Five friends are driving to the mountains to check out some land that one of them has just bought. But even before they get to their spot, they are warned by a Park Ranger to not proceed with the journey, but instead to turn around and head on home. The friends of course are not too bothered with what the man tells them and keeps heading for the mountain. Shortly after, they meet some drunk guy who also warns the friends of some demonic presence out there in the wilderness. Yet again, the kids do not take the warning seriously, something that they soon will come to regret.
With very competent acting, (something that's quite the unsual thing when it comes to most slasher flicks), and beautiful scenery, Just Before Dawn from Jeff Lieberman (Squirm, Satan's Little Helper) makes for one pretty darn interesting slasher experience from the early 80's. It has the elements of the typical Friday the 13th type of things, but also has this Deliverance feeling to it, since it deals with the wilderness and the hicks and inbreds that are to be found there. You could also say that it has a bit of a Texas Chainsaw Massacre feel as well as Wrong Turn has a lot in common with the movie. All in all, it's a good slasher film, and while it's just yet another early slasher, it still is a bit different and sure has some interesting things to offer for its viewer.
One character that has an huge impact on the movie is the character of nature herself. Even though the people (well, victims) in Just Before Dawn goes camping, they are not just at some ordinary camping place, but are actually camping in the remote wilderness, miles away from civilization. This alone gives the movie a lot of atmosphere, along with that constant creepy feel to what is out there in the wild. Think Deliverance and you are not too far from it, since the movie deals with hicks and inbreds as well. Personally, I think that inbreds alone are way more scary than say a psychotic person wearing a mask and kills people. The mentality of these "full-on hicks" alone are just really freaky, and since it's pretty impossible to relate to them, it makes it all a bit more scary which here is a positive thing.
 
Lieberman also has this talent to be able to create something really good with a minimal budget, and that really shines through. It pretty much looks like your typical 80's type of slasher film, but with the exception of that the characters does not come off as feeling very stereotyphical which is a very good thing. Also, the acting is very belivable and that helps a lot, and especially George Kennedy is doing one fine job as the Park Ranger, but on the other hand, that man is always very likable. While the movie isn't that gory or bloody, it still offers a few cool kills along with that it delivers some fine tension and suspense. So even if the very gore that we're always on the look-out for when it comes to slasher flicks isn't really there, it still actually works really well being a bit creepy and all with some "normal" persons being isolated in Hicksville USA.
Another thing that Just Before Dawn has going for it is that it feels more like a mature slasher flick and it's pretty easy to take the movie more seriously than you would most slasher films. It obviously has a lot to do with the competent acting, but also that it doesn't feature any of this dumb retarded type of humour and stereotyphical things that we're so often treated to in other similar films. And like I said before, nature alone does a lot of work for this film which makes it nice to look at and gives it a certain positive feeling as well. Story-wise, it's actually nothing special since it's just about these people that head to the wilderness to check out some property and to do some camping, with most of them getting killed by inbreds that roam the forest. But at least it's not boring, and Just Before Dawn is a good film to check out if you're into the whole slasher genre.
I can't say that Just Before Dawn is a great film because it's really not. It's a basic slasher, but that has a few very good thing going for it such as very competent acting and fantastic scenery. What it comes down to in the end is that it's basically just another early slasher and there were obviously tons of those movies made during the happy 80's, but if you're into the genre, then Just Before Dawn is a good pick.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE:
MOVIE YEAR: 1981
DIRECTOR: Jeff Lieberman
WRITING CREDITS: Mark Arywitz, Jeff Lieberman
GENRE: Horror, Slasher
CAST: George Kennedy, Gregg Henry, Deborah Benson
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 90 min
RATING: 7/10
Just Before Dawn Website/IMDB Click here
Just Before Dawn Trailer Click here
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