"Just Before Dawn" falls into the same type of horror movie as "American Gothic," "Motel Hell," "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Wrong Turn," and "Deliverance" only it is more like the typical unoriginal slasher flick than the four above mentioned movies are. However, what makes this movie worth watching is the eerie atmosphere permeating throughout it and the lonely isolation of the dark mountains and forests and man's (and woman's) vulnerability against the primitive forces of nature as represented in the inbred redneck psychopathic brothers that spend the entire movie stalking and hunting a group of young adults spending a few nights camping in the wilderness. The only reason I gave this movie three stars instead of four is because the story was one I had seen a million times before and the rednecks could have been made more disturbing with their actions and the terrorizing and killing of their victims. "Just Before Dawn" contains a lot of good ideas, but not enough of them blossoms into anything that could have rocketed this film into a horror classic on par with "Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
WOW!!!!!!!
I have never heard of this movie until last friday. After stumbling across it here on amazon, and reading the reviews, I bought it and watched it on Friday after work. I wanna say thanks to the reviewers who gave it a positive rating. This movie is a hidden gem!! I have to say it is now a favorite of mine. The acting WASN'T over the top, cheesy, or lame and the suspense was awesome. I recognized quite a few of the actors right off the bat. Alot of em have been in other movies and are really great actors in their roles.
Now I know where "Wrong Turn" (actually a good flick for nowadays horror crap) got some ideas from. This movie is pretty tense and the music is awesome. The location is excellent because a dark forest at night has got to be one of the scariest things I know. Sitting around a campfire where you can't see what's hiding in the woods but "they" can sure as hell see you! The skinny dip pond scene is pretty cool. Watch for the "shape" in the waterfall behind the half naked chick! I agree with some of the reviewers when they tell people to quit griping about the dvd. I thought it looked great! And I actually like a little bit grainy of a picture on these movies. It ads a little bit of creepiness to the flick.
I just can't believe (being a horror movie fanatic) that I missed this movie back when. It must of slipped thru the cracks at my local movie store back in the 80's. I swear I rented everything they had available in the horror section then. The only bad thing about watching this movie is now I wanna see more of the same. I wish they made more movies like this. I get so sick of the new horror crap these days.........oops did I say new? I meant I get so sick of the horror "remakes" these days, and the unoriginal PG13 so called horror they puke up, that I want the 70's and 80's blood , guts, and that thing called sex and nudity that all the horror flicks had.
Oh well, I guess i will watch this once a month and pray to the horror gods that someone will make some ORIGINAL crazy ass horror again. My definition of a great horror movie (if you disagree i'm cool with that) is when you watch it and go "holy $h*t that could really happen. A movie that sucks you in and makes you think about it for weeks after you see it. A scary movie doesn't have to always happen at night with thunder and lightning. How about someone coming home from work at 5 in the afternon, open their front door, and standing in the middle of their living room is some freak of nature ready to tear their ass up for no apparent reason. Could happen, probably has happened, scary sh*t in my book.
Anyways, this movie is definatley great for the collection and could be viewed forever in my opinion. Thanks again fellow reviewers for pointing me towards this awesome movie.
WORTH HAVING A LOOK AT.
I love the 80's horror films. I viewed this years ago and have just got myself a copy of the dvd. It entertained me from start to finish and I am glad I have it as part as my collection.
Ok, it is not an award winner but it does entertain you. It has stood the test of time and it looks as though it could have been made in the last 5 years instead of 25 years. The dvd extras were entertaining. I recommend this dvd version and found no faults in it. However I did not go over it with a microscope as some have. The film has an element of WRONG TURN in it. I loved Wrong Turn and I loved this film too.
Jack sholder's 80's classic "ALONE IN THE DARK" is a unique slasher gem with some real substance to it! An intelligent scary film with a great little twist & only one weakness keeping it from being flawless & thats the unrealistic,un-emotional,overacting,bad dialog haveing,useless,annoying little blonde girl!(if she had any more dialog it may have ruined the movie!) With that said Martin Landau is truly excellent & scary as hell as The Preacher! This one is a horror fan must! More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Martin Landau DVD Release Date: Released the 13 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Bolstered by the success of 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, the Resident Evil movies and the hit remake of his own Dawn of the Dead, George A. Romero returns to the horror subgenre he invented with Land of the Dead. The fourth installment in Romero's zombie cycle (and the first since 1985's Day of the Dead) presents a logical progression of events since 1968's horror classic Night of the Living Dead: Zombies (also known as "stenches" for their rotting odor) are the dominant population, and they've begun to show signs of undead intelligence and gathering power. The wealthiest survivors live comfortably in a luxury high-rise within a barricaded safe zone, ignoring the horrors of the outside world while armed scavengers stage raids in the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Simon Baker - John Leguizamo - Asia Argento Director(s): George A. Romero DVD Release Date: Released the 18 October 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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If you like to watch zombies make a bloody mess, stumble around and chase the living, you should check out DND, by Anchor Bay DVD.
-Plenty of gore and zombies throughout the first 3/4 and the last five minutes.
-Impressive gore and zombie FX; for low budget, it delivers. Lots of stretching tendons, blood gushing, guts, etc, during attack scenes. Very nice for a zombie film.
-A must see for zombie fans.
-Fans of Day of the Dead will like the zombies and gore.
-Notice I haven't mentioned the horrible voice-over acting (excluding Campbell), or the sub-par story of a zombie cult?
-Buy this film if you love zombie gore and zombies.
-The characters are actually watchable, despite the terrible acting, compared to the terrible characters in... More Info about this DVD Director(s): J.R. Bookwalter DVD Release Date: Released the 09 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This film seems to be the least loved post-Deep Red Argento film. It's not one of his better movies, overall, but I actually think it's better than 'The Stendahl Syndrome' or 'Sleepless', and certainly better than that crapathon 'Phantom of the Opera'. (Though those films would probably be a lot more enjoyable if they had a decent DVD relase) Yeah, it is fairly American-ized, but this isn't an entirely bad thing. To wit, it isn't nearly as incoherent as most of his other recent films. Furthermore, this has some of the best performances of any of his films. It's sad that he didn't put a bit more into the death scenes, or this could've been one of his best movie. (Course, that's quite a big just, as the death scenes and setpieces are what make his best films so cool) They aren't bad,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Christopher Rydell - Asia Argento Director(s): Dario Argento DVD Release Date: Released the 23 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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"The Blind Dead Collection" brings together writer-director Amando de Ossorio's four-part horror masterpiece about the undead Templar Knights, skeletal corpses of corrupt Crusaders who worship Satan (or worse) dressed up in armor, who emerge from their tombs and walk very slowly after their victims. Atmosphere is the key to Ossorio's films and one of the interesting things about these films is that the rules of the game for the Blind Dead seem to change with each one, but that is just part of the fun.
"Tombs of the Blind Dead" ("La Noche del terror ciego") begins 500 years ago when the Templars were sacrificing virgins and drinking their blood. Eventually the locals attacked the Templars, burning out the eyes of the knights before burning them at the stake. Ever since then... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 27 September 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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