Ever watch a movie, knowing that there’s a high probability that it might not live to the expectations for it, or are you watching for the artwork on a DVD/poster art, however it’s likely because there’s someone in the movie you like and that justifies the reasoning? Well I’m guilty of that with this flick, its Jamie Bernadette (I Spit On Your Grave: Déjà Vu [2019])). Director Sean Cain (The Last House [2015] and Terror Birds [2016]) also penned (with Wes Laurie), produced and did film editing so it’s obviously an independent project and obtained distribution from Uncork’d Entertainment.

The horror genre is scattered with all sorts of monsters , creatures from the depths of the earth or beyond our world, other prehistoric, some are huge and even scarier the microscopic ones, however the ultimate is the Human Race, their skill in manipulations, cunnings, justified psychotic tendencies and twisted desires, makes them sick monsters.  It starts with a young woman named Lulu (Drew Lindsey Mitchell), who needs to sexually please her boyfriend Shane (Bobby Slaski), before their supposed to attend a Halloween party, as he’s a bit miffed over something. However just when everything seems okay, Shane finds paperwork that Lulu wants to return to college, and a fight starts (Shane believes women are for two purposes, serve and obey). Lulu flees and just then her ride-service picks her up, though strangely Shane doesn’t pursue his so-called ‘property’, this is considered too convenient in the plot. Quickly, she’s accused as a tease by the driver who’s dressed as a clown, this then becomes the quickest cut to her arriving at cabin in the woods, yeah she’s as dressed Little Red Riding Hood too. Dylan (Kelcey Watson (Poseidon Rex [2013])), a suicidal man in a remote cabin, who wants to kill himself, but goes to answer the door, and becomes involved in her dilemma in life. However, before we can start we need to catch up on the action – we have threesome of individuals in search Lulu, though their story doesn’t make sense, in this group a quick-tempered Neil (Bo Burroughs), his psychotic girl Snack (Jamie Bernadette) and a creepy sex-perv Uncle Chad (Timothy Muskatell (The Chair [2016])). The audience learns that Lulu’s been raped at a Halloween Party early in the day, that it affects her deeply as she’s hearing the group’s voices, she’s truly suffering. During the second act, we learn how Dylan’s wife and daughter died, and his little girl was obsessed with zombie household defenses which becomes important later, it’s similar to Nancy defending against Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), to a far lesser extent. In addition, it appears as if the script ran out of things to do, or something was missing, as fans of Jamie get treated to a very goofy over-the-top dance performance of her with a knife, it’s hilarious, and not in a so bad it’s good manner. The sad part is “spoiler” the cliched uncle, he deserved more punishment. Now if it may seem that I rushed over the story, well I did only due to the fact that there’s not much to tell without giving it away. One could tell the era of reference, Sean wanted to reminisce, ah the 70s with a nod to exploitation, however it falls well short of the lofty goal, likely due to budget limitations. While the interest of home invasions look appealing for a filmmaker it often pitfalls to the horror version of Home Alone (1990), especially if the cabin in the woods contains inexperience personnel, or limited options; a better bet would be a camping trip, stacks to the ground, tents, running through the woods all of it would be much better than a standalone location.

Sadly, the movie loses tension early onward, it lacks extreme moments, graphic psychical violence, and the vast sections of absent material, makes it difficult for a viewer to adjust their emotions to match what is lacking on the screen. While the characters have some depth it all seems a tad mismatched, the chemistry is just a tad off for all the parties involved, as if the director wanted to hurry to the more gruesome and violent and overlook the backstory and foundation to movie.

https://www.facebook.com/deadbydawnmovie

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8150698/

IMDb Rating: 3.3/10

Baron’s Rating: 3.0/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiA5QDmmmZ0