This underappreciated backwoods-slasher is a top-tier example of the subgenre, demonstrating just how powerful and effective the slasher can be as a form of storytelling. Released in the early 80s, the Golden Age of the slasher film, Just Before Dawn combines eerie atmospherics and breathless suspense, emerging as a survivalist horror creeper with echoes of an environmental message. Its premise is standard slasher fare (but hey, that’s why we’re here, there’s comfort in the familiar) as a group of friends head into the mountain forests of Oregon to explore a piece of inherited land, only to fall foul of a sadistic killer who picks them off one by one.
Hmm, a backwoods slasher in which city-folk camping in a deep, dark forest are brutalised by a hulking, machete-wielding bogeyman? Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Just Before Dawn is far from a Friday the 13th clone though. While it was released the same year as Friday the 13th Part 2 and The Burning, it’s a very different beast: relatively bloodless, it’s much more restrained in terms of violence and sex, as director and co-writer Jeff Lieberman places emphasis on building tension and atmosphere, not gory effects. Bolstered by decent performances from a strong cast, the characters are all likeable enough stock types. George Kennedy appears as the amiable forest ranger, warning them of the perils of venturing too far into the mountains, and cautioning that one can’t own anything in nature, that the mountain doesn’t recognise deeds or wills or inheritances. Lieberman’s measured direction conveys the isolation of the group as they move through the overwhelmingly vast forest and treacherous mountain terrain. Threat is introduced subtly, as the killer is glimpsed in the background of some wider shots while something innocuous happens in the foreground. There are a few chilling moments, such as when the hunter in the opening scene comes face to face with the killer inside an abandoned church, and when a figure emerges from the waterfall behind a swimming couple, then disappears beneath the surface of the lake... When Lieberman layers on the tension, he lays it on thick, like Jonathan’s (Chris Lemmon) panicked scramble across the rope bridge, and Connie’s (Deborah Benson) desperate bid for escape up a tree as the wheezy, giggling killer begins to cut it down.
Classic slasher staples appear throughout, including not one, but several harbingers of doom who warn the gang to turn back. The central premise harks back to myriad cautionary fairy tales in which youngsters meet with dire consequences for trespassing into a forbidden place, and there’s also a strong environmental subtext. The group are seen littering, making too much noise and generally being disrespectful of the environs they trek through. There's also a twist involving the killer. Meanwhile, Lieberman finds time to play around with certain slasher conventions. With one (off-screen) exception, the victims are all men. Warren (Gregg Henry) is atypical of the usual alpha hero, as he becomes increasingly panicked and helpless, devastated after the death of his best friend. There’s also a surprisingly unconventional approach to the figure of the final girl, Connie, who is marked as the most level-headed and sensible of the group, as she undergoes an untypical trajectory throughout. When she, Megan (Jamie Rose) and Daniel (Ralph Seymour) are setting up camp, they hear noises and think someone is stalking the periphery of their campsite. Connie is struck by Megan’s quick reaction - grabbing a knife and calling for the intruder to show themselves - while Connie herself is too scared to move. All too aware of her own vulnerability, Connie begins to change. She starts wearing make-up and leaning into societal ideas of femininity, perhaps in an effort to emulate Megan, perhaps exploring a part of herself she had hitherto not acknowledged.
However, her transformation goes beyond the superficial application of make-up and wearing of short shorts. In many slasher films, ‘final girls’ are presented as chaste, virginal. While Connie is gradually depicted as strong and resourceful, she is not desexualised, as many final girls were. The scene when she dances provocatively around the campfire invokes notions of a witchy summoning of feminine power and authority, as she revels in her sexuality. Her volte-face appears to enable her to conjure strength and courage she never knew she had. Connie combines masculine and feminine traits as she proactively fights back in the astounding moment *spoiler alert* when she overcomes her aggressor by physically penetrating him, ramming her fist into his mouth and then forcing her whole arm down his throat, suffocating him. As the sun rises and the campfire slowly extinguishes into thick plumes of smoke, her status as hero is confirmed by her weary but victorious stance in the final shot.
Just Before Dawn also benefits from a striking location - Silver Falls State Park in Oregon - enhanced by moody cinematography, courtesy of Dean and Joel King. Even the beautiful daylit scenes are imbued with a touch of menace. The creepy score by Brad Fiedel, who would go on to score The Terminator and Fright Night, amalgamates droning synths with forest sounds – including bird calls that could be made by human voices – eerie and deeply unsettling. The use of silence in some scenes is also highly effective – listen for when the cicadas and crickets cease their chirping, and you may find yourself holding your breath, your heart beginning to race… Elsewhere, there’s some striking imagery and the work of photographer Dorothea Lange is evoked when the group drive past a ramshackle cabin with two little girls standing outside. Like Lange’s photography, the moment speaks of the destitution and hardship endured by rural communities left behind by industrialisation. With the Logans, the backwoods family who warn away the youths, the screenplay touches on issues regarding religious fundamentalism, social isolation and incest, with the family living outside of conventional morality.
As early 80s slasher films go, Just Before Dawn is an overlooked gem, a masterful exercise in atmosphere and suspense, and boasting an unforgettable denouement.