Film Review: BEFORE DAWN (2013)

 BEFORE DAWN (2013) UK 1hr 22mins

Director: Dominic Brunt

"Nice Parking." - Meg (when they come across an abandoned car.)

"Yeah, welcome to the countryside"- Alex

"I'm telling you it's the end of times. The fucking rapture!" - Peter

Estranged couple Alex (Dominic Brunt) and Meg (Joanne Mitchell) go on a couples retreat to the countryside to try and rekindle what they once had. Leaving their kids with Megs mum Eileen (Eileen O'Brien) they get in the car and drive, just as they leave though they hear a strange blood curdling scream coming from somewhere near by. After falling back into their old ways and arguing most of the night, morning comes and Meg goes out for a run to clear her head. When she is out she gets attacked and bitten by a really angry guy in a suit covered in blood. She loses her way back to the cottage and when she finally makes it back she is completely distraught. Without really knowing what's going on Alex tries to comfort and look after Meg but she's fading fast. With no phone signal or TV reception Alex tries to call home but only gets a few minutes to talk to Eileen who seems panicked about something. Soon the hordes of zombies start closing in to turn their world upside down. 

BEFORE DAWN is a quiet and low key budget zombie movie that lulls you into a false sense of security by not really having that much to do with zombies at all to start with but then escalates super quick to epic levels of gore and "what the fuck" moments. It starts off pretty slow and builds up our two main characters. Even though they are relatable enough you kind of wonder how the hell the two of them were ever a couple let alone had kids together but then stranger things are happening. There are subtle hints alluding to the impending zombie apocalypse that are going on the whole time which the couple don't notice and you as the viewer will miss if you don't pay complete attention. This is actually really cleverly done and when the zombies do finally show themselves properly then the shit really does hit the fan. These guys are the rage fuelled type and are seriously angry, fast and noisy. The most unnerving thing about them are their bulging, unblinking, bloodshot red eyes not to mention their snappy disposition and the fact that they are incredibly relentless and very hard to kill. Practical FX are strong here with some very good prosthetics. Acting wise these zombies are normal people not athletes or stunt men but they do a great job without going too over the top. Very little is told or known about the origin of the virus only that it seems to be a rage virus transmitted by bites and that is all we need to know here. There are rumours that they return to normal once they have fed and Alex tests out that theory with disappointing results. BEFORE DAWN is way more brutal then you are expecting with some truly horrific moments that put to shame those big Hollywood happy endings.

This is really well written by Joanne Mitchell with the screenplay by Mark Illis . The soundtrack and incidentals are predominantly a well placed and haunting combination of piano and white noise which is very effective. Mitchell and Brunt are married in real life and BEFORE DAWN was born out of an argument the couple had. Brunt had not intended to be the films director and had approached two other directors previously but they wanted too much money so he decided to do it himself. Of course, here in the UK Dominic Brunt is best known for his role as the mild mannered Paddy in housewives favourite soap opera EMMERDALE but he is also a bit of a horror nut. As well as few other  producer and directorial roles he has also had a couple of small roles in ATTACK OF THE ADULT BABIES (2017) and SKY SHARKS (2020). BEFORE DAWN has a relatively small cast and even credits author and journalist Tony Earnshaw amongst its well set up crew.

BEFORE DAWN has a little something for everyone be it quiet and unassuming or brutal and gory. If you don't know this movie then seek it out as soon as you can. I score BEFORE DAWN 4 brains out of 5. You can get BEFORE DAWN on DVD and it is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.