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Originally Posted by roshiq
Few months ago I saw some amazing screen shots & read some great things (now including yours) in different sites about this masterpiece; I've already added it to my 'must see' list....really excited & eagerly waiting to see this soon.
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You will not be disappointed by Cocteau's Beauty an the Beast...
Just Before Dawn (1981). What this flick has left me with is a bag full of conflicted emotions. On the one hand, I want to get back into camping, mainly because it seems that all tag along chicks will be sporting short shorts and tied shirts. Yay!. On the other hand is my inherent fear hillbillies. Jason Voorhees has better table manners. In the end, slightly protruding buttocks have won the day, and when something goes bump in the night I will be sure not to be the one stupid enough to go and see what the fuss is about just beyond the campfire's flicker.
For the genre, the acting was above par. I cannot recall a single moment where a cringe was elicited from a moment of theatrical putrification.
If story is the most important thing, then this flick might be quick to bore. There is nothing really new here. But what it lacks in backwoods originality it makes up for with filmmaking style. The camera worked magic in creating that uncomfortable sensation in our bellies, a phenomenon that humans seem compelled to not only seek out but pay dearly for. More so, it took the organic beauty of the out of doors and used its expansive majesty to belittle us humans into the realms of puny significance. This sets the stage for the intrusive ugliness that takes forever to find its way to the center stage.
After evil drops its initial celluloid bomb, it really does take its time worming its way into the dark fathoms of our minds. Usually this translates into movie boredom, but
Just Before Dawn keeps our interest by the continuous addition of other story elements, letting our imaginations wander around in its fruitless efforts to figure out how it will all fit in. And when the actions finds its fuel, it keeps revving until the very end.
The payoff scenes were confoundedly obvious and yet awe inspiring, dragging out these moments with the aplomb of a porn director that is looking to get laid. These moments were then augmented by the snappy editing that took no prisoners. Keep up or fall prey to the hideous force behind those viscous giggles.
Deliverance this was not. But we should have known that before dropping this one into the player. Instead, this was a genuinely atmospheric monument of backwoods terror whose greatest inspiration was found in the notion that chicks should never leave their makeup bags at home because you never know who you might meet in the middle of nowhere.
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