Just Before Dawn (1981)


 Just Before Dawn is often considered to be one of the more obscure slashers.  It's kind of unfair to lump it in with that genre.  Though there may be some comparisons to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, writer and director Jeff Lieberman had never seen those particular horror movies.  Instead, he was influenced by Deliverance in his effort to serve up his version of backwoods horror.  

Warren (Gregg Henry) has inherited a plot of isolated land in Oregon and takes his girlfriend Constance (Deborah Benson), brothers Daniel (Ralph Seymour) and Jonathan (Chris Lemmon) and Jonathan's girlfriend Megan (Jamie Rose) to go camping in the location.  They are warned off by forest ranger Roy McLean (George Kennedy) and even encounter a hunter (Mike Kellin) that is being pursued by some unknown person, but they continue on anyway.

At first it seems everything is fine.  However, the spot Warren inherited is occupied by the Logan family, and they try to run the campers off.  The reason is that a pair of monstrous inbred twins (John Hunsaker) also roam the mountain, killing anyone they come in contact with.  In this case Warren and his group are next.

This doesn't exactly follow slasher conventions.  There is a rather brutal killing at the beginning, but then there isn't the slow killing off of the campers.  Instead, like most horror movies of the 1970s and going into the early '80s, there is a build-up, with the majority of the deaths occurring within the last 20 minutes of the film.  When they do happen there is no stalking or game playing, just murder out of the blue.  It's not stylized or made to look cool or creative.  It's just animalistic, which is what makes this movie memorable if one can find it. 

Since there is a long gap without any real violence, we get time to meet all the characters and somewhat care what happens to them.  There is also plenty of tension, enhanced by a sparse soundtrack mainly containing drones and whistles along with nature sounds.  When any actual music is played it truly sounds like the group is disturbing things they shouldn't, which is also the sub context of the film. We also have plenty of beautiful scenery as the movie was shot on location in Oregon. 

Like most of Lieberman's movies it has issues, both with pace and budget, but it is one of his best.  I just would suggest not taking the "slasher" moniker to heart.  It isn't some lost masterpiece of the genre, but rather a more unique horror film that has influenced many movies after it, especially the Wrong Turn series.  It's too bad more people haven't seen this one rather than the movies it spawned.

Just Before Dawn (1981)
Time: 90 minutes
Starring: Gregg Henry, Deborah Benson, Ralph Seymour, Chris Lemmon, Jamie Rose, George Kennedy, John Hunsaker
Director: Jeff Lieberman

 

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