Hailee Steinfeld as Mary with blood around her mouth in Sinners
On January 22, the 2026 Oscar nominations were announced. Among the front-runners this year is Sinners, Ryan Coogler’s gritty and stylish horror movie that is now also a history maker, with a record 16 nominations.
Coincidentally, this date comes in the same week as the 30th anniversary of a film that heavily influenced it. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino, 1996’s From Dusk Till Dawn tells the story of two criminal brothers on the run who take refuge in a bar, only to find they have walked into a nest of vampires. If that sounds familiar, it’s because this chaotic slice of Grindhouse brilliance provided the inspiration for many aspects of Sinners. However, far from being a rip-off, Coogler simply used the same homage techniques that made Tarantino a Hollywood icon. 'From Dusk Till Dawn' Is a Bloody Delight Filmed in the middle of the '90s independent boom, From Dusk Till Dawn finds Rodriguez flying high from the success of 1995’s Desperado and Tarantino on top of the world after the success of Pulp Fiction in the previous year. Having both worked on the comedy anthology Four Rooms, the pair collaborated more closely with Rodriguez as director and Tarantino as both writer and first-time star. He and George Clooney play Ritchie and Seth Gecko, bank robber brothers who have recently pulled off a big score. Seeking to keep a low profile, they hijack the RV of a pastor and his children in order to cross the border to Mexico. They reach their destination, a saloon called the Titty Twister, where they will wait for their contact. However, once they settle in for the evening, they discover that the bar, its patrons, and its performers, are all vampires. While Rodriguez’s film focuses on shootouts and outlandish characters, such as one patron called Sex Machine who sports a gun in his crotch, the film seems to provide the blueprint on which Sinners would build. Both feature brothers on the run, bars overtaken by vampires, and a mid-film change in tone from gritty drama to all-out horror. Related 'Sinners' End-Credits Scenes Explained: What Does That Massive Time Jump Mean? Talk about a blast from the past. Posts By Collier Jennings The Gecko Brothers Have a Lot in Common With Smoke and Stack There appears to be some parallels between the leads as well. In From Dusk Till Dawn, Clooney’s Seth is the more charming, level-headed half of the duo, who struggles to keep a handle on Ritchie’s disturbed, violent outbursts. The contrast might not be as stark between Elijah"Smoke" and Elias"Stack" Moore , but their dynamic has similarities. Two World War I veterans who return to their home in Mississippi after stealing money from gangsters in Chicago, their plan to open a speakeasy in a secluded barn brings out the different sides of their characters. “Smoke” is the more pragmatic of the two, keeping his mind on the plan, while “Stack” is more open to chaos. Performance is also at the heart of both The Titty Twister and Pearline’s. One of the signature scenes in From Dusk Till Dawn is a dance performance from Santanico Pandemonium, played by Salma Hayek in a role that would prove a breakthrough for her career in America and become one of the most memorable moments of the movie as she entertained the enthralled Ritchie while dancing with a snake. She represents the lure of the supernatural evil that will eventually take one of the brothers. In Sinners, music takes center stage, in a performance that is equally evocative and rooted in the spirits. Sammie , a young but talented blues musician, finally gets his chance to shine on the stage of Pearline’s and does more than entertain – he summons spirits of the past and future to commune in one gloriously choreographed moment of celebration. Whether through plot points, characters, or themes, it’s clear the two films have a lot of likenesses, and purposefully so. Ryan Coogler has cited Sinners as one of two key inspirations for the film, alongside another Robert Rodriguez horror, The Faculty. However, to describe it as a rip-off, imitation, or remake would be to ignore the rich world the filmmaker built around that narrative structure. Setting its roots deep in the history, culture, and superstitions of the Deep South, Coogler uses familiar narrative cues to tell a unique and intriguing story. Whereas From Dusk Till Dawn provides heightened, action-driven spectacle, Sinners examines America’s dark past, where Klansmen are as much a threat as the undead and revelry still feels like rebellion. 'Sinners' Puts Ryan Coogler Up With the Greats What makes the film great is its use of a kind of elevated homage, echoing the techniques used by some of the most celebrated filmmakers today. Tarantino himself is known for borrowing visuals from movies he loves, such as the fight between O-Ren Ishii and The Bride in Kill Bill: Volume 1 resembling 1973 film Lady Snowblood or Inglourious Basterds having a similar plot and title to 1978’s The Inglorious Bastards. Equally, viewers have noticed a similarity between the weightless hallway scene in Christopher Nolan’s Inception and 2006 anime Paprika, or the influence of the 1958 samurai film The Hidden Fortress on George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy. The Wachowskis showed the 1995 anime Ghost In The Shell to producer Joel Silver as an outline for what they wanted to do with The Matrix. Subscribe to our newsletter for film deep dives Crave deeper takes on Sinners, cinematic influences, and awards significance? Subscribe to our newsletter for sharp, contextual coverage and thoughtful analysis that connects films, filmmakers, and cultural roots. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. All are considered visionary filmmakers, and all have some of their greatest works inspired by others. They were not copying others’ homework; however, they were simply fluent in the language of cinema, and used it to add to its greatness. It’s in this vein that Ryan Coogler draws on From Dusk Till Dawn, becoming a confirmation of the writer-director’s talent. Given a blank canvas free from the constraints of franchise filmmaking, he turned to the movies that made him a fan. Far from imitating greatness, Sinners’ echoes of Hollywood’s past proved that the Black Panther director had joined the pantheon of celebrated directors, now confirmed with his record nominations haul. Already a proven maker of box office hits, like all great artists, he took a risk on a unique idea and made exactly the film he wanted to see, with the result being something many others wanted to see as well. 8 10 Sinners Like Follow Followed R Horror Thriller Action Release Date April 18, 2025 Runtime 138 minutes Director Ryan Coogler Writers Ryan Coogler Producers Sev Ohanian, Zinzi Coogler, Ryan Coogler Cast See All
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