Dead by Dawn is a stylish, but muddled Polish slasher

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Writer/director Dawid Torrone's feature debut, Dead by Dawn, is an incredibly stylish and gory, if not muddled, Polish slasher movie with dashes of giallo influences, too. Some of the kills pay tribute to Torrone's horror influences, which is certainly fun to see. While the film has its flaws, it certainly shows that Torrone has a lot of talent that warrants paying attention to whatever he does next.

The movie centers around a group of committed actors (Sylwia Boron, Monika Frajczyk, Adam Machalica, Lukasz Szczepanowski, and Paulina Zwierz).  They plan to put on a final play by an esteemed Polish playwright. The only problem is that they're stalked by a masked killer (Bartlomiej Topa), which certainly makes rehearsal rather difficult and bloody. Unlike a giallo movie, which primarily just shows the killer's hands, often veiled by black gloves, this movie is more akin to a slasher in the sense that you see the killer in full, though he wears a memorable eyeball mask, which is fitting considering this movie primarily takes place in a theater. It's one of the movie's most striking visuals and a clever costume choice.

The film's other strength is its style and visual flair. Like giallo films of the late 1960s-1980s, this film has a heck of a lot of color and gruesome deaths. Minutes into the runtime, the killer takes a meat clever to a character's face. That's just the start. Nearly every death in here is memorable, and some of them pay tribute to Evil Dead, Susperia, and Opera. There are probably more nods to classic horror movies that I may have missed. That said, as Torrone comes into his own as a filmmaker, I would like to see him rely less on familiar sequences from other horror movies and invent his own. It's great that he pays tribute to what inspired him, but some of the sequences, especially a few of the murders, show that he has the talent to invent his own creative kills.

The feature's main flaw is that it's muddled. There's a lot crammed into the lean runtime. In fact, too many sequences focus on characters opining about everything from the state of cinema to the purpose of humanity. These diatribes detract from the murder and mayhem and feel incredibly out of place. Additionally, none of the characters are all that memorable and feel like mere slasher fodder. They're never allowed to come into their own, and too many of them serve as mouthpieces for the director's own views. Additionally, some of the score and music simply seems off. For instance, there's a few scenes where a pop song plays. It just feels incredibly out of place in the context of the movie. It's again another symptom of the movie's unevenness and confusing tone.

Overall, Dead by Dawn is certainly worth a stream. It's being dubbed as Poland's first giallo movie, so it deserves a watch just for that. There's also plenty of gruesome and notable kills. I look forward to watching Torrone develop more as a filmmaker. His debut certainly has some glaring faults, but it also shows a lot of promise.

The movie is now available on VOD.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIewYSWO4lU