one of my absolute favorites!

Not even bad in a good way

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The movie moves at a leisurely pace. About the same way an actual hiking trip would. Things pick up towards the end, culminating in a I-didn't-see-that-coming finale. There isn't much gore. The stabbings happen out of frame, with the end result being shown. Nonetheless, the brutality is implied enough to be effective. Also, T&A is relegated to some very brief topless shots, as well as a healthy dose of ass-cleavage - courtesy of the main actress running around in daisy duke shorts for the latter part of the film. In the visual department, there is some clever use of lighting to heighten the tension in certain scenes. And the beautiful rustic scenery is captured by the nice cinematography. In closing, you won't feel you're time was wasted watching this, but I would recommend other camping-themed slashers to visit first, such as 'Sleep Away Camp' and 'The Burning'.

"Just Before Dawn" isn't exactly ground-breaking in its plot but this film does manage to sustain some suspense as well as a steady pace and a very good performance from that fine character actor, George Kennedy . He should have been in the film much more as he is the only person I could describe as being a professional and gifted performer. Even so, George Kennedy certainly makes the most of his screen time. A group of young campers are on holiday amongst mother nature in the grassy hills but are warned by Kennedy to stay away from the area. Naturally, the characters don't listen and pretty soon tragedy occurs. The violence is pretty grim most of the time and leaves little to the imagination. The setting is ideal as you are rooting for the campers to survive the mad killer who is on the loose and that there is no one nearby who can help. A minor classic that deserves repeated viewing.

Eerie. Creepy. Bleak. Wilderness slasher horror. Jeff Lieberman's «Just Before Dawn» is a somewhat overlooked slasher movie, but it is the quintessential of what a slasher movie should be. In my early teens (mid-eighties) my friends and I used to watch this gem over and over and over. As much as it scared us, we really loved it. The plot is pretty basic: Five campers (you got the stereotypes, the hunk, the babe, the geek etc.) go to some red neck mountaintop to indulge in youthful ... whatever, despite ignoring several warnings from the local forest ranger («there's demons in the forest» - which turns out to be some inbred, mutant hillbilly maniac killers). Of course the loonie mountain men stalk the campers. And then the fun begins. No, it's not «Seven» or «Zodiac». It's a low budget slasher movie from 1981, but it still stands the test of time. Think «The Texas Chainsaw Massascre meets «Deliverance» and «The Hills Have Eyes». The soundtrack is bleak, low key and blends natural with the forest sounds to create a dark, sinister mood. The acting is pretty solid, and the machete swinging killers are your worst nightmare. 8 stars out of 10.

The mountainous woods, young happy campers, a warning by a park ranger and a lurking figure. The ingredients are there for a horror delight, and director/co-writer Jeff Lieberman does an adequate job at achieving it. It's formulaic woodland horror, but for most part the execution is at the top the game and the story (which is quite basic in a trimmed sense) is effectively told in certain realism. Maybe a little more exposition wouldn't have gone astray, but Lieberman's craftsmanship makes up for the material's flaws and typical details with rising tension, moody visuals and a smothering atmosphere created by Brad Fiedel's very ominously lingering score. Whenever that very creepy whistling was cued in, it painted a truly unnerving sense that settled in with the beautiful backdrop. Cinematographers Dean M. and Joel King do a striking job too. There's plenty of style abound, even with its minimal scope and the build-up is slow grinding. At times the pacing can become a stop-and-go affair. It's not particularly violent, but there's still a mean-streak evident even if some of it happens of screen. The latter chase scenes and escalating fear is well done, as it has the darkness coming alive with itS burly killer/s and you get actor George Kennedy riding his white horse in a slight, but wonderful turn. There's a likable bunch of performances; Deborah Benson makes for a strong, dashing heroine. Gregg Henry, Chris Lemmon Ralph Seymour, Jamie Rose, Mike Kellin and Katie Powell round off a modest cast of believable deliveries. The final climax is rather twisted, but the ending is one of those types that leave you thinking… "Is that it?" A well-etched backwoods slasher item, which probably plays it a little too safe to truly set it apart from the norm.