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As much as I like the great outdoors I don’t think that it is too wise to spend too much time away from civilization. Chances are if you spend too much time in the middle of nowhere you will eventually run into inbreeds, cannibals or maniacs with big fucking knives. Or so the wonderful world of horror would have us believe.
Let’s face it, no place is safe, if you go camping you may as well phone the funeral parlor and pre-book your coffin before you leave. That is if they find your body.
Just Before Dawn is one such movie. Kids in the woods soon becomes dead kids in the woods. The question is though, is there enough here to separate it from the many other movies that tread similar ground? In short, yes there is.
As is often the case the movie starts off with a nice gruesome murder. Ty and his buddy Vachel are exploring an old church that just so happens to be stuck half way up a mountain. Whilst there Ty is convinced that he saw someone (or something) on the roof looking down at them. He may have had a drink or two but he isn’t taking any risks, so he makes a hasty exit only to be nearly run over by their truck.
Vachel isn’t so fortunate though, as before he can make his exit he is stabbed in the family jewels by a figure wielding a rather dangerous looking machete. With this Ty does what any self respecting person would do and runs for his life.
After a quick introduction to Roy McLean, the local Forest Ranger (played by big bad George Kennedy), who we know will pop up again somewhere down the line, we join up with Warren, his girlfriend and their three buddies. They are off up the mountain to do a little camping and also check out the land that Warren has the deeds for.
Turn around now you fools!
Before they reach their destination they make sure that they stop off at Roy’s place just to let him know where not to find them should they go missing. This also gives Roy a chance to warn those pesky kids not to go up the mountain. Holy shit this is tense stuff!
Well, I’m sure that you can guess what happens during the rest of the movie. Yeah, I thought so. The maniac from the opening scene is still waltzing around going about his merry business. There is also a family of, how to put this tactfully, inbred hillbilly’s that I half expected to come out with the line”You ain’t from around here” alas they don’t though.
Although Just Before Dawn does seem like just another teen slasher flick it is actually rather good. The kids aren’t quite as dumb as you might expect them to be, annoying maybe, but not dumb. Characters that you might expect to die don’t and vice versa.
For a movie that was originally released in the early 80′s it is also a surprisingly bloodless affair. There are a couple a cool money-shots, but it never gets anywhere near the level of violence of movies like Friday the 13th or The Burning. I would actually say that this has more in common with Deliverance than any slasher flick. Yet a slasher flick it undeniably is.
Acting-wise it’s is all fairly good, Kennedy pops up here and there in what can only be described as an extended cameo. The family living on the mountain are suitably creepy and John Hunsacker as the maniac is just plain evil. Even the kids do themselves justice here, nothing award winning but they do enough to ensure they will have worked again.
A quick mention should go to the score by Brad Fiedel and the wonderful scenery of Oregon, both add to the atmosphere of Just Before Dawn.
On the downside the movie is letdown a little by the pacing which ebbs and flows, rather than continually building towards the inevitable climax. However this is a slasher with a little more class than the majority of similar movies that were released around the same time.
To top off a decent movie Shriek Show have given this 2-disc release the proper treatment. There are plenty of extras spread over the two discs to keep you busy, from a directors commentary to interviews with cast and crew. It’s a shame more releases don’t have this much love and attention paid to them.
Just Before Dawn is a cool little movie that is definitely worth picking up, made all the more worthwhile by having a special edition that for once actually is special.
