Await the Dawn

I am not going to be as harsh as some in reviewing this movie. It has its faults, especially when people, knowing the very real threat, freeze when they need to do something. But that is also the fault of many horror movies, because if they did act, the movie might be over. It starts with a family taking their older daughter to rehab, as she is in day one of withdrawal and sick. A doctor goes with them in a big RV, to supervise her. It is a family affair, and what seems to be of a somewhat dysfunctional family. On the trip, they come across a very young and adorable little girl, Maggie, who seems hurt. And also a young man who worked in a laboratory which was exploring ways of communicating with the dead, which makes for an interesting plot point. Maggie is inhabited by a being that was brought from an alternate dimension by their work, and she is pure evil. So one has evil outside, and the family shows their conflicts inside the cramped quarters of the RV. The young man has a device that keeps her at bay, and as long as it functions, she cannot get to them. The creature inside Maggie cannot tolerate the light, so they have to survive until dawn but will they? If one has made it through the movie don't rush to cut it off as soon as the end credits start. I liked the theory of how the creature got into Maggie, and it is also the only time Bruce Davison is on screen, for a minute or two. It can be entertaining and at times infuriating.

Kept me pretty well glued to the TV screen. Scientist's daughter wreaks havoc and lust for terror is not entirely new, but with nice twists and well filmed.

If it's your type of horror (blood and guts} you are in for a treat.

...and it was very unloved and abused and mistreated and cast off a cliff like a malformed Spartan baby.

This isn't a good movie. The acting is awful (though Dee Wallace did seem to take it serious, thus put in effort), which goes right in hand with the terrible script. The "interior" of the RV is such a bad set and obviously not the same as the vehicle in the exterior shots. Family melodrama keeps trying to take over from the horror and monsters, but in such a cliched trope of a melodrama. Every time one of the possessed/zombies/mind controlled popped up, I waited for them to say "Dead by dawn. We'll swallow you're soul."

Also, had no one involved in this movie ever seen a heroin addict? I'm sorry, "drug" addict...because being specific about substances would have involved knowing anything about anything.

I did like the creature and blood effects (in a B-flick way). There's even an extra star floating around for that, but you need to activate your pineal gland to see it. And I DID get a tiny smirk out of a monster flick having Drs. Cronen and Berg...because, Cronenberg, get it? Thankfully, the "writer"/"director" spared us the insult of actually pointing it out.

What we WEREN'T spared was the bludgeoning of a character named Howard Philips who worked for Miskatonic Labs. The movie was already based on From Beyond (movie or story, take your pick), so it would have been more appropriate to have him be Crawford Tillinghast. Then the people who know would know, and anyone else would just think it was a strange name in the modern era. But noooooooooooooooo.....couldn't let it slip past the viewers that this is a Lovecraftian horror. Just cram the old H. P. down everyone's throats and pretend you're clever.

And as bad as most of the movie was, the ending was three times as bad. It plodded along being a rip-off that even SyFy wouldn't produce, then took a sharp left turn into horrendous and stupid.

Watch this if you want to see how bad it truly is, but it really is better off never wasting your time. I don't think it could even be a good drinking game with the friends kinda movie.

This movie is cheesy, the acting quality is mostly poor and the overall plot is dumb. Yet it's somehow still entertaining. But don't come with high expectations. The special effects are good and gory, and there is plenty of suspense while the characters make one dumb decision after another and then become all melodramatic over the consequences. In other words this is a typical, fun B-horror movie.

Many aspects of this movie overlap with Tales from the Crypt and Demon Knight, which is a great movie by the way. If you like that style, meaning the non-seriousness and campy gore, you probably will like this movie, as long as you adjust your expectations, because it's not nearly as good as Demon Knight.

No pun intended - the movie may not be everyones taste. And I can see that some may not like the simple setup ... and the characters that have to act weird to say the least. Not logical for sure - also the changing characeristics ... and people not thinking of certain things to do ... when they lay there ... open to them.

Still there is suspense and there is quite the neat effects horror wise. The make up is quite good for the low budget this probably had. If you are able to suspend your disbelief ... there is some "fun" ahead for you. The ending almost breaks everything ... or takes everything apart. It feels like they weren't sure how to end it ... or did not have enough money to shoot anything else ... whatever the case, hopefully it won't ruin the viewing experience for you ...