Sunday's Screeners: Dawning

Most horror movies attempt to frighten its viewers by amping up the external scare factors. The cinematic landscape is littered with masked killers, man eating aliens from beyond and ghouls that have risen from their graves with sights set only on carnage and death.

However, it’s the films that internalize the horror that more often than not stick with us the longest. Movies that prey on its characters own internal fears, self doubt, and sometimes self loathing can scare us the most. No greater monster exists than the ones we create in our own heads. Dawning understands and exploits this idea. With his film Dawning writer/director Gregg Holtrewe created a minimal budget psychological horror masterpiece.

Chris and Aurora (Jonas Goslow & Najarra Townsend) set off to spend a weekend at the remote log cabin with their father Richard (David Coral) and step-mother Laura (Christine Kellogg-Darrin). From the outset, the visit is marred by the fractured relationships within the family. Chris clearly fails to live up to his father’s lofty expectations, and as Richard struggles with a hinted at alcohol problem, he finds himself in no position to see how his sometimes scathing comments wound his son. Meanwhile, the wounds from the divorce have not healed over and Laura can’t help but feel like an interloper amongst the family, in do doubt to the thinly veiled animosity Aurora projects at the new wife. The college aged aurora can’t help but feel her family is coming apart at the seams and she fights against her own issues of abandonment and loneliness.

An awkward family get together takes a turn for the terrifying when Aurora finds the family dog bloodied and on Death’s doorstep. As confusion sets in as to who or what could have done this to their beloved pet, the family is thrown for a further loop when a blood-caked and strung out stranger stumbles into their home, getting the drop on them and holding them hostage.

An awkward family get together takes a turn for the terrifying when Aurora finds the family dog bloodied and on Death’s doorstep. As confusion sets in as to who or what could have done this to their beloved pet, the family is thrown for a further loop when a blood-caked and strung out stranger stumbles into their home, getting the drop on them and holding them hostage. From this point on, near chaos ensues. While the stranger insists something is out there and it has killed his girlfriend, no one can come to any sort of agreement. Should they listen to the stranger, turn him in to the cops or kill him themselves? Fights break out, old wounds are ripped open and one by one each member of the family find themselves alone. The terrifying situation the family finds itself in amplifies any fracture that exists between them as well as any internal fears or doubts. Each person is done in by their in ability to get a handle on their worst internal fear.

Holtgrewe does well to confine the majority of the film within the restricted confines of the cabin home. The claustrophobic atmosphere seemingly presses in on its inhabitants, adding layers of stress as they continuously internalize their fears and self doubt. He also makes a wise move by never giving even a faint whiff of what might be out in the woods. The power of Dawning comes from the fear within each character. Though the film hints strongly at some sort of otherworldly presence, the events could almost as easily be chalked up to each characters own paranoia and self doubt. The audio in dawning is outstanding, especially the bits containing what I’ll refer to as “hidden” dialogue. At key moments in the film each person hears the absolute thing they least need to, a bit of conversation that will set them on edge with guard raised. Yet because the sound bites come from off screen, we’re never sure if they were actually spoken, if they exist inside the wounded party’s head or if an unseen evil is “mimicking” speech. What we do know is no one follows up on these barbs, as if the words being spoken out loud validated the self doubt that lived within. Fear of having those insecurities confirmed kept each characters mouth closed, and rather than pull together in a time of crisis, the family drifts apart, leading to their individual demise.

Currently Dawning is making its way through the festival circuit, where it has won Best Feature at the Rhode Island Horror Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Solstice Film Festival. We recently screened the film as part of our own movie night. Here’s hoping the buzz continues on this film and it finds its way to some sort of theatrical or DVD release.