Before Vachel’s uncle realizes who’s walking out of the church in Just Before Dawn (1981), the killer has already put on his nephew’s hat and jacket.
The opening follows Ty and his nephew Vachel, 2 drunken hunters exploring an abandoned church in the Oregon mountains. Ty plays preacher at the altar, then notices someone watching. Once outside, he sees their pickup roll into a tree and catch fire.
Vachel’s still inside when a large, laughing man shuts the door. The man taunts him with a serrated machete, then thrusts it into his groin. Ty can hear the attack from outside.
When the killer emerges wearing Vachel’s clothes, Ty briefly takes him for his nephew. Recognition sends him fleeing into the woods.
Directed and co-written by Jeff Lieberman, the film establishes that danger before its main group of 5 young adults arrives to explore inherited mountain property.
