After years of rumors of a reboot or fourth film, Miramax has rebooted it’s popular Quentin Tarantino film series From Dusk till Dawn into an re-imagined TV series for the El Rey Network. Once again focusing on the Gecko Brothers; who are now played by D.J. Cotrona and Zane Holtz (Seth and Richy, respectively), the series finds the two once again thrusted into the vampire world. While season one is a direct remake of the first film, season two continues the Gecko Brothers storyline. In hindsight, it may have been easier to re-imagine another one of the films, as season two started a bit slow, but as the story progressed the writers were able to find their footing and provided a solid finale.

From Dusk till Dawn is an 2014 action series, it is produced by Rodriguez International Pictures, and distributed by Miramax. It airs on El Rey on Tuesdays nights.

The Gecko Brothers as they appear on From Dusk till Dawn the series.

Being a big fan of the From Dusk till Dawn film franchise, I was ecstatic when it was announced that the film would be rebooted as a TV series. Season One is great from start to finish mainly due to it having the original film as source material, however Season Two while still enjoyable had an rather slow start, and took about four or five episodes for the plot to really take off. D.J. Cotrona and Zane Holtz did an excellent job replacing former Geckos George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, and the added emphasis on the vampire mythos  helped stretch the story beyond what the original film was able to accomplish.

Wilmer Valderrama’s performance as Carlos made him one of the major highlights for the series.

THE GOOD: Expanding the original version of the film with added mythos on the vampires was brilliantly done. And changing up the vampires from the traditional blood suckers to more snake like creatures was a unique spin on the classic monster genre. Actor performances were fantastic for the most part, especially Wilmer Valderrama’s performance as Carlos in particular.

Santanico seduces Richie’s mind.

THE BAD: While season one is fantastic in every way imaginable, season two is a tad slow. Richie and Santanico’s journey to take down Malvado and his empire felt like an afterthought compared to Seth and Kate’s team up to find and redeem her brother Scott until the latter half of the season when things really pick up. Speaking of Malvado, I couldn’t buy him as the big bad of the second season, he just felt like a side character, while Carlos seemed way more convincing as the main antagonist.

Danny Trejo is the only actor from the film to reprise his role in the series.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: From Dusk till Dawn season one is an excellent re-imagining of the original film. The mythos and unique backgrounds for the vampires provided a nice expansion on the film’s story, and D.J. Cotrona and Zane Holtz did fantastic jobs playing the Gecko Brothers. Season two, while slow picks up by the fourth or fifth episode and it’s mostly smooth sailings from that point forward. However, I couldn’t see Malvado as the main antagonist, and felt Carlos was much more deserving of the role, which seems to be the case heading into season three. Otaku Dome gives From Dusk till Dawn season one an 89 out of 100, and season two an 78 out of 100.