“UNTIL DAWN”
Five young, attractive twenty-somethings go on a road trip to try to solve the mystery what happened to another attractive twenty-something who disappeared. They finally make real progress when they stumble upon a shady gas station and speak to an attendant who gives them a lead. And some hope. So they jump back into the car and encounter a situation that will give off strong “The Dome,” “Cabin In the Woods,” “Evil Dead,” “From” or “Lost” vibes. Maybe even all of them at once.
But they do end up in a place that is strange and with no obvious way out, they have more problems than just figuring out where their friend went. Dark spaces lead to shadows. Shadows lead to dread and well … maybe you think you know where this is going. Honestly, I didn’t.
With a solid cast where the only familiar face for me personally is Peter Stormare (you know him even if you don’t know his name I promise you) the actors are given plenty of good dialogue to work with and propulsive action.
“Until Dawn” works well with managing the dark sets and manipulates space well. Hallways and darkly lit stairs become sources of dread. Strange forbidding sounds frequently interrupt the quiet to great effect.
It borrows enough familiar elements that you know and delivers a beautiful Ground Hog Day Horror twist. Each time the group of friends die they all regenerate to the same specific time. This results in a lot of death and a lot of bloodshed.
Interestingly enough, “Until Dawn” is based on a PlayStation horror game which explains the maze like sets and layered storytelling. You’re getting more red meat than is usually served for a horror movie here and the environments are as fun as the mystery.
One scene that left me literally howling was “the bathroom” scene. Just know something very fun happens in a bathroom. The grotesquerie reminded me of my favorite parts of “The Substance.”
I can’t say I understood all the ins and outs of the plot. I doubt it all made sense. What is clear is that direxror David Sandberg knows how to utilize IP and he just created an instant horror classic. It’s fun, nasty and scary enough to keep you covering your eyes and stuffing your fingers in your ears.
These are good things to be doing in a theater filled with more strangers than friends. But please take your friends. Horror movie grosses matter and people who stay in their homes all the time really should get out and be more social. 😀
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Leave a Reply