From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter

From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter is a 2000 American Western horror film directed by P. J. Pesce. It serves as a prequel to the 1996 film From Dusk till Dawn. It was released directly to video and was nominated at the 26th Saturn Awards for "Best Home Video Release". In late 2010, the production of a fourth film in the series was discussed,[1] but, as of August 2012, further work on this possibility has not been revealed. In late 2013, it was reported that a TV series had begun production.[2]

From Dusk Till Dawn 3:
The Hangman's Daughter
Poster for From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter
Directed byP. J. Pesce
Produced by
Screenplay byÁlvaro Rodríguez
Story by
Starring
Music byNathan Barr
CinematographyMichael Bonvillain
Edited byLawrence A. Maddox
Production
company
Distributed byAmuse Pictures
Buena Vista Home Video
New Films International
Release date
  • October 31, 1999 (1999-10-31) (Fort Lauderdale
    International Film Festival)
  • January 18, 2000 (2000-01-18) (United States)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

In Mexico 1913 , an American author, Ambrose Bierce, experiences a nightmare in which he dies at the hands of Pancho Villa. Bierce wakes and talks to a local bartender about his intentions to join Pancho Villa's revolutionary army. He joins a stagecoach transporting a newly-wed couple, John and Mary Newlie, who are traveling to Mexico to preach Christianity. Meanwhile, Johnny Madrid, a dangerous local outlaw, escapes from the gallows and kidnaps his hangman, Mauricio's beautiful 19 year old teenage daughter, Esmeralda. Madrid receives assistance from Catherine Reece, a young woman who wants to become Madrid's apprentice as an outlaw. With Mauricio and a local posse on their trail, Madrid meets with his gang. They later rob Bierce's stagecoach because of Reece's belief that Bierce possesses an invaluable object. The gang doesn't find anything of value, with Bierce claiming he is the invaluable object, as he intends to join with Pancho Villa. Annoyed by this, Madrid leaves Reece hanging in the desert. She is found by the posse who use her to track the two.

As night falls, all the parties coincidentally seek shelter in an isolated inn called La Tetilla Del Diablo (the Titty Twister from the first film )that also serves as a brothel. They meet Ezra Traylor, a businessman heading to the U.S. Mauricio is the only one who knows that the establishment is run by a group of vampires led by the high priestess, Quixtla, who targets Esmeralda. As night falls John gets into a fight with one of Madrid's men, drawing blood. The vampires eventually reveal themselves, lock the exit and attack the patrons. All of Mauricio's men and the remnants of Madrid's gang are killed by the vampires. Ezra is overcome by vampire women, is fed on and quickly turns into a vampire. He grabs the helpless Mary , hypnotises, and bites her. Madrid, Bierce, Reece, John, Esmeralda, Mauricio and one other patron manage to escape into the dungeons beneath the building and try to work together to find a way out.

Mary rises as a vampire and goes after the group, revealing that John is a fraud who has only married Mary for her father's money. John is eventually forced to kill her. The patron who escaped with them hides a bite he had received from a prostitute earlier. As they continue through the catacombs, he turns and bites John. John kills the patron. Doomed, he persuades Madrid to stake him to prevent him turning. As the remaining survivors keep going, Bierce admits to reading in the papers that Reece is an outlaw who has killed her entire family. The group eventually ends up back at the bar entrance, only to find Quixtla and the vampires in wait for them. She reveals that Esmeralda is the dhampir daughter of Quixtla and Mauricio and destined to be a full- fledged vampire princess . Mauricio had taken her away in the hope of raising her as a normal human and tried to kill her unsuccessfully, but, thanks to his mistreatment and Madrid's kidnapping, she has been led back to Quixtla.

Madrid, Mauricio, Bierce and Reece are hung upside-down to be fed on later as Quixtla and Esmeralda's vampire grandmother transform Esmeralda into a full-fledged vampire princess, renaming her Santanico Pandemonium . Madrid manages to break from his bonds and free the others. Reece is bitten in the scuffle and presumably becomes a vampire while Ezra is killed by Madrid. Santanico kills her grandmother, then bites and turns her father into a vampire, but he manages to open the entrance way , and kills Quixtla with sunlight before the change is complete, allowing Madrid and Bierce to escape while Santanico hides from the sunlight. As the film ends, Santanico screams for Madrid not to leave her as the entrance is closed. Madrid looks away sadly and joins Ambrose's quest to join Pancho Villa's army. As they leave, the camera zooms out to show the Mayan temple behind the building that houses the vampires, a reference to the first film.

After the closing credits, Bierce's legendary disappearance has an answer. He has survived into current times and has been telling a patron the story. The patron doesn't believe him, and as he leave, Ambrose tells him he has proof. He then reveals that Quixtla actually bit him as they fell outside of the bar, because he is now a vampire. He rips the heart of the patron and bites it as the film ends.

Cast

Release

The American Cinematheque held the West Coast premiere at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on October 30, 1999.[3]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 22% of nine surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 4/10.[4] Mike Emery of the Houston Chronicle wrote that the film "isn't terribly bad" but is too derivative and only for gore hounds.[5] Matt Serafini of Dread Central rated it 2/5 stars and wrote that the original film should not have had any sequels.[6] Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club wrote, "Being competent is no great achievement, but for undiscriminating gore fans, it should be enough to make Dawn 3 a passable evening's entertainment."[7] G. Noel Cross of DVD Talk rated it 4/5 stars and called it "a smart sequel that delivers mucho bang for the peso."[8] Gordon Sullivan of DVD Verdict called it "a serviceable little action horror flick that takes a timeworn premise and adds its own small filigrees."[9]

See also

References
  1. Block, Alex Ben (16 July 2010). "Weinstein Co., Miramax Ink Deal to Produce Movie Sequels". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  2. Hunter, Craig (17 November 2013). "T2's Robert Patrick & More Join 'From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series'". TheHollywoodNews.com. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  3. "Cinematheque bows 'Dusk 3' for Halloween". Variety. 19 October 1999. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  4. "From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  5. Emery, Mike (8 June 2001). "From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  6. Serafini, Matt (30 July 2011). "From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (Blu-ray)". Dread Central. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  7. Rabin, Nathan (29 March 2002). "From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  8. Cross, G. Noel (7 May 2000). "From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter". DVD Talk. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  9. Sullivan, Gordon (12 August 2011). "From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (Blu-ray)". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
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