DAWNING

Chris (Jonas Goslow) and sister Aurora (Najarra Townsend) travel through the Wisconsin woodlands late one evening, driving to a remote log cabin to spend the weekend with their father Richard (David Coral) and his new wife Laura (Christine Kellogg-Darrin).

While driving there, stoner Chris almost runs them off the road when swerving to avoid hitting something that jumps out in front of them. Now, if either had ever seen even one horror film from the 1980s, they’d have known to have turned round and gone home there and then ...

Instead, they make their way to the cabin and arrive in the dead of night. After settling in and making awkward small talk with their stepmother, they venture outside where the old folks are roasting marshmallows on an open fire. More painful small talk ensues: happy families, this is not.

And things are not about to get any happier.

A strained conversation between Richard and Chris is cut short when Laura announces nervously that family dog Brandy has gone missing. The four of them go in search of the mutt, and find her in the bushes ... bleeding heavily.

This causes increased tension in the cabin and the family retire to their individual rooms after much shouting.

A short while later, and the still of the night is unsettled by shouting once more when a bloodied stranger (Danny Salmen) enters the cabin. He overpowers Richard and seizes hold of his rifle, pointing it at the family and telling them "You can’t leave ... if you leave, you’ll die".

Thinking he’s about to kill them, the family soon realises he is fearful of something he believes is outdoors. Held at gunpoint as his captives, the family must set aside their differences and decide whether they are to trust the man or not, if they are to get through the night alive ...

DAWNING has a nicely creepy look and feel to it, benefiting from an obvious low budget and handheld camerawork. The setting is ambient; the cabin makes for a great, claustrophobic cage. Sound design is savvy too, lending many scenes an ominous tone.

While it’s true that the script, by Matthew Wilkins and director Gregg Holtgrewe, offers intrigue along with a couple of neat twists along the way, it’s also unfortunately never fully realised in terms of drama or tension. Those expecting a revelatory finale will be disappointed when, after a slow start that gives way to a slightly better pace in the mid-section, things peter out somewhat and Holtgrewe reneges on the initial promise of outright terror.

Part of the problem is that the script becomes preoccupied with familial strife. This could and should have been an interesting facet that ran alongside the central plot. But these characters are neither interesting nor likeable. Worst of all, the hackneyed dialogue means they’re not even credible. As such, what had the potential to be moments of subtle underlying drama amount to nothing much.

It’s a shame, as the home invasion/something-lurking-in-the-woods aspects of the film are too weak to hold it up against the numerous genre classics it echoes in these respects.

Still, Holtgrewe shows potential as a director of straight-faced genre fare, and I’d be keen to see what he’s capable of with a more focused screenplay.

Breaking Glass Pictures provided a very basic DVD-R for review purposes. Resultantly, it’s difficult to assess as to whether this will be indicative of the disc available in stores.

If it is, the 16x9 enhanced 1.85:1 picture isn’t the best. It’s very dark and grainy, with occasional judder during early scenes. Still, blacks are deep and colours are bold throughout. It looks akin to low budget 80s fare such as THE EVIL DEAD, which of course is no bad thing ... even if your film is a 2009 production.

English 2.0 audio is adequate throughout.

There were no extras or menus on this screener disc. Per the press release, extras on the actual retail DVD are set to include two audio commentary tracks, an hour-long behind-the-scenes featurette, deleted scenes and more. It sounds like a good set is being provided.

DAWNING has its flaws, but isn’t a bad film. It has atmosphere and it’s nice to see a film that concentrates more on psychological horror than gore these days. But the plot is weak and the comments on familial demons don’t work as well as they could’ve done.

Still, those looking for something a little different may enjoy its creepy feel and unpredictable (if thinly stretched) script.

Review by Stuart Willis