Review of Just Before Dawn (1981) by Ian B — 28 Sep 2018

After decades of watching horror movies I didn't think there were any good ones from the 80s left for me to see. But after reading plenty of glowing reviews for the tough-to-find 80s slasher, Just Before Dawn, my interest was peaked and my expectations raised.

The movie starts off quite well with some gorgeous locations, an extremely gory kill and a wonderfully creepy score from Brad Fiedel. The characters, although rather bland, aren't the stereotypes we usually see in these movies, and the acting is better than it has any right to be.

The film's greatest strength is the atmosphere utilized from the beautiful/terrifying Oregon locations. Countless horror movies have been set deep in the woods, but Just Before Dawn does a terrific job of making you believe you'll never escape them.

Unfortunately after a great set-up it all goes downhill rather quickly. The gore vanishes, the characters get dumber, the pace gets slower, and there are numerous suspenseful buildups with no payoff. It also doesn't help that the killer turns out to be a backwoods version of Homer Simpson.

I'm sure if I'd seen this as a kid it would've freaked me out, but adult me was bored out of his mind.