From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter is an interesting and fitting end to what shouldn’t really have continued after the first film. Set as a prequel, the film charts the events that led up to the initiation of Esmerelda (Ara Celi)as the queen of the vampires, played by Salma Hayek in the first film.

The Hangman’s daughter turns out to be human given birth to by a vampire, or something to that effect. There’s no real explanation, but she remains human as long as she isn’t near vampires, though again they don’t quite explain the logic. Or why she’s the princess. It’s just a given.

Johnny Madrid (Marco Leonardi)is to be hanged for murder, and the man doing the hanging is Esmeralda’s father, known as The Hangman (Temuera Morrison). However, he’s saved by an admirer and escapes on horseback, along with Esmeralda after she is publicly whipped by her father for refusing to go home. So The Hangman follows, and the two attempt to escape.

In any case, even without heavyweights such as Clooney and Keitel, the B-movie actors that take part in the proceedings are certainly up to the task, and I have to say that this film is certainly up there with From Dusk Till Dawn, placing the second film as a distant memory of errors that never transpired. It has everything the first film has, and in fact echoes many of the original ideas such as the gathering of a disaparate group of people who band together, to fight against the vampires in a bar, that we know as the Titty Twister.

Plot aside, performances are good throughout, particularly Michael Parks as the alcoholic gentleman Ambrose Bierce, who somehow gets through the events in his drunken state, vampires, or bandits it makes little difference to him. The supprting cast also do well and certainly make more of an effort. Much of the production values are scaled down, with a smaller environment where the events take place, but at least this is better related to the first film than the abysmal second.

There’s no doubt that the improved third film and prequel is due tot he fact that Rodriguez and a relative (brother, cousin, I have no idea) penned the script, unlike the second to which Tarantino and Rodriguiez simply lent their name. It’s much better for it, as it ties in with the first film well enough, while providing a worthwhile ride of action horror as a standalone. You don’t need to have seen any of the other films, in fact they’re all stand alone and not specifically related, but along with the first film, this certainly would stand as one of the best.

Direction is solid throughout, with nice build up to the inevitable events taking place. The locations and sets are also enjoyable and it’s nice to see that even for a B-movie some effort was made to create atmosphere and tension, as well as adding in apt humour, to what could have been yet another failing episode in the series.

It’s a suprise of a film as far as short-span entertaintment goes, and offers a good 90 minutes of vampire fun. The special effects are done surprisngly well, and not at all over done. It’s not going to win oscars, or be regarded as a classic, but for a quick rental when you’re in the mood for some vampire entertainment, it fits the bill quite nicely.

Verdict: Enjoyable third film, almost as good as the first film