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From Dusk Till Dawn 3

From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter is a 2000 American Western horror film directed by P. J. Pesce. It serves as a prequel to the 1996 film From Dusk Till Dawn. It was released directly to video and was nominated at the 26th Saturn Awards for "Best Home Video Release". In late 2010, the production of a fourth film in the series was discussed, but, as of August 2012, further work on this possibility has not been revealed. In late 2013, it was reported that a TV series had begun production.

Plot[]

In Mexico 1913, an American author, Ambrose Bierce, experiences a nightmare in which he dies at the hands of Pancho Villa. Bierce wakes and talks to a local bartender about his intentions to join Pancho Villa's revolutionary army. He joins a stagecoach transporting a newly-wed couple, John and Mary Newlie, who are traveling to Mexico to preach Christianity. Meanwhile, Johnny Madrid, a dangerous local outlaw, escapes from the gallows and kidnaps his hangman, Mauricio's beautiful 19 year old teenage daughter, Esmeralda. Madrid receives assistance from Catherine Reece, a young woman who wants to become Madrid's apprentice as an outlaw. With Mauricio and a local posse on their trail, Madrid meets with his gang. They later rob Bierce's stagecoach because of Reece's belief that Bierce possesses an invaluable object. The gang doesn't find anything of value, with Bierce claiming he is the invaluable object, as he intends to join with Pancho Villa. Annoyed by this, Madrid leaves Reece hanging in the desert. She is found by the posse who use her to track the two.

As night falls, all the parties coincidentally seek shelter in an isolated inn called La Tetilla Del Diablo (the Titty Twister from the first film) that also serves as a brothel. They meet Ezra Traylor, a businessman heading to the U.S. Mauricio is the only one who knows that the establishment is run by a group of vampires led by the high priestess, Quixtla, who's immediately drawn to Esmeralda. As night falls John gets into a fight with one of Madrid's men, drawing blood. The vampires eventually reveal themselves, lock the exit and attack the patrons. All of Mauricio's men and the remnants of Madrid's gang are killed by the vampires except for Joaquin and Madrid. Ezra is overcome by vampire women, is fed on and quickly turns into a vampire. He grabs the helpless Mary, hypnotises and bites her. Madrid, Bierce, Reece, John, Esmeralda, Mauricio and Joaquin manage to escape into the dungeons beneath the building and try to work together to find a way out.

Mary rises as a vampire and goes after the group, revealing that John is a fraud who has only married Mary for her father's money. John is eventually forced to kill her. Joaquin who escaped with them hides a bite he had received from a prostitute earlier. As they continue through the catacombs, he turns and bites John. John kills Joaquin. Doomed, he persuades Madrid to stake him to prevent him turning. As the remaining survivors keep going, Bierce admits to reading in the papers that Reece is an outlaw who has killed her entire family. The group eventually ends up back at the bar entrance, only to find Quixtla and the vampires in wait for them. She reveals that Esmeralda is the dhampir daughter of Quixtla and Mauricio and destined to be a full-fledged vampire princess named Santánico Pandemonium . Mauricio had taken her away in the hope of raising her as a normal human and tried to kill her unsuccessfully but, thanks to his mistreatment and Madrid's kidnapping, she has been led back to Quixtla.

Madrid, Mauricio, Bierce and Reece are hung upside-down to be fed on later as Quixtla and Esmeralda's vampire grandmother transform Esmeralda into a full-fledged vampire princess, renaming her as Santánico Pandemonium. Madrid manages to break from his bonds and free the others. Reece is bitten in the scuffle and presumably becomes a vampire while Ezra is killed by Madrid. Santánico kills her grandmother, then bites and turns her father into a vampire, but he manages to open the entrance way, and kills Quixtla with sunlight before the change is complete, allowing Madrid and Bierce to escape while Santánico hides from the sunlight. As the film ends, Santánico screams for Madrid not to leave her as the entrance is closed. Madrid looks away sadly and joins Ambrose's quest to join Pancho Villa's army. As they leave, the camera zooms out to show the Mayan temple behind the building that houses the vampires, a reference to the first film.

After the closing credits, Bierce's legendary disappearance has an answer. He has survived into current times and has been telling a patron the story. The patron doesn't believe him, and as he leave, Ambrose tells him he has proof. He then reveals that Quixtla actually bit him as they fell outside of the bar, because he is now a vampire. He rips the heart of the patron and bites it as the film ends.

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