The What Happened to This Horror Movie episode on From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money was written by Jaime Vasquez:
When From Dusk Till Dawn hit theaters in 1996, it became an instant cult classic, a crime thriller that suddenly morphs into a creature feature in a way that only Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino could pull off. And when your original film stars George Clooney, Salma Hayek, and a bar full of flesh-eating vampires? All that, plus strong box office returns, meant a sequel was basically guaranteed. So naturally… From Dusk Till Dawn 2 was born.
In the late ’90s, the booming home-video market made direct-to-video releases a perfectly viable option. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It meant the movie was positioned as a rental at a time when people actually rented movies.
So did the sequel live up to its predecessor despite the lower budget?
Which character from the original was almost brought back, only to be immediately killed off?
And just how involved was Quentin Tarantino in this standalone sequel?
Grab your torches, your crucifix, and your wooden stake. We’re headed to Mexico to find out what happened to From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money.
Scott Spiegel Enters the Picture
Scott Spiegel had been longtime friends with Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell dating back to their young-filmmaker days in mid-’70s Michigan. Raimi and Spiegel collaborated on several Super 8 shorts, and Spiegel even appeared as a “fake Shemp” in The Evil Dead and Evil Dead II, the latter of which he also co-wrote with Raimi.
Spiegel’s first feature as a writer-director was the 1989 cult-horror gem Intruder, a slasher set entirely inside a grocery store. The idea came directly from Spiegel’s own overnight shift work. While there was no masked maniac stalking the cereal aisle, he realized the location was a perfect cat-and-mouse playground for a horror movie.
He took two stabs at the concept: first with the Super 8 short Night Crew, and later with the full-length feature. Both versions also roped in Raimi and Bruce Campbell for some early-career chaos.
The Writers Behind the Bloodshed
Screenwriter Boaz Yakin already had a few notable credits under his belt, including the 1989 Punisher adaptation starring Dolph Lundgren. Yakin’s early directing efforts, starting with Fresh starring Samuel L. Jackson and A Price Above Rubies with Renée Zellweger, didn’t exactly light up the box office, but both earned strong critical praise. About a decade before today’s subject, Yakin crossed paths with Spiegel when they teamed up on The Rookie, the Clint Eastwood–Charlie Sheen action film.
Turning Spiegel and Yakin’s story into a full screenplay was Spiegel himself, working alongside actor-turned-writer Duane Whitaker. Whitaker is best known for playing Maynard in Pulp Fiction… you know, the guy who captures Marsellus and Butch when they accidentally wander into his pawn shop mid-attempted murder spree.
Yes, one of Tarantino’s most unsettling characters helped write a direct-to-video vampire sequel.
Why a Sequel Happened at All
The original From Dusk Till Dawn performed well at the box office, but where it really sank its fangs in was the home-video market. And it’s not hard to imagine why people preferred watching this one at home (cut to Salma Hayek’s snake dance).
Whatever the reason, strong rentals and DVD sales convinced the studio to greenlight a sequel aimed squarely at that same audience. Miramax was further reassured by the success of The Prophecy II, a Christopher Walken direct-to-video sequel that actually turned a profit.
This was the late ’90s, when “direct-to-video” still sounded like a business strategy instead of an apology.
Tarantino’s Almost-Involvement
After Miramax acquired the rights to the Halloween franchise, Scott Spiegel met executive Bob Weinstein at the From Dusk Till Dawn premiere. Spiegel had been up for the job of directing Halloween 6, but producer Moustapha Akkad ultimately chose to hire someone else.
Still, when discussions about a From Dusk Till Dawn sequel began, Weinstein immediately thought of Spiegel. Spiegel teamed up with Boaz Yakin to develop a story, pitched it to Weinstein and Quentin Tarantino, and both signed off.
Tarantino returned as a producer, and his involvement sparked an ambitious and quickly abandoned idea: the plan was to bring back Tarantino’s character Ritchie as the king of all vampires, with George Clooney’s Seth Gecko appearing briefly, only to be unceremoniously killed off.
That idea died faster than Seth would have.
Tarantino wasn’t especially eager to resurrect Ritchie, so the film shifted into a standalone sequel instead: new characters, same cursed location, same old vampire insanity.
Meet the New Cast
Leading the new lineup is Buck Bowers, played by none other than Robert Patrick, the legendary T-1000 himself. Patrick brings his signature intensity to the role of a hardened criminal leading a crew of bank robbers. He takes the part so seriously that it sometimes feels like he thinks he’s in the original From Dusk Till Dawn, not a direct-to-video sequel bound for Blockbuster shelves.
Bo Hopkins co-stars as Sheriff Otis Lawson, a Texas Ranger tracking Buck’s crew. Hopkins brings old-school Hollywood grit, making him the perfect foil and eventual ally once the vampires enter the picture.
Duane Whitaker also appears as Luther Heggs, one of Buck’s main accomplices. He brings the same off-kilter energy he displayed in Pulp Fiction, which fits perfectly into this grimy desert-vampire setting.
Danny Trejo returns as Razor Eddie. Trejo played Razor Charlie in the original, but appears as a different character in each entry of the trilogy. He’s the only actor to show up in all three films, making him the unofficial mascot of this blood-soaked crime universe.
James Parks plays Deputy Edgar McGraw, the son of Earl McGraw, played in the original film by James’ real-life father, Michael Parks. Aside from Trejo’s shapeshifting appearances, this is the only true casting connection across the trilogy. James Parks would later reprise the character in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, as well as Death Proof.
We also get blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em cameos from Bruce Campbell and Tiffani Thiessen, each appearing for about five minutes. The marketing didn’t exactly help expectations; Thiessen is featured on the poster and heavily promoted despite barely being in the film.
At least they didn’t pull that trick with Campbell. If they had, we’d still be hearing the backlash.
Low Budget, Fast Shoot
Production moved quickly and stayed within budget. The film was shot in Cape Town, South Africa, which doubled for Texas and Mexico. The dusty roads, desert landscapes, and vampire-infested towns? All South Africa.
The shoot lasted 40 days and worked within a modest $5 million budget, a significant drop from the original film’s $19 million price tag.
Spiegel leaned into his signature visual style, using kinetic POV shots, unusual angles, and practical effects that feel rough, but in a charming way. He joked in interviews that he tried to make the movie look bigger than its budget allowed, which may explain why some vampires look like they escaped from a clearance-rack Halloween store.
Editing proved tricky due to Spiegel’s unorthodox camera work, but the goal was clear:
Make it fast.
Make it bloody.
Make it fun.
And don’t make it too much like the original.
Release and Reception
From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money was released on March 16, 1999, and critics were not impressed. The film currently holds a 9% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences only slightly more forgiving at 20%. IMDb users landed at a 4.2 out of 10, the cinematic equivalent of a polite shrug.
The movie hit DVD shelves on September 28, 1999, and later resurfaced in a Blu-ray trilogy set in 2011. While it mostly skipped theaters, it did receive a brief theatrical run in Taiwan on May 3, 2002, earning a modest $6,000. Hey, that still counts as box office revenue.
Among fans and critics, the sequel holds the dubious distinction of being the lowest-rated entry in the franchise. Its most memorable aspect is its cast: Robert Patrick’s intensity and Danny Trejo’s contractual tough-guy energy elevate the material far more than the budget deserves.
Despite appearances from Tiffani Thiessen and Bruce Campbell, the film is largely overshadowed by both its predecessor and its successor, From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter, which gets more attention thanks to its gleefully over-the-top gore.
Final Verdict
Despite its reputation, From Dusk Till Dawn 2 isn’t without charm. It’s a perfect time capsule of the late-’90s direct-to-video boom: scrappy, messy, occasionally entertaining, and carried by actors who refused to phone it in.
It may not live up to the original, but that’s a nearly impossible standard. Forget the first film, let this one stand on its own, and you’ll probably have a good time.
And that, my friends, is what happened to From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money.
A couple of previous episodes of this show can be seen below. For more, check out the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel—and don’t forget to subscribe!
The post From Dusk Till Dawn 2: The Direct-to-Video Sequel That Time Forgot appeared first on JoBlo.
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