O Mariachi

El Mariachi (1992) was a fine debut for film maker Robert Rodriguez. He makes the most of his minuscule budget and makes a very entertaining action film. The story behind the making of the film is even more interesting than the movie itself. You can tell from this movie that Robert Rodriguez had a bright future in the movie business.

The story is about a musician who's trying to find work in a Mexican border town. None of the places he visits wants to hire a guitar player for their business. Meanwhile another man comes to town carrying a guitar case, he's no musician. He's a notorious hit man for a local gangster. When their paths cross, nothing but trouble lies ahead for the El Mariachi. Can the poor dude survive the week without being killed? Who is this guitar carrying killer? Why is he in town? What are the local crime boss' motives? To find out you'll have to watch EL MARIACHI!!!

An interesting debut that showed lots of promise. The movie was followed by a pseudo-sequel/remake a few years later with a bigger budget and a cast filled with a lot of named actors.

Highly recommended.