Mani-bains76 First review I have ever written and felt compelled to do so in order to save other victims... sorry innocent viewers from exposing themselves to one and a half (plus) hours of sheer drivel! For a zombie movie to evade any zombie action for the first 40 minutes; I would expect and gladly welcome an alternate, strong intro, carried forward by engaging and relevant dialogue. Instead we are presented with two dimensional characters living lives I couldn't care less about and delivering banal dialogue that warrants a "can cause drowsiness" warning! Things only get worse as the (dare I call it) story? Attempts to move forward but is ultimately thwarted by stale performances, atrocious cinematography, lack of a sound engineer and on the whole, kamikaze film making. To get a film made is no mean feat and I have to applaud the film makers in that respect but why invest time, money and energy into a baseless project that exists for the sake of existing. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!

Paul Magne Haakonsen Okay, well first of all I have go to put out a warning to anyone buying this movie from the DVD cover, as I did, don't look at the cover and get your hopes up! You will be sorely disappointed. On the cover you see a man standing alone with a rifle and a smoking city in the horizon. This is not even in the movie, nor does it have anything remotely to do with the movie. But it gets better. There is also a really cool looking zombies there in the gash, along with a whole army of zombies behind it, again, not there in the movie. False advertisement at its best.That being said, let me just say right away that despite this false advertising and cheap tricks to lure people into buying the movie, then "Before Dawn" is actually quite good once it gets up in speed and pace. The movie was actually quite enjoyable. The movie is rather slow at getting into gear and tends to drag on and on without getting anywhere. Well, right up until Meg (played by Joanne Mitchell) goes jogging, then things pick up pace and gets interesting.There is only a handful of zombies in the movie, but the make-up on these was actually quite good. Now, anyone familiar with my reviews will know that I am not a fan of agile and fast-running zombies, as the ones in "Before Dawn" are. It is just not my thing. But still, the effects and make-up on the zombies here worked really well. One thing, aside from the running, that I didn't appreciate about the zombies in this movie, was the predatory growling sounds that they emitted, it was just too odd and misplaced.And there isn't a lot of people in the movie, so there is a lot of weight on the shoulders on those on the screen, and they did good jobs with their given roles. Thumbs up for that.As for the ending of the movie, well... I will not spoil anything here by saying how it ends. But it is one of those types of endings that you will either love or hate. I didn't really appreciate it and found it to be a bit too cliché and predictable."Before Dawn" is a great addition to any zombie aficionado's zombie movie collection. It is enjoyable and has a good amount of violence and just enough gore to keep even most gorehounds happy. Britain does spew out a good amount of enjoyable zombie movies.

Coventry Some five years ago many of my horror friends were quite enthusiastic about an experimental zombie movie named "Zombie Honeymoon", whereas I remained rather unimpressed. Surely the idea of blending zombie-horror with romantic comedy aspects was inventive and courageous, but I felt the result was too awkward and ineffective. What we have here with "Before Dawn" is pretty much the same idea, except that the romantic comedy gets replaced with melodramatic soap opera guff, since the two protagonists are a married couple in the process of separating. Mentally tormented Alex and Meg head out to the British countryside in a final attempt to resolve their marital issues and get reconnected. Things aren't looking too positive, especially for the husband Alex, but then Meg gets attacked and bitten by a zombie when she goes out running. As she's slowly but surely turning into a zombie, Alex still attempts to save his marriage and even find a remedy for his undying wife… There's no real audience for a movie like "Before Dawn". Fans of bloodthirsty horror films are likely to find it tedious and overly dramatic (and rightly so), whereas admirers of more sophisticated cinema will stumble over the many plot holes and loose ends in the story. Where exactly do Alex and Meg's marriage issues originate from? Are they just bored with each other or was there some adultery/betrayal? Besides, at several occasions before the zombie attack, it's clear to see that their marriage is beyond saving. The zombie invasion part of the plot remains vague and unelaborated throughout the entire movie. We never properly find out what caused the dead to rise again and the menace of a narrowing apocalypse is never really sensible. I realize that the events supposedly take place in a remote and isolated area, but three zombies throughout the entire film is hardly worth referring to as an invasion or even an epidemic. The story remains focused on our married couple, even though their story becomes (even) less interesting when she slowly starts decomposing. "Before Dawn" benefices mostly from the idyllic and peaceful Yorkshire filming locations, so it would have been very cool to see these being overrun with rotting corpses, kind of like certain memorable sequences in "28 Weeks Later". Speaking of corpses, the make-up effects are barely mediocre and director Brunt makes the same dreadful mistake of making them fast and furious. The two lead actors, Dominic Brunt and Joanne Mitchell, who also wrote and directed "Before Dawn" together, are married in real life as well, so I certainly hope for them the movie wasn't autobiographic.

davidfergusonuk I had the good fortune to see this picture at Frightfest 13. The film opens with beautiful shots of the British countryside, immediately making you think "how can anything bad happen here".But being a movie with the living dead you already know the answer.This is an intimate film as you follow this couple on there last ditch attempt to save their marriage. Indeed the film could have played out as the final death throes of a relationship without the invasion of zombies and indeed Dominic Brunt's desperation to resuscitate what has died is palpable.Joanne Mitchell as Meg is superb and makes a potentially unsympathetic character someone you care about.The acting is measured non-histrionic and understated.Everything is very real.The message of the film could very much be "there are greater horrors in life than zombies".Although they are flesh eating zombies in the film this could easily be enjoyed as a companion piece to "28 Days Later". The waves of horror that wash over you and the emotional ride Dominic Brunt goes through are brilliant.A cracking script, a strong cast,, and excellent camera work allow you to over look the perhaps not perfect make-up or the overdubbing, but this is to be too critical of a film that succeeds to strike a different note in the genre and bring a solid sense of reality and horror to what is happening whether it's the zombies or the death of a marriage.Recommended.