Just Before Dawn [DVD]

The more I think about it, the more I like this movie. Substituting suspense for an excess of gore, Just Before Dawn is pretty successful at actually bringing you in to the story. In most horror films, I basically just sit back and look forward to the next death scene, hoping it will be as gruesome and as bloody as possible. I won't say I actually came to care about the designated victims in this film, but I wasn't hoping for their deaths. Maybe it's because, for one of the few times in horror film history, these young people didn't invite their deaths by doing incredibly stupid things. OK, I guess they did a few dumb things - but nothing of the "I'll be right back" variety. I also liked the casting of George Kennedy as the outside hero who might or might not ride in on his white horse to save the day. Most of all, though, I liked the ending.

I had my doubts early on. This isn't exactly the first time I've watched a group of young people head off on a camping trip into the unexplored wilderness. This particular group of three men and two women weren't exactly the sharpest knives in the drawer, either. When some crazy dude runs out of the woods hollering about a demon that just killed his nephew up the road, I'm turning around and going home - I don't care how liquored up the fellow is. If a George Kennedy-shaped forest ranger also warns me not to keep going, I'm definitely packing up the Vienna sausages and turning tail. (Personally, I would also have been a little nervous about the fact that the early scenes kept changing from night to day and back again every couple of minutes.) These kids, naturally, scoff at such warnings and omens, apparently believing that one of their number's ownership of the land will keep them safe - and you also have to give them the benefit of the doubt, acknowledging the fact that they could hardly have known that some grotesque inbreeds were up there just hoping for some more victims to come their way. This was 1980, long before Cabin Fever, Wrong Turn, and other "camping kills" films became all the rage.

Co-writer and director Jeff Lieberman did a might fine job of filmmaking here, especially given the film's obvious low budget. He doesn't just dive right into the killings, using the first half of the film to generate a little tension and nervousness among the campers. The killings themselves, when they do come, are well-conceived and efficient. Lieberman knows how to work with light and shadows, too, throwing in some really effective shots at crucial times. And the ending is great because it doesn't completely kowtow to convention.

Characters certainly die in this movie, but those deaths aren't overly gory (although the first killing does have a certain savoir faire to it) - so don't start expecting this thing to turn into a cookie-cutter slasher film. Just Before Dawn isn't so much about the killing as it is the trying to stay alive. The "monsters" aren't too bright, but they've got a real "get 'er done" mentality, and that's really the way to go if you want to be a truly successful killer.

I'll go ahead and tell you that you're going to want to watch this film after dark, without any lights on, because the print is somewhat dark overall and the night-time wilderness scenes can be pretty hard to see in a well-lit environment. You may also want to avert your eyes and cover your ears during the inevitable dance around the campfire scene because the music is just as bad as the dancing. (I think Lieberman must have blown his entire music budget on the rights for Blondie's Heart of Glass because the rest of the soundtrack leaves much to be desired.)

I just have to say that Just Before Dawn is one of those films that somehow fell through the cracks, and that's a shame because it really is a deceptively good little horror film. I think it's definitely worth checking out.

A nice underated little gem from the early eighties here,you could say a sort of hills have eyes/deliverance hybrid with the usual foolish young adults encountering a pair of grotesque hulking inbred twins,whilst camping in the mountains who despatch most of them with varying savagery until the terrorised spunky female lets them have it with suprising gusto.The director portrays a good degree of menace and fear of wondering just whos lurking in those backwoods.The only small problem is the quality of the dvd transfer,it looks like its been lifted straight from an ancient film or video print and is a bit shoddy,so it loses a star from me for that.Maybe the region 1 is better?.

If you like 80's slasher/horror films then you'll definitely going to love this. Director Jeff Lieberman who also made Squirm a ridiculous film about killer worms directs this much better woodland slasher flick, Just before dawn is similar to Hill Have Eyes but in a way it is much different the story is about a group of young friends traveling in their RV who enter the woods for some rest and relaxation one of whom has inherited a plot of land so they check it out, they foolishly disregard the warnings of the local sheriff and a mad man who is absolutely terrified tells them about demons in the forest but they ignore him since hes clearly out of his mind and seems to be drunk. However they soon regret their decision as a powerful and psychotic inbred killer begins to stalk and kill them one-by-one for invading 'his' woods. The film is not a total gorefest so if you expect that then forget it there were some gore especially during the beginning but that was it, most of the violence takes place off screen but this is where Jeff Lieberman creates some great death scenes and makes a more clever slasher film because the characters weren't the typical stupid and [...] partying teens from other slasher films so you do care maybe a little for them when they die. The ending was a complete surprise I had no idea it was going to turn out like that it was kind of disturbing, the location was also very nice and beautifully shot the only problem was Shriek show gave us a bad picture quality it was like watching an old VHS tape and it looked blurry especially during the campfire scenes but it wasn't that bad. By the way from the other reviews it seems like the region 2 edition had the same problems, but the Shriek Show edition does have some special special features unlike this one.