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Nato And Remy’s Last Stand: Franchise Killing Horror Sequels

There's a trend in Hollywood, amongst all genres and not limited to any time frame, that's usually inevitable for a smash hit film. It goes like this - a fantastic piece of cinema is created, box office success triumphs, studios bask in their momentary glory, and a sequel gets put into motion before the current hype is forgotten. It usually works too. Fans hype up the sequel, media promotes the crap out of it, a script is ordered to be rapidly completed, production is prioritized to get a hopeful follow-up hit in theaters as soon as possible, and before we know it the next Saw type film franchise is started only a year after the original's release. Brilliant marketing is used, fans get another franchise entry, it seems like a win-win, right?

Nato – From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money

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From Dusk Till Dawn is one of my favorite horror movies of all time, hands down, no argument, so you can imagine how sick to my stomach watching a straight to video sequel directed by Scott Spiegel desecrate Quentin and Robert’s names with superior stinkability of atomic bomb blast radius proportions. It was a feeling only the worst culinary experience could deliver, like eating raw mystery meat left uncovered for days on end, rotting slowly to the delight of carnivorous maggots. Yum.

The charm of From Dusk Dill Dawn is drawn from both Quentin’s slow-paced yet cleverly penned first segment, setting up character and situational elements, then reverting to Robert’s over the top horror tendencies when naked vampire strippers attack. Texas Blood Money tries the same dynamic, slow first part then cue grand finale, except the build up dialog is absolutely atrocious, characters are moronically lame, and the culmination of insanity sputters out with ludicrous delivery. The Robert Patrick starring sequel was a downgrade in every cinematic aspect, from tensionless filmmaking to laughably unprecedented special effects work?! All I remember is weird colors and terrible skeletons.

This time, all the action takes place outside of the now famous Titty Twister, following a group of bank robbers who start turning into vampires after one gets infected during a nostalgic trip back to the titty bar from hell. Except, it’s nothing as we remember, being a cheaply rendered set knock off which bares no history or ancient charm as once before, looking more like a sleazy lounge with no pizzazz. What should have been a glorious return back to one of my favorite horror locales turned into a franchise polluting pox which I wouldn’t recommend on my worst of enemies.

From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money takes what could have been a fun-filled franchise and drives a definitively awful stake directly through its heart, squashing all hopes of ever seeing justice done past Clooney and the Gecko brothers.

Oh yeah, they made another sequel released at the same time. Don’t even get me started on the direction that film makes.

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