I’m sure you read that headline and came here to bust into my comments and tell me that Until Dawn was released in 2025. Joke’s on you! I know that. That said, in my opinion, Until Dawn feels like it belongs in the early 2000s before the post-9/11 horror boom, where things became more nihilistic and mean-spirited. Hopefully, by the end of this review, you’ll agree with me and either give it another chance or go watch it because I’ve convinced you that it’s not as bad as you’ve read online. Disclaimer: I have not played the video game, so this is not a comparison to it, but rather my thoughts based on the film after watching it completely blind.
In Until Dawn, “one year after her sister Melanie mysteriously disappeared, Clover and her friends head into the remote valley where she vanished in search of answers. Exploring an abandoned visitor center, they find themselves stalked by a masked killer and horrifically murdered one by one…only to wake up and find themselves back at the beginning of the same evening.”
I admit, I have a soft spot for any horror film that reminds me of early aught horror. Very early into my viewing, I commented to my husband that this would pair well with Darkness Falls or Stay Alive. I mean, it had some of that blue and yellow color grading used religiously during that time period that I’ve become so fond of. There is even a Wonderwall joke, and while the song was released and very successful in the mid-’90s, it found a resurgence of popularity in the early aughts when Ryan Adams’ cover of the song was featured on episodes of The OC and Smallville. If I’m honest, Smallville was where I first heard it. It felt like the horror that was written pre-9/11, before the millennial nasty or “torture porn” period horror experienced during that decade. These factors set me up to like this movie before it even really kicked off.
Until Dawn‘s use of different horror sub-genres makes the film more enjoyable for a wider range of fans. Among these, we see slasher, possession, body horror, hagsploitation, and even a tiny bit of gastro horror! When discussing the use of different tropes and sub-genres of horror used in the film in the production notes, the film’s co-writer and producer, Gary Dauberman, said, “[it] allows us to have the fun of killing off our characters. It was both a challenge and tremendous fun because we had the freedom to say, ‘Yeah, f*** it, let’s just kill him.’”
Normally, time-travel/loop films aren’t my thing, but I appreciated how this played out. Instead of just one big exposition dump somewhere during the runtime, the audience learns the rules as the characters do. Director Andy F. Samberg elaborates on this in the production notes by saying, “the consequences multiply, and they have only a limited time to extricate themselves by finding a way to work together, before they die for real.” [Gary] Dauberman adds, “to that end, each time a character comes back to life, something new is trying to kill them. They have no idea what horror is waiting for them next; it’s never, ‘Oh, if we just do the same thing we did last night, we’ll get out of this situation.’ It doesn’t work like that.”
Speaking of the characters, I thought the ensemble cast had good chemistry. However, there were some standouts. Ji-young Yoo (Megan) did a fantastic job as the character. Her deterioration throughout the film never feels overacted, despite how over the top the things happening to her were. Peter Stomare’s Dr. Alan Hill is what you would want from a “mad doctor” type character, and he portrays the role without holding back, adding to the fun of the film.
I hope more folks give Until Dawn a shot or consider a rewatch because it really is a good time. It’s not going to win any awards, but in terms of video game films, it’s not the worst by far. Speaking of, if you want a fun double feature (which I touched on above), watch it with 2006’s Stay Alive. I think it would make for a good time. Did you see Until Dawn? What did you think? What are some of your early aughts horror favorites? Let me know in the comments below!
My Rating: 3.5/5