FAQ

After robbing a bank in Kansas and escaping from jail, Seth Gecko (George Clooney) and his trigger-happy, younger brother Richie (Quentin Tarantino) make a run for the Mexican border, along the way crossing paths with the Fuller family—ex-pastor Jacob (Harvey Keitel), his son Scott (Ernest Liu), and his daughter Kate (Juliette Lewis)—when they all stop for the night at the Dew Drop Motel in Texas. In order to get across the border, the Geckos abduct the Fullers and their RV, but things really heat up when the motley crew stops at a trucker/biker-only bar, the Titty Twister, where they are supposed to rendez-vous with Seth's contact Carlos (Cheech Marin), who has arranged a safehouse for them in El Rey. As dusk falls, the Titty Twister fills with vampires, and Geckos and Fullers must survive "till dawn".

From Dusk Till Dawn is based on a screenplay written by director Quentin Tarantino based on a story by American screenwriter Robert Kurtzman. It was followed by From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999), From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (1999), and a TV series From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series (2014).

No explanation is given in the movie. The most prevalent explanation is that Scott was adopted. Other explanations are that (1) Jacob was married to a Chinese woman before (or after) he was married to Kate's mother (though it's suggested that Kate's mother died recently), (2) Jacob's wife had an affair with a Chinese man, or (3) Scott and Kate had the same mother, but Scott inherited the Chinese features while Kate did not.

El Rey is a safe haven for criminals located somewhere in Mexico. In exchange for money, criminals are given much-needed shelter where they won't be found by the police. El Rey first appeared in American author Jim Thompson's novel The Getaway (1958).

This takes some work, but all of the above films all exist within the same movie universe. There are several links between all of the movies that can be made. The best link is the character of who appears in all of the movie's plots. McGraw dies at the start of From Dusk Till Dawn (FDTD), so this would place FDTD's events at the end of the timeline. Then there is who is alive in the Death Proof (2007) segment of Grindhouse (2007), but dies in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003). There is also the link of from the Planet Terror (2007) segment of Grindhouse and the town to which the Gecko brothers were heading in FDTD which was also called "El Wray". Another link is who appears in both the Death Proof and "Planet Terrior" segments of Grindhouse, and this is the best place to start. Dakota Block is also the daughter of Earl McGraw and sister of Edgar McGraw who also appears in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and FDTD: Texas Blood Money.

The events of Death Proof must happen before the events of Planet Terror. This can be assumed by the relationship between Dakota Block and Earl McGraw which is frayed in Death Proof and most of Planet Terror, but they do make up by the end of Planet Terror. Also the lack of "sickos" in Death Proof would suggest this is before Planet Terror. Plus, Block leaves at the end of Planet Terror but is back working in the hospital in Death Proof. There is also a mention "in memory of" over the radio of Jungle Julia from Death Proof in the events of Planet Terror.

So we have Death Proof, Planet Terror, and Jasper. As he is alive in Death Proof but dies in Kill Bill: Vol. 1, that would place the (current) events of KIll Bill Volumes 1 and 2 after the events of Death Proof. Then, onto Earl McGraw who is alive in Death Proof, Planet Terror, and Kill Bill: Vol. 1, but is killed in FDTD. But then you have to include FDTD 2: Texas Blood Money and FDTD 3: The Hangman's Daughter. Edgar McGraw makes reference to the events and death of his father Earl in Texas Blood Money, which obviously sets this film after FDTD. Then The Hangman's Daughter is actually a prequel set in the 19th century therefore the earliest of the connections. So finally, chronologically the films go (1) The Hangman's Daughter, (2) Death Proof, (3) Planet Terror, (4) Kill Bill: Vol. 1, (5) Kill Bill: Vol. 2, (6) FDTD, and (7) Texas Blood Money.