Just Before Dawn (1981)

The movie opens up with a couple of hunters hanging around an abandoned church deep in the woods.  A very large and scary looking local shows up and kills one of them and then chases after another.  We are then introduced to a group of climbers headed to the mountains for a weekend of partying and climbing.  After ignoring the warnings of the park ranger they continue on their way and meet up with the terrified hunter, who is still being chased.  They ignore him as well and continue on, only this time with the killer perched on the back of their vehicle.  After playing with them a bit the killer starts to pick them off one at a time.  But the hunter has reached the park ranger, whom heads up the mountain to save them.  Will he arrive in time to do any good?  Will the killer get him as well?  All of these questions are answered by the time the movie ends.  And boy is it an ending you will remember!

Where is the love for this movie?  Really I’ve seen far inferior backwoods slasher flicks get way more love than Just Before Dawn.  The story is very cool and opens with a nasty kill that should keep the gore hounds happy.  Then the movie takes some time to set up the characters and the situation before getting back to the killing.  I suppose that might be what bugs some of the fans that hate on this movie.  But I like the fact that the victims get some personality before being killed off; it makes for a better story in my opinion.  So I guess to those fans that say the movie is slow I would recommend doubling up on your ADD medication and give it a second try.  The cast is made up of young actors and is very good.  All of them have gone on to some success in their careers including genre actor Gregg Henry (Slither, Bates Motel).  Added to the fine young cast is George Kennedy as the park ranger. 

This is an incredibly well made movie.  The camera work is beautiful and takes full advantage of the forest setting.  There are a couple of shots of the scenery, including a waterfall, which is incredible.  The night shots are light well letting the audience see the action without spoiling the tension created by the darkness.  The music that is used is also outstanding and unlike any other score that I’ve heard before.  There seems to be a minimal amount of music used with more natural sounds used instead.  Also I’m not sure if it is some sort of bird call, but the sound the killer makes when stalking his victims is really creepy and effective.  Of course this being a slasher movie we need to talk a bit about the special effects.  With the exception of the final death this movie really doesn’t have the big elaborate kill that you might see in other slasher movies.  Now there is a nice machete to the lower abdomen early on that is cool.   The rest of the kills are cool, but not terribly bloody. 

One other thing that I wanted to mention about Just Before Dawn is how well the movie does in creeping you out.  There are a couple of scenes that will have you yelling at the TV for the cast to turn around and look.  First of all is when the killer hops onto their RV and you know he is now coming after them.  Secondly and even creepier is the scene with the waterfall.  You see the killer drop into the water behind one of the female climbers.  She thinks that it is her boyfriend playing around with her under the water.  That is until she sees him standing on shore!  There are several more situations like this that are well setup. 

Without naming any names (The Forest, Don’t go in the Woods Alone… oops) Just Before Dawn is so superior to so many of the cheaply made and really boring backwoods slasher flicks that I can’t understand why it isn’t more popular.  If you are a fan of slasher movies do yourself a favor and either rent or purchase Just Before Dawn.  It delivers the goods (yes there is a nude scene). 

3 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2009 John Shatzer