Here's George Clooney's distinct From Dusk Till Dawn tattoo explained. From Dusk Till Dawn is one of the first scripts Quentin Tarantino got paid to write, and it was initially set up as a low-budget horror movie starring Joe Pilato of Day Of The Dead fame. The movie ultimately ended up being directed by Robert Rodriguez, with Tarantino and George Clooney playing the bank-robbing Gecko brothers. The movie famously starts as a crime thriller before suddenly morphing into a monster movie halfway through.
From Dusk Till Dawn was a solid hit upon release in 1996 and kickstarted a franchise. The first sequel was 1999's From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, which starred Robert Patrick as his character faced off against bloodsucking bank robbers and it was followed by Western prequel From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter. There was also a video game sequel that followed Seth Gecko - definitely not voiced by Clooney - as he battles vampires on a prison ship.
From Dusk Till Dawn is considered the movie that turned George Clooney into a movie star, though he never returned to the horror genre in the years that followed. His character Seth Gecko may have some heroic qualities, but he's decidedly an antihero willing to shoot his way out of trouble. Seth also has a prominent neck tattoo but it's only in the final scene it's revealed this impressive flame tattoo runs down his arm.
No explanation is given for the tattoo's meaning and Tattoo Fixers star Jay Hutton told Press Association (via Independent) it led to one of the worst tattoo trends of the 1990s, as people copied the design because it looked cool but later came to regret it. Seth's From Dusk Till Dawn tattoo was actually George Clooney's idea, as he had recently seen the powerful New Zealand drama Once Were Warriors. Clooney's tattoo is known as the tribal style and was applied by famed artist Gill Montie. Gecko's tat is a flame design with bold lines, but outside of looking really cool, there's probably not much meaning to the art outside of symbolizing Seth's fiery nature.
The meaning behind Seth Gecko's flame tattoo was later expanded upon in the From Dusk Till Dawn TV series. D.J. Cotrona took over the role, with the show explaining Seth got the flame tat due to his brother Richie saving him from the house fire that killed their father when they were young. His tattoo becomes a plot point in season 2 when he gets it expanded to cover bite marks.