Slasher movies are known above all else for two things: their inventive kill count and their villains. If you don’t have a scary bad guy (or gal) slicing up their victims in a way that makes your skin crawl, you don’t have a successful slasher, no matter how good the rest of the story may be. Why is there 13 Halloween Movies and 12 Friday the 13th instalments. The plot may be more brutal, but we keep coming back for the scary guy in the mask hacking people.
Every slasher movie has to have an epic ending where the killer dies in a gruesome way. Even if they don’t stay and return for a sequel or ten, the villains must be defeated in a way that makes it seem like they’re down for the count forever. Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and more have been defeated in every way imaginable, but you’ve never seen a villain’s death as shocking and memorable as the finale of a lesser-known 1980s superhero, Just before dawn.
Slasher movie wants the girl to finally kill the villain!
Although the villains in slasher films are often memorable, unfortunately they are often portrayed in the same way. It will come to the last girl, who has just discovered that all her friends are dead. She was the last person standing, on the run from the hulking killer. She gets some shocks, makes him weak, but finally, the man arrives to do what she can’t do. You must look no further than the last girl, Jamie Lee Curtis‘ Laurie Strode. in HalloweenWith Laurie unable to defeat her aggressor, it is Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) who portrayed and shot Michael Myers. The same situation plays out Halloween IIwhere Laurie can’t defeat the Boogeyman, so it’s up to Loomis to do it by arriving at the hospital in the final act to blow himself and Michael up.
in A Nightmare on Elm StreetNancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) take Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) left her dream and entered the real world, but she had to call her father (John Saxon) to help her. in Friday the 13th Part VII: New BloodJason Voorhees meets his final match in a telekinetic girl named Tina Shepard (Lar Park Lincoln). She inflicted some brutal damage on Jason, but it was her father who came back from the dead who pulled Jason down into Crystal Lake. in Scream Movie, they don’t need help from men, but it takes many women to shoot and stab Ghostface to death. There are other changes as well that let the last girl live without being the last hero. Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) did not kill the bad people The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Instead, she ran and managed to escape. There is no last girl braver than Jess Bradford (Olivia Hussey) in Black Christmas, but in the end, she killed the wrong man and the slasher lived. in Just before dawnOur last girl doesn’t need help, and you can keep your guns and knives and other things because she doesn’t need weapons.
What is ‘before the dawn’?
Just before dawn Released in 1981 at the beginning of the growth of the slasher. It does not change the world. The characters are good, the plot isn’t bad, the kills are effective, and with a grainy texture, it’s scary just to watch, but it’s not the biggest movie of the decade. On paper, it’s your stereotypical slasher movie, mixed in between The hills have eyes And Friday the 13th, with a group of young friends into the forest to go camping, only to be hunted by a madman with a machete. Directed by Jeff Lieberman, Just before dawn Star Chris Lemmon (Son of Jack Lemmon) and even if there is George Kennedy In a small but meaningful role. Among the supporting actors are Deborah Benson As Constance, a woman who at one point mentions how much she hates knives and doesn’t think she’ll ever use one.
Our heroes are here because they have inherited some land in the mountains. It is here that they meet George Kennedy’s Roy McLean as the doomsday raider, warning these kids not to climb those mountains. They do, of course, and run into Just before dawnHis villain when he jumps into their RV, then follows them as they walk away. Our killer is not a masked man, we see him clearly. He was a lumbering fellow, heavy and bald, who later wore the orange hat of one of his victims. He didn’t speak, but he had a terrible laugh that came out breathlessly and loudly. The killer begins to take out the group before the twist is revealed. Not one killer, but two, in the form of twin brothers.
‘Just Before Dawn’ has the most disturbing villain death
The final act sees a brother chasing our last girl, Constance. She’s not your typical last girl, shy and shy and conservatively dressed. No, Constance is blonde, with a tight and short shirt so her ass is hanging out. She was also seen posing with her boyfriend Warren (Greg Henry) previously. Just before dawn Can be praised for that. Constance is a person, rather than a stereotype. That difference is also what makes what happens next so meaningful. Constance ran up a tree to escape from one of the killers. He chops it down, sending Constance running again. She tripped and fell, the killer raised his hand, but before he could attack, he was shot dead by Roy McLean. Again, the last girl was saved by a man with a weapon, except, wait, there’s more than one villain!
Our remaining heroes, Constance and Warren, do not know that there are two bad people, so they return to their camp to pack and leave this horrible place. It was the second brother to attack. Warren cowers but Constance jumps on the killer’s back. He was able to twist her around and put her in a bear hug, her legs limp. Warren has no help, so it’s up to the woman to do it all this time. Constance hates knives, but that’s okay, here a woman becomes a weapon against her male aggressor, as she twists around and puts her fist in the killer’s mouth. She pushes deep, her fist in his throat choking him. He fell to the ground, unable to breathe. Constance mounts him, pushing her arms deep until her forearm is half of his gullet. The murderer shivered, and even though he was an evil man, it was uncomfortable to watch someone take so long to die in so much pain. Constance did not give up. She kept her arms around his neck until he finally stopped breathing.
Something about sex and gender politics can be found here. Women love to have sex in slasher movies. Director Jeff Lieberman turned it on its head and made the blonde with long legs the hero. In the end, the man who should save the day cowers while she instead saves him. With women often objectified in 80’s horror, her body was a weapon, a blow to be thrown at a despicable and murderous man. There may have been better slasher films in the 80s, but you won’t find a story with a more disturbing and appropriate ending. Just before dawn.
