Just Before Dawn
Just Before Dawn opens up on an abandoned church in the woods where a man and his nephew are checking out after hunting. The man (Mike Kellin) looks up in a hole in the ceiling and sees someone peering from above. He starts to fear this and goes outside to see what's what. All of a sudden, their truck runs into a tree and is immediately set on fire. Trying to get back to his nephew, the man hears him scream. Inside the cabin, his nephew has just been brutally murdered by a man brandishing a machete. As the man approaches the house, he can barely make out someone who is wearing his nephew's clothes, standing in the doorway. The man runs away and is truly aware of what has happened.
Cut to a winnebago with five youngsters jiving to the tune of Heart of Glass by Blondie. They are rock climbers and have a deed to a section of the Oregon Forest. As they near their destination, they're stopped by a forest ranger (George Kennedy), who warns them not to go in the forest. But, being the naive teenagers they are, they precede on with their vacation.
Driving down the dirt road, they hit a deer. Getting out the winnebago, they don't see the deer anywhere, so they assume it was okay and went away. One of the teens also noticed someone outside while driving along. They search the bushes, only to have the old man from the beginning of the film to pop out of the trees, screaming about demons. They are reluctant to bring him along or drive away, so one of them throws some bags of food out the window. As they are driving away, they don't notice that someone has jumped on top of the van, with murderous intentions.
As their camping trip continues, they discover some unusual occurrences. They run into a backwoods family who tells them to go away, and this is another hint that they should be packing up and gone, but they stay anyway. Soon enough, twin mutant brothers are hacking up the group with machetes in many gory ways. Who will survive in one piece? You'll find out in this very entertaining horror tale that'll make you scream!
I had heard of this film and of its much praise as an "underrated slasher," but I was little bit unsure of what to expect. I had only seen it in one of my local video stores, but the video cover's synopsis was very brief and didn't tell me a whole lot about the film itself. Finally, I decided to rent it and I knew it was going to be good! I definitely enjoy a good old '80s slasher, and this one instantly became one of my favorites after only one viewing! Then, when I had to return the video to the rental store, I asked if I could buy it and they gladly told me that I could get it for only $5! I was really excited because this was one of many horror movies I wanted to add to my collection of approximately 1,500 videos! Any horror movie viewer should really give this movie a chance!
Watch a video clip of Just Before Dawn
