Until Dawn: Déjà Boo
By Thom Ernst
Rating: B+
There exists a specific audience - of which I am a member - for films like Until Dawn. Assessing the merits of this genre can be challenging, as its appeal largely depends on a fixed format and the inclusion of multiple, preferably gruesome, deaths.
Directed by David F. Sandberg, the man behind Annabelle: Creation (the best entry in the Annabelle franchise), Until Dawn is not vying for a spot on the elevated horror list. That’s reserved for films like Hereditary, The Exorcist, and The Babadook. Until Dawn is happy dishing out cliches like party favours to revellers who appreciate their kills intense, and their jump scares well-staged.
Until Dawn is a gleeful reimaging of the classic slasher film, modifying the tropes enough to turn the familiar into something fresh. It’s a comedy, of sorts, self-aware to the point of being meta. And it delivers kills that are sometimes horrifying, sometimes shocking, sometimes brutal, and, in ways unexpected, sometimes hilarious.
Until Dawn offers a best-of-the-horror-genre hit list: Insanely attractive twentysomethings set up for the slaughter, eerie buildings, dark basements, creepy gas station attendants (Peter Stormare), cryptic warnings, stormy nights, no cell phone service, lots of jump scares and a stoic, unstoppable masked killer. The movie combines traditions, tropes, and horror film lore to deliver a savagely original slasher film. It becomes an understatement to say that not all is as it seems.
Until Dawn is coyly self-aware and playfully sly, without allowing satire to diminish the film’s intensity. In a particular meta moment, one character compares their situation to a popular horror film, to which another character scoffs, “There are a lot of movies like that!”
He’s correct. That exchange could be wedged into any moment in the film and be just as correct. However, for those receptive to the experience, the effect will be less cliché and more of a mystery.
A brief synopsis: In the rote scene that begins every horror film of this ilk, five twentysomethings—four close friends and one “newbie”—are driving through the backwoods, vaguely aware of where they’re heading and what they’re doing. They only know they’re there to support Clover (Ella Rubin), who believes her sister disappeared in a place called Glore Valley (A subtle hint of ‘gore’ concealed in the name).
The problem is, Glore Valley is not found on any map. And so, we are introduced to these primed-for-the-kill characters: Max (Michael Cimino), Clover’s lovelorn ex-boyfriend, pining to reignite the flame of their broken relationship. There is Megan (Ji-young Yoo) the spiritually motivated psychic, Nina (Odessa A'zion), the self-assured, free-spirit with a tendency to switch partners every six months.
And then there is Nina’s partner of the moment, Abe (Belmont Camilli). Abe is along for the ride. His unabashed sense of self-preservation is one of the most relatable characterizations of how most would react in a similar situation.
As a rule, these folks are throw-away characters who get whittled down to the final girl. But Until Dawn—and let’s credit the script writers here, Blair Butler and Gary Dauberman—treat the characters with the attention and respect often pushed aside for the glory of the kill. It’s a significant detail that marks the difference between being a run-of-the-mill slasher film and a slasher film with content. In other words, when bad things start happening to these folks, it matters.
Until Dawn is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre without the chainsaws (and not in Texas). It’s Friday the 13th rescheduled on a different date. It’s Nightmare on Elm Street while being wide awake. And it’s The Descent without spelunking. It’s all of those films, with extra influences of Night of the Living Dead and Cabin in the Woods.
I understand that the film is a video game. My experience with video games is limited to playing online Euchre and occasionally Minecraft when my daughter permits me to use her Nintendo Switch. Credit to Sandberg for sufficiently adapting the source material so that a lack of familiarity with the game does not significantly impact one's enjoyment of the film.
Until Dawn twists the genre in a way that those experienced with the video game will already be attuned to. Others will be thrown for a loop and will be all the better for it.
Until Dawn. Directed by David F. Sandberg. Starring Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Ji-young Yoo, O’dessa A’zion and Belmont Camili. In select theatres April 25.