HE DIDN’T COME LOOKING FOR TROUBLE, BUT TROUBLE CAME LOOKING FOR HIM.

Director Robert Rodriguez got a whole lot of things out of the measly 7,000 dollars invested in this project – it took him to Hollywood. The story of a meek-looking “mariachi”, a musician, who comes to a Mexican small town and is confused with a hit man who also wears black but carries a weapon in his guitar-case, is amusing and the extreme camera angles and close-ups keep it edgy. Sort of charming, though hardly very original and it also tends to get a tad silly. Carlos Gallardo and Consuela Gomez don’t exactly set the screen ablaze, but they’re right for their parts.

1992-U.S.-Mexico. 81 min. Color. Written, directed, photographed and edited by Robert Rodriguez. Cast: Carlos Gallardo (El Mariachi), Consuela Gomez (Domino), Peter Marquardt (Mauricio), Jaime de Hoyos, Reinol Martinez, Ramiro Gomez. 

Trivia: Co-produced by Rodriguez. This is the cheapest film Columbia ever distributed. Word has it that Rodriguez collected 3,000 dollars for it by taking part in a medical experiment; as a guinea pig he tested a cholesterol-reducing drug. Followed by two sequels, starting with Desperado (1995).

IMDb