Alien forest A cool "forest" slasher for everyone who liked the pictures "Production", "Do not go to the forest alone" or the sequel "Fridays", and from modern films you can remember "Turn the wrong way", "Alien forest", "Mushrooms" and an episode of the series "Masters of horror" called "Event on a mountain road". I mean, the subgenre is very common. But then, in the 80s, it was not so popular, and all the slashers that somehow saw the light of day, inevitably compared with the aforementioned creation of Sean Cunningham.
“Before Dawn” tells the story of several tourists who are pursued in the lap of nature by two maniac brothers who live in these parts and hunt unsuspecting outdoor enthusiasts. The images of maniacs here are not as textured as in the above-mentioned works - in the sense that they are not as impressive freaks as in "Turn the wrong way" or "The Hills have eyes" (although, as in the first film, they are also a product of incest), but their dimensions are definitely able to stir up a natural sense of self-preservation. One of the first appearances of souls on the screen can be considered an episode at the waterfall - very cool shot, with a small amount of nudity. A moment focused mainly on suspense rather than bloody effects.
Also, the creators did not lose sight when they introduced local forest residents into the plot - either Redneks, or sectarians, or just mysterious inhabitants of the mountains, who also do not take their eyes off tourists and call maniacs "demons." With the participation of these forest dwellers, episodes in the camp with a gun and a moment on the bridge are very memorable. But, on the other hand, this is also a drawback of the picture: there are too many heroes at some point (tourists, a local drunkard, a huntsman following the trail of the guys, forest dwellers, maniacs in the end) and in pursuit of the development of the plot and characters, the authors forget about the death scenes. For example, the first here occurs as much as 50 minutes after the start, and the last half hour begins the massacre, but not as memorable as, say, in the same sequel to “Fridays”.
There are very few bloody episodes in the tape, although it would seem. Perhaps (and most likely) this is a cost of a small budget, but the material itself has a steep forest massacre. The film at the same time tries to scare the atmosphere - and sometimes even turns out, but in this sense the most memorable episodes - this is generally a conversational moment when one of the characters tells a local huntsman about a maniac, calling him a "huge demon."
Acting work is excellent - young actors try to believably play off the fright at the right moments, and women quite believably scream. The operator tries not to savor the massacre for the reasons described above, but skillfully catches up with the help of interesting plans and means of “playing with the viewer”. The direction is decent, but with the music here came out an interesting story - the film has a very cool composer Brad Fidel, who wrote OST for "Terminator" and "Night of Fear". His signature synthesizers are recognized here - the picture has a great opening theme, but then the music is strongly pushed to the background. It is noteworthy that even in some moments of suspense behind the scenes, nothing sounds - and this also creates an incomparable effect of tension.
Far from being ideal in many respects, the picture, which looks, however, very, very "bold". In general, the creators of “Dawn” proved to be very resourceful people and managed to get out at a minimum cost. Actually, the atmosphere of a beautiful forest plays into their hands, and the forest is, as we all know, one of the most ideal places for the development of a slasher plot.
8 out of 10