OK, I gave this movie a 2/10 instead of a 1, for the slight twist at the end. This movie is horrible, do not rent it. I rented it based on the cover and blurb on the back and thought "Hey this could be good," because I like a lot of straight to video horror. But this movie is not worth any money. I won't really say anything else about it til a few more people post, I don't want to give away all that happens, or as you'll see, all that doesn't. OK so I added the spoiler warning, you only see how 2 people die, the rest you kind of just have to imagine. It's pathetic, the acting is terrible, and the camera work is supposed to add to the suspense, but could leave you nauseated.
12 Reviews
This is a horror movie?
doomsyer10 March 2006
To be fair, I only watched an hour of this flick. To really be fair, whoever made this piece of camcorder crap should refund my money I paid Blockbuster. I should charge them for having to sit through an hour of this "horror movie".....
Well, in the hour I did see......there was a scene in a classroom, with all of the students being 20 something Z list actors. The dialogue was laughable.....then there was a scene where they find a dead body in the school (everyone screams and then walks away).....then they decide to go to the teachers house so they can perform a sacrifice (?)...they get to the house....the lesbians get undressed and lay around on their bed.....one gets dream raped by the teacher (?)....two go into the woods to smoke pot....that was about it for me......Just a bunch of crappy dialogue you cannot hear half of the time and crappy rap music with mexicans screaming/chanting over it........
Maybe the last 15 minutes or so that I did not see were kick ass.......Seriously doubt it.....AVOID AVOID AVOID......makes the acting in Children of the Living Dead seem like Oscar worthy performances.
Well, in the hour I did see......there was a scene in a classroom, with all of the students being 20 something Z list actors. The dialogue was laughable.....then there was a scene where they find a dead body in the school (everyone screams and then walks away).....then they decide to go to the teachers house so they can perform a sacrifice (?)...they get to the house....the lesbians get undressed and lay around on their bed.....one gets dream raped by the teacher (?)....two go into the woods to smoke pot....that was about it for me......Just a bunch of crappy dialogue you cannot hear half of the time and crappy rap music with mexicans screaming/chanting over it........
Maybe the last 15 minutes or so that I did not see were kick ass.......Seriously doubt it.....AVOID AVOID AVOID......makes the acting in Children of the Living Dead seem like Oscar worthy performances.
A True Waste Of Time
Lost_Highway26 February 2006
Well I just got done watching this film and all I can say is I wish I hadn't, with little info available about it I knew it was a risky film to watch but who knew it could be this bad?! The acting is quite simply atrocious, the plot and dialogue (when the cast remember the lines) is just awful and minimal in the usual way of teen horror flicks the story is just there to get to the next scary bit....sadly they seemed to have forgotten to put in both a story or any scary scenes.
I honestly can't think of anyone who would like this sort of movie, it has a fair amount of rap music and a largely black cast...but I can't see fans of 'black' cinema or rap music liking it. It's a horror film that won't appeal to hardcore horror fans or those just looking for a cheap thrill. Avoid at all costs.
I honestly can't think of anyone who would like this sort of movie, it has a fair amount of rap music and a largely black cast...but I can't see fans of 'black' cinema or rap music liking it. It's a horror film that won't appeal to hardcore horror fans or those just looking for a cheap thrill. Avoid at all costs.
The epitome of bad film-making
pequaboy28 May 2006
Warning: Spoilers
It's official, "The Dawn" is the worst movie I've ever seen! I can credit this complete pile of crap with only a singular attribute... The cover looks creepy. PERIOD!
Under the cover, I can only hope that this was made by starving, crack addicted, film school drop-outs with nothing else to do with their buzz. The dialog is obviously unscripted. Nothing but mindless banter accented with an overkill of screaming (at what!?) The characters were the lamest group of needy individuals however as a man, I was at first intrigued by the lesbians, but even lost interest in them within the first 3 minutes or so. As for the plot (plot?), I think if there was ever a shred of evidence of what this was supposed to be, it got swept off the cutting room room floor by the janitor. Which leads me to the director Linwood D Neverson. Here's a man with balls. He edited his own direction and was left standing alone with nothing more than what should be an embarrassment. It also happens to be produced by Linwoods brother Darryl L Neverson and Agustin. At least Agustin had enough common sense not to strap his surname to it. As far as the camera crew, the lighting is poor and there's a scene that must have been filmed by a drunk monkey with a cam-cord and a real bad case of the hic-cups. The soundtrack is poorly edited rap/hip-hop. Though I myself don't like the style of music(?) at all, those who do can reap the crap of rap here.
All in all "The Dawn" is by far, the biggest waste of celluloid I ever had the burden to witness. But I pays my moneys, I's gots to sees it.
But the cover is cool.
Under the cover, I can only hope that this was made by starving, crack addicted, film school drop-outs with nothing else to do with their buzz. The dialog is obviously unscripted. Nothing but mindless banter accented with an overkill of screaming (at what!?) The characters were the lamest group of needy individuals however as a man, I was at first intrigued by the lesbians, but even lost interest in them within the first 3 minutes or so. As for the plot (plot?), I think if there was ever a shred of evidence of what this was supposed to be, it got swept off the cutting room room floor by the janitor. Which leads me to the director Linwood D Neverson. Here's a man with balls. He edited his own direction and was left standing alone with nothing more than what should be an embarrassment. It also happens to be produced by Linwoods brother Darryl L Neverson and Agustin. At least Agustin had enough common sense not to strap his surname to it. As far as the camera crew, the lighting is poor and there's a scene that must have been filmed by a drunk monkey with a cam-cord and a real bad case of the hic-cups. The soundtrack is poorly edited rap/hip-hop. Though I myself don't like the style of music(?) at all, those who do can reap the crap of rap here.
All in all "The Dawn" is by far, the biggest waste of celluloid I ever had the burden to witness. But I pays my moneys, I's gots to sees it.
But the cover is cool.
The uneventful way through the woods
TheLittleSongbird3 May 2019
'The Dawn' didn't have an awful lot to go for it, other than the cool and creepy-looking cover. Being not completely grabbed by the concept and not being a fan of the style of camera-work employed in the film, a feeling made worse when officially diagnosed as an epileptic six years ago. Watched it anyway as someone out of curiosity and who is oddly intrigued by low budget horror and didn't want to watch it with any bias. Have seen a lot of rubbish ones for a while now, but there are those that do overcome their budget limitations and are watchable films.
It is sad to say that 'The Dawn' is not one of those. Don't be fooled by the creepiness of the cover, this is a dreadful film in every way in my opinion. Saw no redeeming qualities at all and the flaws were more terrible than bad. Of the low budget horrors and film seen recently, 'The Dawn' is a strong contender for the worst. It is among the worst films of its type. It is also down there as one of the worst films overall again recently seen, as well as ever. Have seen some awful films in my life but there are not many of those that made me wonder what was going on the entire duration of the film or wonder whether there is even any kind of plot. Felt both of those things watching 'The Dawn', which is one of the worst examples for both.
Hard to know where to begin criticising 'The Dawn'. The camera work is nauseating throughout and completely lacks slickness, often it makes what is going on on screen very confusing and sometimes incomprehensible. Am not a fan of rap, which has never felt like music to me, and 'The Dawn' did nothing to make me change my mind, actually found myself hating it even more after the film finished.
Cannot say much better about the script. Consider it one of the worst assets actually, being one of the most non-existent and incoherently structured scripts known to mankind and that is when you can actually hear it. Detected very little story here in 'The Dawn' and felt misled when reading the concept in the summary here. The film is just so uneventful and the pace is deadly dull throughout, due to having pointless scenes going on for too long. It felt like the film was being made up on the spot, except everyone involved had no experience in it and executed it terribly.
Did not find myself investing in the characters at all, very little personality and another thing that distracted me throughout was the way the characters behaved in either decision making or towards each other, made them near-detestable. The chemistry between them is very stilted and the acting gave off the vibe that the actors were picked up from the street and co-erced into doing the film. Yet not knowing what to do and constantly forgetting lines.
Overall, dreadful in every way. 1/10
It is sad to say that 'The Dawn' is not one of those. Don't be fooled by the creepiness of the cover, this is a dreadful film in every way in my opinion. Saw no redeeming qualities at all and the flaws were more terrible than bad. Of the low budget horrors and film seen recently, 'The Dawn' is a strong contender for the worst. It is among the worst films of its type. It is also down there as one of the worst films overall again recently seen, as well as ever. Have seen some awful films in my life but there are not many of those that made me wonder what was going on the entire duration of the film or wonder whether there is even any kind of plot. Felt both of those things watching 'The Dawn', which is one of the worst examples for both.
Hard to know where to begin criticising 'The Dawn'. The camera work is nauseating throughout and completely lacks slickness, often it makes what is going on on screen very confusing and sometimes incomprehensible. Am not a fan of rap, which has never felt like music to me, and 'The Dawn' did nothing to make me change my mind, actually found myself hating it even more after the film finished.
Cannot say much better about the script. Consider it one of the worst assets actually, being one of the most non-existent and incoherently structured scripts known to mankind and that is when you can actually hear it. Detected very little story here in 'The Dawn' and felt misled when reading the concept in the summary here. The film is just so uneventful and the pace is deadly dull throughout, due to having pointless scenes going on for too long. It felt like the film was being made up on the spot, except everyone involved had no experience in it and executed it terribly.
Did not find myself investing in the characters at all, very little personality and another thing that distracted me throughout was the way the characters behaved in either decision making or towards each other, made them near-detestable. The chemistry between them is very stilted and the acting gave off the vibe that the actors were picked up from the street and co-erced into doing the film. Yet not knowing what to do and constantly forgetting lines.
Overall, dreadful in every way. 1/10
Fair Warning
tmccull5226 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I turned this movie off after all of about 10 minutes; it's that bad.
Here we have another horror movie that doesn't seek to do anything other than to check the boxes and offer the same formulaic tripe of a million other, cheap, low-budget, zero talent horror films:
A group of young people head off into the countryside on an ill-advised adventure. The group consists of the usual gaggle of idiots; the brash, cocky jock, the obnoxious jerk that thinks he's absolutely hilarious but that no one else finds even remotely funny, the bookworm, the hot lesbian couple, and a few other "party hearty" types that serve no other purpose than to provide a body count.
As I mentioned in the opening, I turned this movie off after about 10 minutes, and I had managed to sit all of the way through that epic piece of trash, "Midnight Macabre". There is nothing new or innovative about "The Dawn". It only seeks to go where countless other films have already gone, only in poorer fashion. I would wholeheartedly advise that anyone considering this film that they should pass on it.
Here we have another horror movie that doesn't seek to do anything other than to check the boxes and offer the same formulaic tripe of a million other, cheap, low-budget, zero talent horror films:
A group of young people head off into the countryside on an ill-advised adventure. The group consists of the usual gaggle of idiots; the brash, cocky jock, the obnoxious jerk that thinks he's absolutely hilarious but that no one else finds even remotely funny, the bookworm, the hot lesbian couple, and a few other "party hearty" types that serve no other purpose than to provide a body count.
As I mentioned in the opening, I turned this movie off after about 10 minutes, and I had managed to sit all of the way through that epic piece of trash, "Midnight Macabre". There is nothing new or innovative about "The Dawn". It only seeks to go where countless other films have already gone, only in poorer fashion. I would wholeheartedly advise that anyone considering this film that they should pass on it.
Completely waste of film.
brixtonwa28 February 2019
When I first read up on this film I thought it might be something interesting to watch well I was completely wrong. The introduction to the movie alone was far too long and with the constant flicker of the slide projector was enough to send people into epileptic seizures. The individual that directed this picture really could've use some assistance. You have a scene with a dead body at the beginning and everybody's pushing their way into see this body even after they screen which that is it natural and then two individuals are outside talking like nothing happened. The girl talks about oh so and so and so just pulled up and in the next scene he standing outside leaning against the car. And the acting is below subpar I know these people are not professional actors but I believe they could've had an acting coach available to assist them. Even though I only read it to stars I always watch the film to the end to make sure that I get the full impact of the story and if it possibly improves compared to others that just stop like halfway through but even watching this movie all the way through not worth the time
Student retreat goes bad in this travesty of shot-on-video filmmaking
Leofwine_draca4 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
THE DAWN is an example of your usual junk shot-on-video horror movie courtesy of the US of A. The story sees the usual group of boring, brain-dead students heading off to a rural retreat in the woods in order to learn more about indigenous cultures (go figure). After a lot of set up and mucking around, weird things start to happen. Students suffer dreams of rape, a lesbian scene is thrown in for good measure, but the most jaw-dropping moment is the native ritual with the topless girl on the bed. This bit really has to be seen to be believed. The rest runs the gamut of wooden acting and sparse plotting, and it really is a travesty of film-making.
Lets not complain
saraland42523 March 2006
If you are like me, you have bee to Blockbuster or any other video rental and have seen movies such as this on the shelf numerous times. These movies are terrible, but we keep renting 'no name' horror movies for whatever our own reasons maybe. My own reason for renting these types of movies, is hoping that maybe there will be one movie in the mix that will surprise me and actually be decent. To my surprise and liking I find a gem every now and then. This was not one of those times. Do I blame the makers of these films? No i do not, nor do I think anyone else should blame them for us spending our money.These films have very small budgets ,I would imagine. So lets not be so judge mental on these guys that don't have 30,50,or $100 million dollar budgets; instead lets hope that one day these guys will be somebody and be able to make good movies. I'm sure these filmmakers don't want to make bad moves but they don't have the money to make what they would like. Thank You
actually.....
U_KNOW12 April 2006
The movie wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be. I Mean i went in thinking it was going to be the worst thing ever but the cast was pretty entertaining. It was just so damn boring and there was nothing scary about it. It could have been such a better movie if they didn't do anything but talk and scream the whole damn time. And you never quite know what they are screaming about! They didn't even show how anyone died. And the ending....so what exactly happened to Carmen? Are we supposed to guess? I can't believe i even watched it to the end. I seriously fast forwarded through the scenes to actually see where it was going and it seemed like i was fast forwarding through the same thing over and over. All they did was scream and shout which was pretty annoying! And the lesbians were driving me nuts! They kept touching each other.It was so annoying. I mean don't get me wrong i have nothing against lesbians since i myself am bi, but you don't have to be touching your girlfriend every 5 secs. And it wasn't even like sexual or anything. Plus one of the girls Spanish was so thick you could hardly understand her. Not to mention the only time they didn't touch was when you wanted them to! It was a waste of time but it just irks me that this had potential if you actually had a plot.
Waste of time
africe28 July 2021
Scary
computerdisksoftware17 June 2022
I'm not big on reviews, but, for a horror movie it wasn't all that bad, from the beginning, to the end, I got a sense that college students were studying indigenous cultures, and wanted, to get a little more involved, with the class and went, to a farm out, of town nothing wrong with the plot, could've went through the scenes slower, and built in a little more suspense, it seemed like the scenes were rushed through, need to use the five senses going through the scenes, would've made the scenes seen more believable, besides that a tipikle low budget horror movie with actors, in their first movie roll. Good luck!
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