That was an excellent one.

Simply A Masterpiece

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

JBD has something that a lot of other horror films lack. I knew that the first time I saw it. It stands above many others. It's funny to think this when it's scenario here is nothing knew. The film even has better actors for this type of flick, none better than Gregg Henry, and it's great to see him play a good guy. The actress playing his girlfriend, looks like a female version of him. Are they related? Again, despite the warning of an old buzzard (horror icon, George Kennedy, who else) not to venture into these dangerous woods, of course they pay no heed. Henry and co proceed in their R.V. into this elevated terrain, below quite a drop, (kind of has you thinking of RV with Robin Williams). The killer family (cliched) are of course deformed, some of them giants, very much Wrong Turnish 1. As they trek out into the mountains, the movie takes it time to pick off it's victims (I like movies that work this way) they are picked off gradually. JBD, an unhurried frightener flick, maintains much suspense, throughout, which it never loses, some of it truly claustrophobic. This horror is one of those few, I've actually found truly and effectively scary. Some moments, truly jangle the senses. Violence is restrained here too. Although JBD with a lot of instances and happenings which are cliché'd, what it has great suspense, which a lot of other films lack this much in volume, it's story structured with a master disciplined touch. It has a less is more thing going for it. The unrelated ten minute opening too is one of grand suspense, in a movie that pushes all the right buttons. There is a warning, on the cover that the last ten minutes of the movie may be intense or disturbing. What an over exaggeration, you'll see what I'm talking about, when you see that image.

This 1981 horror film stars George Kennedy, Deborah Benson, Gregg Henry, Chris Lemmon, Jamie Rose, Ralph Seymour and John Hunsaker. This tells of 5 friends, Constance (Benson), Warren (Henry), Jonathan (Lemmon), Megan (Rose) and Daniel (Seymour) who head to the wilderness to camp. Kennedy (The Naked Gun) plays Roy, a forest ranger who warns them that it's unsafe and should go back where they came. Of course, they don't listen and go anyway. Soon, they're hunted by a crazed killer (Hunsaker) until Roy comes to the rescue. This is one of the most underrated slashers following in the footsteps of "Friday the 13th" with nice, remote settings and an eerie score. It's not bad and I recommend checking it out if you're a fan of the genre.

*Minor spoiler* Just Before Dawn has a decent cult following and I can see why. It's easy to see why movies like Wrong Turn were heavily influenced by it. Is it original? Not really. It has echoes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre & The Hills Have Eyes, but it's awfully stylish and manages to have a mind of It's own. I can't get over the fantastic cinematography. The scenery is mind blowing at times, with a beautiful waterfall situated around a lake that we see many times throughout the movie. It made for a very unique atmosphere. Don't expect many gory deaths in this one. Aside from the opening where a guy gets killed with a machete in his crotch area, this movie isn't about gore. It's all about suspense, and boy does it have a lot of it. The Killers in this one are deformed and very twisted. They don't just wanna murder people; they like to toy with their victims in the most frightening ways imaginable. It also helps that these aren't disposable Slasher victims like you usually see. I actually cared about a couple of the characters. It was really great to see some character development here. George Kennedy is NOT the main character here. He has a rather thankless role which I assume was for a paycheck. I managed to enjoy him anyway. Deborah Benson is excellent as the female lead. Her acting chops are a cut above the usual Slasher role. She was vulnerable, yet willfully strong at the same time. She had many qualities that Amy Steele had in Friday The 13th Part 2. Gregg Henry is also very good as her boyfriend. He was charismatic and I managed to relate with him easy. Chris Lemon (Jack Lemon's son) shows up as wellFinal Thoughts: This isn't talked about nearly enough for my liking. It's pretty damn good for a slasher in the 80's. It is suspenseful and even scary at times. See it if you can find it7/10

'Just Before Dawn' is one rare slasher that has impressed me every time I watched it. The reason lies in its penetrative and intense backwoods atmosphere that disturbs me deeply. Jeff Lieberman has always applied a simple but methodical approach to make the viewers uneasy. His 'Blue Sunshine' could be classified as both simple and bizarre at the same time. The antagonists of Lieberman's films often suffer from anguish and kill for the sake of enjoyment. The creepy and campy atmosphere, persistent sound of the nearby waterfall, and finally the above average performances by Gregg Henry, Chris Lemmon, Jamie Rose and Deborah Benson give this movie a constant momentum avoiding any element of boredom. The film has very less gore and almost no nudity, making this perfect by all means. One can bet that Lieberman doesn't want to make his creation famous with the help of nudity and gore, so the lovers of these stuffs would be somewhat disappointed. On the contrary, the movie seems inspired by the atmosphere of John Boorman's legendary 1972 film 'Deliverance', that involves hillbillies somewhat similarly. However, this doesn't make JBD a copy cat as it teems with originality and deploys a simple plot to please and astound the viewers.Two hunters Ty (Mike Kellin) and Vachel (Charles Bartlett) are out in the woods drinking and exploring an old abandoned church after a successful hunting trip. The men are in high spirits when Ty catches the look of a horrendous man (John Hunsaker) looking down at them through the roof hole. Ty leaves Vachel behind to trace the man down, but is shocked when his truck rolls towards him and he barely escapes injury. We soon witness a grisly figure cutting Vachel open to the groin with a serrated machete. The figure menacingly laughs while Vachel cries in pain. Ty watches in horror when he finds the figure putting on Vachel's clothes and looking at him with fiery eyes. The scene soon cuts to Warren (Gregg Henry), Constance (Deboraeh Benson), Daniel (Ralph Seymour), Jonathan (Chris Lemmon), and Megan (Jamie Rose), who are in a camper heading towards the wilderness to have a great camping adventure. On the way they are warned by the forest ranger Roy (George Kennedy) about the dangers of the wild. Roy persuades them to go back but meets no success. Ahead they meet Ty, who is out of his breath, drinking and trembling. In a palsied voice, Ty narrates his horrible experience to the teens and urges them to take him along. The teens however refuse his request and set out to the woods. Ty, left behind, gives a satirical laugh while he watches the grisly man climb up Warren's camper.The teens camp at a remarkably serene location filled with the constant sound of waterfall and packed with lush greenery. Everything seems to be as normal as any other camping excursion with an exception of a perverted killer, who is constantly on the trail of his young preys. That night they are disrupted when a local old man (Hap Oslund) comes along with his family holding a gun, and furiously advises the teens to leave at once because he thinks that they are doing no good in the wild than 'raising the devil'. The youngsters pay no heed to the old man's words and continue camping. Next day, Jonathan becomes the first target of the hillbilly, who cuts down the rope bridge forcibly facilitating Jonathan's fall. Soon Megan and Daniel become his targets, when they are stabbed in the old church. Finally, Warren and Constance are left with no option than to face their enemy.....or enemies? Well, there are so many twins around here!JBD is a great effort by Jeff Lieberman, and I personally find it more interesting and menacing than other backwoods tales like Sleepaway Camp, Cabin Fever and even Evil Dead, which all try to intensify the horror aspect with the aid of explicit gore. Surprisingly, JBD is very mediocre on gore. Here the viewers are afraid to see the clash between two different cultures, the one inculcated in the city while the other tamed in woods. Like 'The Shining', JBD has some amount of hypnotic qualities, which I suppose are due to the breathtaking locations, the placidity of nature and the fear of wilderness. JBD really comes at par with the other horror gems of 1981 like 'Dead & Buried', 'Dark Night of the Scarecrow', 'The Burning' and 'The Beyond' in terms of horror. 10/10 for Mr. Lieberman!