Dead Before Dawn (2012)

After accidentally unleashing a strange curse, a group of friends find their small college town overrun by vicious demon-possessed zombies and must try to fend off the creatures before the true nature of the curse reveals itself.This was a surprising amount of fun and really had a lot of great points about it. One of the best points to this one is that this manages to introduce a rather novel concept here for unleashing the curse in the form of the possession angle by featuring the curse causing everyone around them to commit suicide before becoming among the horde of ravenous undead. As well, it changes around several big cues in their behavior according to this new concept of fueling their ranks which makes for a pretty fun time throughout as this manages a few pretty original and rather inventive concepts. These not only give the film a rather nice amount of action throughout but also gives this some rather impressive comedic chops here that are wholly welcome in this so it's got a rather funny air about it at times. Even without the comedy, though, there's enough action here to be truly enjoyable and still maintains that kind of silly tone to where the jokes and physical humor can work with the more serious themes which is well handled with the ability to keep the creatures as threats throughout so they're still something to be feared instead of a joke that doesn't warrant the kind of extreme behavior they undergo in trying to keep themselves out of harm's way. For all the fun it has, there's still some problems in the fact that this features the utterly annoying trope of having the finale make everything completely useless and renders the film a complete wash. It had already done fine with the original ending presented here, yet the fact that it tacks on another makes for quite a frustrating ending since it comes off as a total cliché on its' own right. As well, some of the jokes and attempts at re-writing the zombie rule-book that it presents here do cause this to come off as a little amateurish when it really shouldn't be, not really offering enough to make the changes worthwhile and getting in select humor that might not appeal to all. These here aren't up to really knock off the positives so it makes for a rather fun time all-around.Rated R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

Zombie Type: "Zemons" (demon zombies); basically fast-walking (they don't really sprint) undead Outbreak/Apocalypse Phase: Initial outbreak (characters experience the outbreak as it happens) Sub-genre: Goofy Horror, Dark ComedyDead Before Dawn had an awesomely cheesy late 80's/early 90's vibe right from the start that carried the fun all the way to the very end. I'm a sucker for 80's cheese (hell yeah gimme some cheddar), so throw in some zombies and it's like crack for me. I had a good time watching this movie.The first 20 or so minutes were a bit slow, but it's all fun once the stuff hits the fan. The basic premise involves a group of college kids fighting off the zemon menace. Main character Casper Galloway (played by "Diary of a Wimpy Kid's" Devon Bostick) is the grandson of Horus Galloway (great Scott, he's played by Christopher Lloyd!), the owner of a store called "Occult Barn." When Casper agrees to watch the store while the elder Galloway steps out to grab something, his friends accidentally unleash a curse that turns its victims into "zemons" and spreads itself from person-to-person either via eye-contact with Casper and his friends after 10pm or hickeys from the already infected. But wait! The zemons can be turned into your personal slaves if you seduce them with a French kiss! Needless to say, this movie's charm comes from the fact that it doesn't take itself the least bit seriously.That's all you need to know. Dead Before Dawn is a bit over-the-top (not insanely crazy, more slapstick and funny than anything), surprisingly funny, cheesy, and fun to watch. I'm lucky to have found so many enjoyable zombie movies over the past month after years of sifting through random crap on Netflix.Final Verdict: Recommended. Goofy, cheesy, funny, great to watch with a group of friends. If what I just typed doesn't immediately turn you off, go watch Dead Before Dawn!

I love this movie. LOVE THIS MOVIE !!! Christopher Lloyd is so cool, and, just got way cooler for being in this funky film ! This movie is about Zemons; zombies + demons ! So they are smart zombies that have their old human characteristics. Lloyd is the obviously the best Zemon because he uses his own trophy to kill himself. OMG and I can't believe you can get a hickey from Zemons. I would pretty much give a hickey or get a hickey to and from everyone in this movie. There are a lot of sexy people in the film. The soundtrack is so cool too. All the Zemons and non- zemons seem to move with the music in the film, the music sounds made for the movie. I loved it all.  I hope they make a DBD #2:)

Found this film at the Stereo Media Film Festival in Liege, Belgium.  Everyone should have the opportunity to see this film in 3D.  I heard it was an independent production, but the 3D and the film really blew me away.  It's not a studio picture, but it has all the elements needed to make it truly entertaining.   It was fun, fast and new.  What they did with the 3D was impressive and really unique.  I've never seen a film like this before.  Of course, it being an indy film, there were less special effects and blood shots than I originally thought there would be, but when I realized the type of movie I was watching I just sat back and enjoyed the ride.  Well done.  Again, being a huge fan of 3D it was exciting to see 3D being made in the independent world.  Hopefully this is just the beginning of a new wave of independent 3D films to come.