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Just Before Dawn, 1981
Jonathan (Chris Lemmon) has just come into a large property in the backwoods of Oregon. Heading up the mountain with friends Danny (Ralph Seymour), Megan (Jamie Rose), Warren (Gregg Henry), and Constance (Deborah Benson), the group doesn't realize that the forest is the hunting ground for a ruthless killer. Ignoring a warning from the local ranger (George Kennedy), they find themselves isolated and struggling to survive.
I don't remember who recommended this one, but I very much enjoyed it. At first blush it might seem like it's part and parcel with the other slashers of the early 80s, but it does enough to distinguish itself to definitely make it worth checking out.
The killings are memorable without slipping into the kind of outlandishness that makes you more inclined to laugh at a movie then feel thrilled. The most effective aspect of the film is the way that the killer and the woods combine to create an atmosphere of constant hostility. The killer seems to be a part of the woods, slipping in and out of the trees suddenly and silently. There is a total absence of psychological analysis or reason behind the killings, so the killer becomes more like a malevolent extension of the woods.
The main characters themselves are not quite as memorable, but they aren't hard to root for. In an early scene they must decide how to handle an obviously drunk man who emerges from the woods and tells them that he's being chased by demons. Their decision to leave him there doesn't exactly endear them to you. (I totally get why they don't want to invite the man into their camper, but by the same token it's clearly not okay to leave someone in a bad state alone in the woods. They decide not to turn the camper around because they want to get to their campsite). Despite this early misstep, nothing they do is so horrible that you'd root for them to die. They obviously care about each other, and this adds tension to the danger they are in.
I wouldn't place this as a top tier horror film, but it's certainly solid enough and keeps you guessing until the very end.
Just Before Dawn, 1981
Jonathan (Chris Lemmon) has just come into a large property in the backwoods of Oregon. Heading up the mountain with friends Danny (Ralph Seymour), Megan (Jamie Rose), Warren (Gregg Henry), and Constance (Deborah Benson), the group doesn't realize that the forest is the hunting ground for a ruthless killer. Ignoring a warning from the local ranger (George Kennedy), they find themselves isolated and struggling to survive.
I don't remember who recommended this one, but I very much enjoyed it. At first blush it might seem like it's part and parcel with the other slashers of the early 80s, but it does enough to distinguish itself to definitely make it worth checking out.
The killings are memorable without slipping into the kind of outlandishness that makes you more inclined to laugh at a movie then feel thrilled. The most effective aspect of the film is the way that the killer and the woods combine to create an atmosphere of constant hostility. The killer seems to be a part of the woods, slipping in and out of the trees suddenly and silently. There is a total absence of psychological analysis or reason behind the killings, so the killer becomes more like a malevolent extension of the woods.
The main characters themselves are not quite as memorable, but they aren't hard to root for. In an early scene they must decide how to handle an obviously drunk man who emerges from the woods and tells them that he's being chased by demons. Their decision to leave him there doesn't exactly endear them to you. (I totally get why they don't want to invite the man into their camper, but by the same token it's clearly not okay to leave someone in a bad state alone in the woods. They decide not to turn the camper around because they want to get to their campsite). Despite this early misstep, nothing they do is so horrible that you'd root for them to die. They obviously care about each other, and this adds tension to the danger they are in.
I wouldn't place this as a top tier horror film, but it's certainly solid enough and keeps you guessing until the very end.