Dawn of the Beast Delivers With A Potent Presentation and Crazy Creatue Effects
New from Uncork’d Entertainment, Dawn of the Beast, a horror film set in the American Northeast that pulls references from not one mythos of American folklore and paranormal query, but two. Director Bruce Wemple (Monstrous) delivers a familiar horror film setup, yet a story that never quite falls into the “boredom of predictability'' of which many films of this type seem to culminate.
The first part of the film sees a couple in their cabin, enjoying the night, when strange noises cause the man to venture outside and investigate. I’ll not expand further, watch the movie, but know that the creature FX are downright awesome! There seems to be influences from some of the more recent horror films, as far as the presentation of the creature, but I was also reminded of the show Hannibal (watch this movie, and you’ll know what I mean).
The intro scenes fade to the actual film, where we have a group of students traveling to a cabin deep in the woods in the hopes of finding Bigfoot. Imagine The Evil Dead, only the evil isn’t necessarily dead…(?) The movie never gets boring, and as events begin to unfold (with more nods to The Evil Dead) the film eventually turns into a monster vs. monster affair, reminiscent of the old kaiju flicks. This may be the one aspect that could turn away some viewers, as there is an imperceptible tonal shift in the film, much like a Raimi film, where the story begins serious, then ends up almost into comedic hyperbole. Please note, however, that the hyperbole is not quite as ludicrous as a Raimi film, and I still enjoyed it (especially when a familiar song begins to play at a certain part). The acting is solid, the characters are fun, and once again, I must compliment Jared Balog and his makeup and FX - absolutely stellar work!
Dawn of the Beast is fun and unique - while giving us a familiar premise and lore, the movie takes us in new directions with the mythos, as well as giving some darn good visuals for the monsters. Dawn of the Beast is available On Demand and DVD (U.S.) April 6, 2021 from Uncork’d Entertainment.
The vampire has seen many forms and varied representations in films for over a century - ranging from the slow, romantic sensuous aristocrat to the savage, bestial monster, much akin to the zombie Among them, one of the most iconic is Anders Hove’s portrayal of the nefarious Radu Vladislas in the Subspecies series from Full Moon Pictures.