



Afgelopen zomer kreeg ik tijdens mijn vakantie een leuke email.

Frank Cotton is een man op zoek naar het ultieme genot.

Sally en haar invalide broer Franklin willen de vakantie doorbrengen in het verlaten huisje van hun grootouders.

Laatstejaarsstudente Helen Lyle maakt samen met haar vriendin Bernadette een thesis over stadslegendes.

Vier tieners hebben allen afschuwelijke nachtmerries waarin dezelfde figuur centraal staat.


06/02/2013
Before Dawn - English Review (2012)
Even though Meg and Alex are at the break of calling their marriage quits, Alex wants to make a final attempt to save their relationship.
Spending a weekend at the countryside seems to be the perfect location to win back Meg's love for him. She decides to grant Alex this last chance although she's not really looking forward to his little vacation idea. Alex is over the moon and determined to set every wrong right, but he could've never imagined that a little zombie invasion would interfere with his plans. Not only must he try to reconquer Meg's heart, but in the meantime they both have to survive the undead lusting for their blood.
The British Dominic Brunt has had a weak spot for zombies ever since he can remember. Although his partner Joanne Mitchell isn't really keen on this particular horror genre, he stuck with his vision and it's a good thing he did. They started thinking and working together until the hybrid Before Dawn was born: a zombie flick infused with some female touches, thanks to Joanne. Both of their names appear a couple of times during the end credits: not only did Dominic direct the movie while Joanne wrote the screenplay, both portray the lead roles of Alex and Meg! Tricky if you think about it, Before Dawn ultimately results in a suspenseful flick aided by a decent amount of drama.
And it's this exceptional mix that puts the movie in a slightly different category than most other zombie movies that seem to get a release every other day. Brunt and Mitchell decided not the put the spotlight on the decaying but on Alex and Meg's marriage. You can clearly sense that a woman's touch helped mould the story. Joanne made sure to make everything as realistic possible, considering the unrealistic events of the dead coming back to life. While writing, she somehow succeeded in creating a very recognisable family situation while avoiding cliches or forcing certain issues onto the viewer. Last but not least, Before Dawn is graced with that typical British humor.
Granted, the movie starts out a bit slow. Though this is pretty common in movies nowadays, it might still alienate some viewers who are in the mood for a brainless (if you pardon the pun) zombie flick. Some label this as boring while others will be pleased with the extensive backstory and all-round development. The trick is to find the right balance between handing out information without getting a feeling that it's too drawn out, a balance that's sometimes a bit hard to find in Before Dawn. However, the spice arrives just in time in the form of the zombie invasion though 'invasion' might not really be the correct term. It is quite possible that the true zombie lover, whatever that means, might be disappointed however there's one transformation that absolutely blew my socks off. That said, the movie doesn't really contain enough gore or really scary bits to be fully categorised in the zombie section we all know. Thinking about that last sentence, I don't really know if both Brunt and Mitchell were aiming for this.
As mentioned earlier, Dominic and Joanne decided they were best suited to play Alex and Meg in their own movie. Needless to say that their involvement obtained epic proportions and I'm absolutely pleased that I enjoyed their solid performance. This decision freed up some of the budget that would've gone towards other actors and proved to be very useful. Keeping in mind that Before Dawn is a low-budget film and their debut, Brunt and Mitchell were able to use the money to get their 'baby' released.
As far as I'm concerned, both of them should be pleased with their first feature film. Before Dawn is a great calling card that might open new and bigger doors. Not the most memorable zombie movie of all time, but nonetheless a pleasant and at times gripping flick.

