 Movie: Dawning Year: 2009 Studio: Wholecrue Productions Director: Gregg Holtgrewe Stars: Najarra Townsend, Christine Kellogg-Darrin, Jonas Goslow Language: English Length: 82 Minutes Sub-Genre: Thriller, Supernatural |
Plot: Strange things start happening when a brother and sister show up to visit their father and step-mother in northern Minnesota, beginning with a mysterious attack on the family dog. But the plot thickens when a stranger appears, and his arrival upsets what at best was only a tentative balance and the pretense at civility begins to crumble. Soon, their lack of trust in each other exposes their weaknesses and what the stranger has started, whatever is waiting in the dark may finish.
Review: Let’s see where to start on this crud. We will begin with a few facts this time. Dawning was made for $115,000 which is quite substantial for an independent horror film. After you see the movie though, you will be in amazement at what in the world it was spent on. Another tidbit for Dawning is; while it is listed as a 2009 movie, which is when the movie wrapped filming, it actually didn’t get released until June 2011, probably due to editing, post-production and distribution.
Moving on to the story. You are dealing with 4 family members the whole movie. And what was such a turn-off is; as a viewer, you are witnessing a dysfunctional family which gets so tiresome and sickening. Sitting through almost 80 minutes of arguing and bantering with nothing happening. You do get a ever so small jolt with the fifth character in the film; a stranger shows up played by Daniel Jay Salmen, who is without a doubt the best actor in Dawning.
Eventually as time passes, grueling time might I add, you are led to believe that there is some unknown evil presence that is coercing and playing tricks on the mind, turning everyone against one another. That is, if you can even make it that far in the film and don’t shut it off. Nothing, and I mean nothing happens in this movie.
Let’s summarize Dawning; stupid story, poor acting, jerky camerawork, weak dialog, completely unbelievable scenarios, and I feel I must spell it out, B-O-R-I-N-G. I struggled to stay focused on this movie, and this is one that you will fall asleep on. Final words, way too many faults and please heed my warning; avoid like the plague.
 Reviewer: BillChete Date: 06/28/2012 Rating: 1/10 Recommendation: Avoid |
 Trailer: Watch DVD: Barnes & Noble BluRay: N/A Social Media: Twitter |