Is ‘Sinners’ a Rip-Off of ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’? Director Ryan Coogler Explains
What To Know
- Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners has drawn comparisons to From Dusk Till Dawn due to its blend of crime drama and vampire horror.
- Coogler acknowledges a wide range of influences beyond Rodriguez’s film.
- Despite surface similarities, Coogler emphasizes that Sinners is a genre-bending, “genre-fluid” film.
Ryan Coogler‘s Sinners is one of the most talked-about films of the year and the most Oscar-nominated film of all time with 16 nominations. The movie, which stars Michael B. Jordan in dual roles, spans many genres, including supernatural horror, crime drama, and even musical. Fans have been debating the film and its influences since it came out, and Coogler has offered some opinions, including sharing some of the film’s inspirations.
Since its release, Sinners has drawn frequent comparisons to Robert Rodriguez‘s 1996 cult classic From Dusk Till Dawn. Both movies begin as tense crime stories before shifting into vampire horror. In From Dusk Till Dawn, George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino play criminal brothers on the run from the law who wind up trapped in a desert bar that turns out to be filled with vampires. Released in January 1996, the film eventually became a cult favorite, and Sinners feels very similar in some ways.
Warner Bros./Everett Collection
Coogler has been open about the fact that Rodriguez’s vampire film was one of many inspirations behind Sinners. In an interview with Syfy, he explained that comparing the two movies is understandable, but also a bit misleading.
“On the nose, it’d be very easy to make a comparison with From Dusk Till Dawn,” Coogler said. Still, he pointed out that the film is actually closer in spirit to Rodriguez’s The Faculty and draws from a much wider pool of influences. Coogler has cited everything from the Coen brothers’ Fargo and No Country for Old Men to Inside Llewyn Davis and John Carpenter‘s The Thing as creative touchstones.
But some of the film’s biggest influences did not come from movies at all.
Dimension Films/Everett Collection
“The [Stephen King] novel Salem’s Lot is a massive influence on the film,” Coogler revealed in an interview with SciFi Now. “Then there’s a real deep-cut influence. My favorite thing ever made is The Twilight Zone, and my favorite episode is called ‘The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank.’ Salem’s Lot and ‘The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank’ are probably the biggest influences.”
The classic 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone follows a man who mysteriously rises from the dead at his own funeral, leading neighbors to wonder whether he has returned as something supernatural. Both stories take place in the American South and weave folklore and community suspicion into their supernatural elements.
Eli Ade/Warner Bros./Everett Collection
Sinners even pulled inspiration from a Disney Channel movie, as 2001’s The Luck of the Irish sparked Coogler’s interest in Irish culture. “That was our first introduction to some of the similarities in Irish folk music to, basically, our music,” he explained to Deadline. “There was a small Irish community in The Bay, and we would talk about it. That movie was kind of a touchpoint for us to jump off of, crazy enough. We’ve been fascinated with that culture in my family.”
Plus, once you look beyond the vampire premise, the differences between Sinners and From Dusk Till Dawn become pretty clear. Coogler has also described the film as intentionally difficult to pin down. “Sinners is a unique one, and it’s kind of genre-bending,” he explains to SciFiNow. “It’s a genre-fluid film. There are vampires in the film, okay, but it’s really about a lot more than just that. It’s one of many elements, and I think we’re gonna surprise people with it.”
What do you think? Debate in the comments!
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