Just Before Dawn (1981)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I first saw this on a VHS in the late 80s. Revisited it recently on a DVD. The movie begins in a forest where two hunters stumble upon an abandon n dilapidated church in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly one of the guy sees somebody on the rooftop n he goes out to check. A psycho rams a machete in the other guy through the crotch and it comes out of his ass. This kill is easily the best one in the whole movie. Sadly, the rest of the death scenes are unimaginative, off screen n pale in comparison. The movie changes into a typical slasher one from now on. A group of 5 people, a very young Gregg Henry among 'em, heads towards the same mountain side to visit property inherited by one of them but r warned by the forest ranger (George Kennedy). Sadly Kennedy wasn't there too much. I was expecting a fight between him n the huge frame psychos. But there wasn't any duel. Director Jeff Lieberman does a truly outstanding job depicting the raw backwoods country. The movie dragged at times, unnecessary camp fire jokes, bad dancing, bad nudity, some bad acting n very bad editing. The lake scene was creepy n tension filled though. The best part were the sceneries. It has some really good cinematography n atmosphere. Some cool waterfalls, lakes, cliffs, rocky terrains, etc.

Five campers arrive in the mountains to examine some property they have bought, but are warned by the forest ranger Roy McLean (George Kennedy) that a huge machete-wielding maniac has been terrorizing the area. Ignoring the warnings, they set up camp, and start disappearing one by one.What this film has going for it is a decent cast of young actors, some of whom (particularly Gregg Henry) have gone on to do bigger and better things. And we have a pair of older, experienced actors: Kennedy and the amazing Mike Kellin ("Sleepaway Camp"), who really should have done more horror films.Director Jeff Lieberman ("Squirm") claims he never saw "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" or "The Hills Have Eyes" before shooting this film. While this seems very strange for a man working in horror, it really does not matter, as anyone who sees those films as being an influence on this one is just trying too hard. This is a plain old slasher: kids in the woods, guy with a machete.Being released in 1981, Lieberman deserves credit for getting on the slasher wave early. While not the first by a long shot, his film did not get released long after Jason Voorhees hit the screen (there is about a five month difference). Slasher fans will need to see this, but everyone else has better options.For what it is worth, though, this is superior to the similarly-themed "Final Terror" (1983).

I don't think these kids needed serial-killing hicks at all. Judging from their pre-attack forest activities, they would have done themselves in without anybody's assistance. Walking over a wafer-thin bridge, and quite literally rolling like balls down a steep hill is probably more of a threat to the average human than machete-waving hell-fire twin demons ever could be.Especially fat "demons". These spree-killing hicks must weigh at least 150 kilos apiece, which makes me wonder: how come they don't shed any of that weight while on their speedy forest trips? You ought to see how one of them throws himself on a moving van, and then climbs all over it like a spider. Utter nonsense, because the movie isn't a supernatural horror flick.Then again, this IS a slasher film. No need to go into too much detail over its continual idiocy. There is certainly no need to mention that the blond guy leaves his girlfriend ALL ALONE in camp at night, while he looks for their missing friends. I also see no point whatsoever in mentioning that a little later one half of the killer twins chops down a tree in what must be a new logging world record in machete-cutting, while the blond screams hysterically atop it. Forests are generally quiet – certainly compared to cities – but there is no sense in me telling you that Sheriff Kennedy failed to hear either her ear-piercing screams or the noise of the tree-cutting in spite of being in the vicinity.Should I mention that the red-head is fondled underwater by unseen human hands which brings her into justifiable hysterics? Yet, later that evening she is happily dancing, apparently having completely forgotten her harrowing "super-natural" experience; this is one of the quickest mental recoveries from a bone-chilling incident ever witnessed in a horror film. However, that didn't help her much when she got hacked to death a day later. In fact, she was far too relaxed considering that an invisible "demon" had just fondled her in a lake a little earlier.While you know that JBD is a retarded slasher film, there is one thing you definitely don't know: the movie has telepathic powers. No, really, it does. It read my mind and had somebody shoot down the stereo playing that awful 80s pop music. Just how did the movie know I wanted to shoot it down myself? Magic.It's hard to believe the premise that a spectacular waterfall would somehow be an out-of-the-way don't-go-there type of place, when in reality the locals – in-bred or not - would be making bundles of money from tourists flocking to see it. This is one of the movie's main attractions, the waterfalls, and the locations. That and the red-head's boobs. The female cast is very attractive.Still, there is an element of weirdness (even a trace of, dare I say, originality) amidst all the clichés, but I can't quite put my finger on it, or at least not all of my fingers. I might put my index finger on the scene in which the blond girl kills one of the hicks by sticking half her arm inside his throat, chocking him to death. I half-expected him to bite her hand off but for some reason fatty Leatherface didn't think of that. That entire last bit is bizarre.

The mountainous woods, young happy campers, a warning by a park ranger and a lurking figure. The ingredients are there for a horror delight, and director/co-writer Jeff Lieberman does an adequate job at achieving it. It's formulaic woodland horror, but for most part the execution is at the top the game and the story (which is quite basic in a trimmed sense) is effectively told in certain realism. Maybe a little more exposition wouldn't have gone astray, but Lieberman's craftsmanship makes up for the material's flaws and typical details with rising tension, moody visuals and a smothering atmosphere created by Brad Fiedel's very ominously lingering score. Whenever that very creepy whistling was cued in, it painted a truly unnerving sense that settled in with the beautiful backdrop. Cinematographers Dean M. and Joel King do a striking job too. There's plenty of style abound, even with its minimal scope and the build-up is slow grinding. At times the pacing can become a stop-and-go affair. It's not particularly violent, but there's still a mean-streak evident even if some of it happens of screen. The latter chase scenes and escalating fear is well done, as it has the darkness coming alive with itS burly killer/s and you get actor George Kennedy riding his white horse in a slight, but wonderful turn. There's a likable bunch of performances; Deborah Benson makes for a strong, dashing heroine. Gregg Henry, Chris Lemmon Ralph Seymour, Jamie Rose, Mike Kellin and Katie Powell round off a modest cast of believable deliveries. The final climax is rather twisted, but the ending is one of those types that leave you thinking… "Is that it?" A well-etched backwoods slasher item, which probably plays it a little too safe to truly set it apart from the norm.