Before Dawn (2013)

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

BEFORE DAWN is a low budget, low rent zombie movie, made and filmed in Yorkshire by husband and wife team Dominic Brunt and Joanne Mitchell. Brunt is best known to viewers of UK TV as the lovable Paddy in the long-running soap EMMERDALE, so watching him battle vicious zombies in this film (which he also wrote and directed) is something of a novelty.Unfortunately the novelty value is just about all this has going for it, because boy, BEFORE DAWN is bad. I actually didn't mind the ultra slow, family drama of the first half, purely because the horror comes subtle and there's a growing sense of unease which works really well. Some nice location photography really adds to the experience and I was left with high hopes for the rest of the production.Sadly the zombie denouement is less than impressive and something you'd expect to see in the likes of shot-on-video trash like ZOMBIE CHRONICLES. Brunt unwisely employs some extreme (and ludicrous) shaky-cam effects for the zombie attack sequences, which are overblown and ridiculous. There's no zombie horde here, no shambling menace, just a story that peters out leading to an anticlimax that makes you think "that's it?". I like Brunt but a dearth of originality makes BEFORE DAWN one of the worst zombie movies out there.

This is definitely worth a watch for anyone who enjoys the horror genre but finds mindless non stop action a bit tiring and monotonous. The film offers violence in a very cleverly measured way and ensures that its attention remains weighted to the story of the two main characters rather than getting carried away with the action and special effects (which are believable). This film does not disappoint in terms of gore if that's what you're after in horror, but it draws you into the characters' lives more than normal zombie films by keeping both the location and number of cast small, sticking to a storyline out with the apocalyptic plot and casting actors that can act. This all results in everything seeming more believable and in turn more horrifying.The original music score is very well suited to the film and each scene is assisted by a style of music which enhances the mood of the characters, scenes and film. I really enjoyed the good artistic blend of cinematography and music. Don't be put off by bad reviews. Give this film a shot and make up your own mind, just hit play with expectations of a solid story which has some zombies :-)

Before Dawn is about an estranged couple who go on a vacation to save their troubled relationship, but things goes awry when they find themselves under attack from the walking dead. The first half of this film is literally all mama/papa drama. I kept pulling up the movie on IMDb to make sure it was a horror movie and not a drama. After about 35 minutes of boring relationship drama, we see out first zombie. Once the scene with the zombie is over, it's back to more drama. The last 20 or so minutes of the film start to get a little interesting, but not enough to make up for the hour of boringness! Before Dawn is not really a horror at all, it's a full-blown drama with a couple zombies thrown in for substance. I think if you watched it going in, knowing that it was a drama and not expecting a horror, and then it would probably be pretty good. But since I only watch horror, I found it to be boring. Although the ending was kinda cool and the zombies were the spaz-iest zombies I've ever seen, still not enough to give this movie anything higher than a 4.Please like me on Facebook! You can read more of my reviews and get info on the latest movies in horror: http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Heart-Horror/338327476286206

I don't find zombie horror scary... in the sense I never lose sleep after watching rabid humans munching down on peoples' gooey floppy bits. I do appreciate the art of a good zombie horror, though, the essentials for a successful one and I do enjoy them when these are met. This movie ticks all the boxes.It isn't overrun with gore, no, it's not a fast-paced knock-their-blocks-off brain splattering thrill ride from the off.Zombie horror should be made in England because we have that endless amount of empty rolling countryside that is bound to be hiding some unfavourables behind that hill or that well positioned tree. It's just a matter of when they'll violently flail onto our screen. Plus we have that blunt way of approaching doomsday, reflecting our own dismal repressed lives which we smooth off with an awkward gag.OK, Shaun of the Dead it isn't, but when it picks up tempo the last half of the film runs beautifully according to the rules of good zombie flicks. You get the important bits - you can connect to the main character, you get the uncomfortable survival moment which tests human nature, you get the tidbits of end of the world humour and one or two gooey floppies. I don't know what else people want from this kind of movie..."Nana's here."