the part. Of course, having Salma Hayek’s foot in his mouth might have convinced him. But should critics of film and Tarantino specifically figure this role as the actor letting us know that he has a bit of an issue with women? Probably not. It’s simply a role – a foil to the cool, Clooney character. And a performance that’s surprisingly strong even after viewers already met Tarantino the actor during Reservoir Dogs.