REVIEW: Before Dawn

Phillip Hynes

With The release of the Before Dawn DVD today, we were lucky to get a chance to review this movie.

Firstly, I have got to say that this is an intense and gritty Zombie movie, which is sure to become a firm favourite with zombie fans everywhere. Set in England, it centres around a married couple who are struggling with their relationship. They set out to a remote farmhouse in the Yorkshire Dales to resolve their differences and things quickly start to take a turn for the worse.

Dominic Brunt, the lead male, is also the Director of this movie and his on screen wife (Joanne Mitchell) is also his wife off screen. This helps to make their relationship in the film authentic; something a lot of other movies don’t quite capture with any real sincerity.

It’s easy to draw comparisons to 28 Days Later, with a dash of Night of the Living Dead. The zombies are quite terrifying and are of the worryingly fast variety. Dominic does a great job of revving up the tension, especially with the first undead encounter. I really can’t elaborate without ruining the scene for you, but it’s one of those scenes that makes you tuck your legs up under you. The other encounters don’t get any easier to watch. There aren't any Walking Dead – quick poke in the eye zombie kills, this film has no super heroes, just an average guy having to beat the undead to pieces in a flurry of raw aggression that will leave you exhausted, complete with all the gruesome sounds. I’m glad they used this approach for the zombies, it just makes them so much more dangerous and after watching the movie I seriously doubt my chances of surviving a zombie outbreak.

The movie has a couple of surprises along the way and it keeps the story interesting. You will find yourself rooting for Dominic as he faces  the challenges of a zombie outbreak. By  all accounts it was a discussion on “what would you do” in a zombie outbreak with his wife that inspired this movie and you can see what the outcome was along the way.

I heartily recommend this movie and it is a refreshing change of direction from the majority of zombie films. I will also be picking up a copy on Monday and it could even be a contender for my best zombie film of all time.