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HELLO AND WELCOME TO VHS WASTELAND, YOUR HOME FOR HIGH RESOLUTION SCANS OF RARE, STRANGE, AND FORGOTTEN VHS COVERS. EACH OF THESE BIZARRE GEMS IS SCANNED AT 200 DPI. SIMPLY CLICK ON THE THUMBNAIL OF ANY VHS COVER TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL HIGH RES FORMAT. WE WILL BE ADDING A NEW COVER DAILY, SO BOOKMARK THIS SITE AND CHECK BACK OFTEN. WE'D ALSO LOVE SUBMISSIONS FROM YOU. IF YOU HAVE A VHS THAT IS WEIRD OR RARE, JUST EMAIL US AT MADHATTERDESIGN@GMAIL.COM. REMEMBER TO SCAN THE FRONT, BACK AND SIDES OF THE VHS AT 300 DPI. WE WON'T ACCEPT LOW RESOLUTION FILES. WHILE YOU'RE HERE, GRABBING OUR AWESOME FREE VHS COVERS, FEEL FREE TO CLICK THE "DONATE" BUTTON ON THE LEFT. IF ENOUGH PEOPLE SEND US SOME CASH, WE MIGHT BE TEMPTED TO KEEP BRINGING YOU THE COOLEST, HIGH RES VHS COVERS ON THE NET. BUT IF YOU GREEDY, COVER GRABBING... I MEAN... YOU WONDERFUL VISITORS TO OUR SITE, DON'T COUGH UP A DONATION, MAYBE WE'LL JUST FIND SOMETHING BETTER TO DO WITH OUR TIME. LIKE GO MAKE NACHOS. MMMMM... NACHOS. SO HELP A BROTHA OUT AND DONATE A LITTLE DOUGH TO THE CAUSE.
LASTLY, WHY NOT VISIT OUR PARENT SITE (SERIALKILLERCALENDAR.COM). IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH VHS COVERS BUT I THINK YOU MIGHT BE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED BY WHAT YOU FIND. OR NOT. I DON'T KNOW YOU. MAYBE YOUR NOT SURPRISED BY ANYTHING. MAYBE YOUR THE KIND OF GUY THAT SEES A COW FALL OUT OF THE SKY AND EXPLODE LIKE A PIÑATA AND YOUR ALL LIKE "HUH, THAT WAS WEIRD." MAN. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU ANYWAY? JEEZ. SOME PEOPLE.
BUT NO. SERIOUSLY. GO BUY SOME CRAZY AWESOME TRUE CRIME MERCHANDISE AT SERIALKILLERCALENDAR.COM. INCLUDING THE SERIAL KILLER MAGAZINE, THE SERIAL KILLER TRADING CARDS AND MUCH MUCH MORE! DO IT. DO IT NOW. CLICK THE LINK. |
THANK YOU TO WILDEYERELEASING.COM FOR SENDING US A BIG BOX OF VHS TAPES! AS AN EXTRA THANK YOU TO THEM, WE WILL BE PUTTING THEIR BANNER AT THE TOP OF THE SITE FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK. IF YOU WANT TO BE OUR BEST FRIEND AND GET SOME FREE PROMOTION, CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE.
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
THE ALIENS ARE COMING - SUBMITTED BY RYAN GELATIN
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT HIS AMAZING EBAY STORE OF STRANGE AND WONDERFUL THINGS!
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
WOMENS PRISON MASSACRE - SUBMITTED BY PAUL TOMLINSON
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
BLEEDERS (WITH BLOOD BAG FRONT) - SUBMITTED BY CJ PATTERSON
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
BODY FEVER
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
JUST BEFORE DAWN
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
CENERENTOLA
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
GEORGE LYNCH : REH VIDEO
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2 : FREDDY'S REVENGE
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
STAR LEGEND PART 1
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
PAUL GILBERT : INTENSE ROCK 2
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
MAD FOXES
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
JAWS
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
KARATE CHAMP 2
MAY 17 2011 VHS COVER SCAN - CLICK FOR HIGH RES VERSION
EL REGRESO DEL NINJA
OUR NEW WISH LIST OF MOST WANTED VHS COVERS/VHS TAPES
1. Anything From Something Weird Video: Campy Classroom Scare Films, weird old exploitation, anything at all. We love the strange covers on the old Something Weird Video VHS tapes. The problem is, for such a famous company, their crazy covers are almost impossible to find on the internet. If anyone has some they want to scan and submit to the site, we would be very very happy to get them.
2. Crazy 80s PSAs: The 80s was notorious for pumping out one crazy public safety VHS after another. Anti-Drugs, Anti-sex, Anti-rock music. If kids wanted to do it, there was a weird PSA VHS telling them not to. We love these things and if you have any in your collection, we would love to get scans of them. As always, the stranger the better.
3. "Dancing Grannies" and Other Weird Exorcize VHS: This is exactly what it sounds like. A workout video where old women are breaking it down with their sweet dance moves. I have been trying to find this cover for a while. If you have this or any other crazy exorcize VHS, we would love to add it to the site.
4. Strange Cartoons: If you have any unusual cartoon VHS (the stranger the better) we would love to add it to the site.
5. "The Devil And Max Devlin" and Other Old Live Action Disney VHS: It's not that rare and its not that weird but I love this movie and I have always wanted to add the cover to my collection. This odd little Disney movie features Bill Crosby as the devil (or at least, a devil). We are also looking for covers to "Mr Boogedy" and any other rare, strange or old Disney VHS (the kind that Disney seems to pretend they never made).
6. "Back Side to The Future" and other Rare Porn Spoofs: I love the fact that these strange oddities of porn ever existed. Edward Penis Hands, Backside To The Future, The Beavis and Butthead Porno, Beetlejism, Super Hornio Brothers, Jurassic Pork, Flintbones, Alice In Wonderland : An X-Rated Musical Comedy, Aventures érotiques de Pinocchio, Justice League XXX, The Maddams Family, Nightmare on Dyke Street, Nightmare on Porn Street, Penetrator, The Poonies, The Sex Files : le Portrait de Crystal, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Souperman, Splatman, Super Sexgirl, The Texas Dildo Masquerade, The Adult Version of Jekyll and Hyde, the rare German ET The Porno or it's strange Brazilian cousin, Keep Up The Lust ET. These rare porn rip offs are entertaining just in the fact that they where ever made and we would love to get scans (or copies) of any of them.
7. "Deception of A Generation" and Other Weird Religious Stuff: I love these things. They are so strange that it boggles the mind just to think about them. Time traveling Jesus and bizarre muppets telling kids not to touch themselves. Crazy Mormon claymation and preachers ranting about how Scooby Doo is a tool of Satan. We are always looking for things like this and the stranger, the better. Just when I think I have seen it all, I find one of these and think "wow... that's insane." And before people start sending me nasty emails for bashing religion (which oddly almost never happens) let me confess that I myself am Christian (something that most of my customers would never expect and my friends and family often give me a hard time about). But even a good Christian has to be amused by the some of the off the wall, pure insanity that comes form a lot of these wonderfully odd VHS treasures.
8. "How To Score More Points on Nintendo Games" and Other Old Video Game VHS tapes: Back in the stone age of video games, companies created a ton of these how to style VHS tapes for various game systems. Some other titles we are looking for include: Anything from the "Game Player's GameTape for Nintendo" series and anythign video game related. The older and stranger, the better!
9. "Why Charlie Brown Why?" and Other Cartoons That Should Never Have Been Made: This is the very rare vhs where Charlie Browns friend gets cancer. The description on the case says "a classmate's serious illness becomes a lesson in life for the Peanuts kids". It is very very sad and the whole time you are watching it, all you can think is, why did they make this? If you haev this or any other cartoon/TV show that makes you say "what is wrong with these people?" we would love to add them to the site.
10. "Winnie The Pooh, To Smart For Strangers" and Other Examples of Kids Icons Talking About Inappropriate Things: This is crazy. It is a feature length film/tv show where the cast of Winnie the Pooh talk and sing about child molesters. Wikipedia says this is "a 1985 TV special (which was also released to home video), where Pooh and his friends explain to people about strangers and molestation and what to do." Again, why would they make this? It is just creepy. I would love to get a cover scan of this or, if someone wanted to really make my day and get promoted on the website for years to come, I would very much love to be sent a copy of the vhs itself to add to my collection. Other examples of this catagory include the rare Sonic The Hedgehog episode where he talks about child molesters or the Captain Planet Episode Where the team talks about Aids. I know these are important subjects to talk about with your kids but... seriously!? Who thought any of that was a good idea?
11. Any Old WWF VHS Covers: They're cheesy and fake and represent the lowest form of entertainment in sports, but I still love old 80s WWF. If you have any VHS covers for the old time Wrestlemania, Royal Rumble or other WWF videos, we would love to add them to the site.
Well, that's about it for now. We will be adding a ton more to this list as time goes on so check back often. Now... if anyone is interested in joining our team and contributing something from this list (or any rare or strange VHS cover to our site) read on for more details. Thanks for taking the time to read my mad rants and enjoy the site.
PS: Wouldn't you enjoy the site a lot more if you where part of it? Sure you would. Contact James at madhatterdesign@gmail.com to join our ever growing team!
PEOPLE WHO SENT US SCANS FROM OUR WISH LIST
JONATHAN PLOMBON: GAME PLAYERS GAMETAPE NUMBER 12
JONATHAN PLOMBON: SHATTER DEAD : SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO
RICHARD BRISTOW: BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA AND OTHER WEIRD CARTOONS
ABOUT OUR WISH LIST OF VHS COVERS
I have been collecting hard to find VHS tapes for most of my life. My collection has gotten... a little out of control. The misses says I am not permitted to bring home any more bags (or boxes) of VHS tapes so most of the time I sneak them in when shes not home. Crap, she might actually read this. "I mean I... um... found those five truck loads of tapes". Er... "I'm just holding them for a friend?" Yeah, lets go with that one. Thankfully here in Bangor, Maine (home of Stephen King, SerialKillerCalendar.com and not much else) we live in the land that time forgot. While DVDs are quickly going the way of the dodo, here in the backwoods of America, VHS tapes are still extremely easy to come by. We have several pawn shops, Salvation Armies, Goodwills and other various thrift stores which normally carry a nice selection of discarded VHS treasures. We are also lucky enough to have an Edge Video and a Bullmouse (local video stores that sell their random VHS tapes for as low as 30 cents each. 30 cents EACH! How can any sane minded collector pass up a deal like that? I mean, you could easily turn around and sell most of the tapes they practically give away on ebay for 10 to 20 times that low low price.
Still, despite the abundance of VHS gold in my home town, there are many unusual masterpieces of VHS lore that I have not been able to find here in the quaint, creepy, secluded town of Bangor. Below you will find an ever growing list of the VHS covers that I would most like to add to VHS WASTELAND. Many of these can be purchased on ebay, Amazon, ioffer or other online stores. If anyone out there wants to contribute one or more of these rare gems to us, we would give you full credit on the site (on our links page, our thank you page, our staff page, any page that displays the cover(s) you submit, on this page and on many other pages of this website). You can submit one of these treasures by scanning the cover and sending it to James at madhatterdesign@gmail.com (click here to find out how) or if you really want to be our very best friend and get promoted like crazy all over the site like frikin royalty, you can contact James and find out where to mail the actual VHS tape to add to our dangerously large collection. If it was not obvious, this is the option we are really hoping you will pick.
WHAT YOU GET IF YOU SUBMIT ONE OR MORE OF THESE COVERS
That was a lot of text above, wasn't it? I understand if you decided not to read all that. So, to recap the important bits... If you submit a scan of one of the VHS covers below we will give you full credit on the site (on our links page, our thank you page, our staff page, any page that displays the cover(s) you submit, on this page and on many other pages of this website). If you are the best person in the world and decide you want to mail the actual VHS tape to add to our crazy huge collection of strange and wonderful VHS tapes, you will be treated like a god on this site. We will find many ways to promote you (And any site of your choice) and build new pages just to sing your praise. We will also show you ways to download all our covers at once, give you access to future posts (sometimes months in advance) before anyone else can see them, show you how to get almost all the videos that go with the covers on our site (we have ways) and shower you with praise all over the internet. Obviously, this is the option we hope you go with. Wither way, we hope you will decide to be part of the team and we really hope you can track down some of the amazingly strange items on our "please-send-these-to-us-and-we-will-be-your-best-friend list." Happy hunting.
WHERE TO FIND THE ITEMS ON OUR WISH LIST
If you are lucky, you may already have some of these in your collection. It may have been an impulse by at your local video store that has been gathering dust in the back of your collection for years. In which case, why not send it to us? We will gladly dust it every day. If you don't see anything below that you own, many of these strange gems can be purchased on sites like ebay, Amazon, ioffer and other auction sites or online stores. If they are not, try a google search. You never know what you might find.
WHAT WE DO NOT WANT
As much as we would love to get have you send us these VHS tapes, we really do not want them if they are missing the covers. After all, that's what this site is all about. We would still really appreciate the gesture and we would love to get any VHS tape in the mail (not just the ones below) but please make sure that the tape comes with it's cover. It does not need to be in perfect shape. Even if a big part of it is torn, splurred (made up word to describe when your kids spill grape juice on a $75 big box copy of Zombithon) or partially missing, we would still love to get it. But please do not send VHS tapes with no cover at all. That just makes us sad.
HOW TO SUBMIT COVERS
If you are interested in sending us a scan of one something from our wish list (or any other rare or weird VHS tape in your collection), click HERE to download a Photoshop template that shows the exact size and dimensions that your submission should be. PLEASE do not cut or take apart the VHS cover to scan it. That is a horrible horrible crime against nature and we would never condone someone destroying a VHS cover simply for the sake of posting it on this site. Scan the front, back and side of the VHS separately and then use a program like Photoshop to combine the three scans in to one file. Again, you can find step by step instructions on how to do this and a PSD template (that includes guidelines to separate the front and back covers from the spine, by clicking HERE. After submitting one or more scans, we will add you to our staff section (and give you a nifty VHS cover icon) and add you to our links page (if you have a website you want to promote). You (and, if you like, your website, ebay store, facebook/myspace account or other online location) will be given full credit for you contribution anywhere you VHS cover appears on the site. Note to ebay store owners: this is a really great way to send lots of traffic to your store (especially if you sell anything VHS related) since our many MANY daily visitors are the target demographic that would be most interested in what you have for sale.
If you are interested in being one of our favorite people and want to be promoted all over this site (and treated like the King of all VHS land), you can mail us your VHS tapes to add to our collection.
Regardless of how you want to submit (cover scans or mailing us your tapes) you can contact our fearless leader, James at madhatterdesign@gmail.com for more information.
A SPECIAL NOTE TO EBAY STORE OWNERS (AND OTHER ONLINE STORES)
Do you own an ebay store or ioffer store that specializes in VHS tapes or VHS related items? Do you sell rare tapes, dvds, movie posters or other interesting goodies that our visitors would like? If so, a great way to drum of traffic to your ebay store is to send us VHS cover scans (either ones on this wish list or other rare/weird gems). You would give full credit for your contribution anywhere that your covers appear on the site. We would also include a link that says something like "CLICK HERE TO VISIT HIS EBAY STORE OF STRANGE AND WONDERFUL THINGS" anywhere your contributions appear on VHS WASTELAND. The more covers you submit, the more exposure your store gets. And, of course, if you sell anything VHS related on your store, this would drastically increase the price your auctions sell for since our many MANY daily visitors are the target demographic that would be most interested in what you have for sale. There is no limit to how many covers you can contribute and for every link we put up, traffic to your store will increase. Not to mention the fact that having a ton of links from our site will greatly increase your search engine ranking on search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. It's a win win for both of us!
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MAY 17 VHS MOVIE REVIEW : JUST BEFORE DAWN
WRITTEN BY DAN HUNTER AND JASON KNOWLES AT TERRORTRAP.COM
Probably the most beautifully shot and competently acted "killer in the woods " film from the early 1980s, Just Before Dawn is a must-see for slasher fans.
Directed by Jeff Lieberman, and featuring likeable performances by lead Deborah Benson and supporting co-star Chris Lemmon (Jack's son), Just Before Dawn was filmed on location at Silver Falls State Park in Oregon, making exceptional use of the impressive scenery.
Two men who have just been hunting are checking out an abandoned church. Ty (Mike Kellin) and his nephew Vechel (Charles Bartlett) are getting ready to head back to their families. Ty, who's been drinking heavily, catches a glimpse of someone staring at them through an opening on the roof.
He goes outside to see who it is and is momentarily distracted by their pickup truck which rolls downhill. It's too late to stop it and the vehicle crashes into a tree, going up in flames. Meanwhile, Vechel opens a door in the church and a grotesque figure (played by John Hunsaker) holds up a saw to his face. Then the stranger takes the weapon and jabs it through the young man's...shall we say...private area?
 In the distance, Ty can see the killer leaving the church wearing his nephew's hat and vest - and initially thinks it is Vechel. When he realizes the man is not who he thinks it is, he runs off into the forest.
A group of young men and women are traveling in a winnebago towards the mountains. Warren (Gregg Henry) and his girl Connie (Deborah Benson), Jonathan (Chris Lemmon) and his girlfriend Megan (Jamie Rose) and Jonathan's brother Daniel (Ralph Seymour), drive past some locals living in poverty.
"I wonder why there's so many twins around here?" Daniel asks. Warren responds with an irreverent comment about incest. Not having ever been this high up in altitude, the group is excited. "4,000 feet of granite, water and wood. Nowhere to climb and the idea is to become part of the mountain...to try and find its soul," Warren says.
Their fun is suddenly interrupted by a deer that crosses the vehicle's path. They hit the animal, but when Warren goes to check up on it, there's nothing there. He sees a shuffling in the bushes and assumes the deer is alright, which alleviates his girlfriend's panic. They continue on their way.
 Roy McLean (George Kennedy), a forest ranger, lives in the area and sees the them driving by his house. He comes out and demands to know where the group is going. He's told they're going up to Silver Lake to check out some land one of them has inherited. Roy gives them the old "you've been warned" speech.
They continue on but Daniel asks Warren to stop when he thinks he sees someone nearby. During a search, the group doesn't find anyone. As they head back towards the vehicle, Ty jumps out at them. Sounding nuttier than a fruitcake and drunk to boot, he tells them his nephew is still up in the mountain and that he couldn't save him. The old man insists on riding with the group, but they decide not to take him with them. Ty gets the last laugh however, when he sees his nephew's killer jump on top of the winnebego as it pulls away.
The friends reach their destination and get out to hike the rest of the way, unaware that a killer has hitched his way along with them. The area is breathtaking, with its lakes and scenery. After finding a spot to spend the night, Warren and Jonathan head back to the car to get the rest of their stuff. Connie gets a bad feeling and tells Warren that maybe they should let the forest ranger know where they are. He tells her not to worry about anything.
 Night falls and the two men haven't returned. Daniel, Constance and Megan are sitting around the fire and are frightened by some noises they hear in the bushes and trees surrounding them. Megan picks up a knife and demands that the person watching them show himself. Of course it's a prank and Warren and Jonathan jump out at them. Connie is not amused.
The next morning, Warren apologizes to his girlfriend who's upset that she was too scared to react the previous night. After all, what if there were really someone or something out there, she tells him.
During their hike, the group sees a girl singing by the lake. When they call out to her, she runs away. Connie thinks that perhaps Daniel's camera scared her off.
They continue on, following Warren's lead across a precarious rope bridge. After climbing down to the lake with its spectacular waterfall in the background, Megan and Jonathan go for a swim. They fool around, unaware that the killer is in the water with them.
At one point, Megan feels someone grabbing at her from underneath. She first thinks it's Jonathan but soon realizes that he is in the distance at the shore. Megan screams and runs into her boyfriend's arms.
 In the evening, Roy finds Ty outside of his house. Ty tells him that his nephew was murdered by a "demon" up in the mountain and that the kids he ran into will face the same fate.
They didn't listen to his warning he says. Although Ty didn't see the murder, he tells Roy he heard Vechel's screams and saw blood. He describes the killer as unusually big and "built like that mountain up there."
The "kids" are having a good time around the campfire, dancing to the music from a tape player they've brought along. Connie even lets her hair down and boogies. Suddenly their fun is interrupted when a gunshot destroys the player. Pa Logan (Hap Oslund), one of the locals, tells them to get off the land. He's accompanied by Ma Logan (Barbara Spencer) and their daughter "Merry Cat" (Katie Powell), the same girl the friends saw at the lake the day before. The old man tells them they'll "raise the devil."
Connie is unnerved and says they should leave. Roy has the same thought and heads up to the mountain to find them.
 Morning comes and Megan finds her make-up missing. Thinking that a raccoon was responsible, she sends Jonathan out to find it. What he finds instead is the young Logan girl, her face smeared with Megan's make-up.
She tells him she saw him swimming naked in the lake but didn't tell her Pa because "he wouldn't like it." Jonathan mistakenly asks if her sister would like it and the girl tells him the woman is actually her mother. (An honest mistake since the women seemed so close in age.)
Merry Cat can't resist the urge to kiss him and runs off. He follows her to the bridge but senses the girl is afraid to cross it. As he's showing her how to do it, the killer appears on the bridge with him and cuts his hand with a machete. He then cuts the ropes and Jonathan drops to the water below.
Jonathan frantically blows a whistle for help. Although Daniel, Megan and Connie hear it, they don't seem to take it seriously. Daniel goes off to take pictures and says if he runs into Jonathan, he'll send him back to the camp.
 Meanwhile, Jonathan tries to climb out of the lake. He makes it to the top of a huge rock - but the killer is already there and knocks him back down into the water.
While Warren and Connie are in the lake searching for fish, Jonathan's body appears. Warren tries in vein to resuscitate him but it's too late. Connie is sure he was murdered but Warren is in denial and thinks he might have just fallen off the bridge.
Daniel finds the abandoned church and enters it. He runs into Megan who's out looking for Jonathan. She decides to take a brake from her search and lets Daniel photograph her. When he realizes his glasses are missing, he and Megan believe that his brother is playing a trick on them. The two make out in the hope that Jonathan will show his face.
Unable to see clearly, Daniel thinks that the trick is working. He sees someone approach them from behind Megan. But that someone is the killer who promptly dispatches him with a huge knife.
 Megan runs into the church and shuts the door. Through a broken window she can see the killer just outside. What she doesn't see is someone in the church, right behind her. The "killer" is actually a set of twins! As Megan screams...one of the twins captures her death on film, using Daniel's camera.
Warren and Connie can't find their friends. They try to get help at the Logan house. Pa greets them with his shotgun and the couple demands to know what he meant by his comment about the devil being raised. They get no response.
Night falls and the two can only sit helplessly around a campfire. Warren tells Connie to stay put and wait for Daniel and Megan, while he gets the keys to the car from Jonathan's pocket. He's shocked when he finds his friend's corpse slumped up against a tree.
Roy stops by the Logan place and asks the family if they've seen a group of five young kids in the area. Pa says they haven't but Merry Cat contradicts him before being pulled back into the house by her mother. Despite the ranger's assertion that there may have been a murder in the area, the elder Logan doesn't provide any information.
 As Roy pulls away, we hear the Logan family arguing from inside the cabin. It's apparent that the killers are Pa and Ma Logan's sons. Merry Cat runs out and catches up to Roy. She tells him she can take him to where the group is camped out. They run into Warren, who tells them that someone moved Jonathan's body.
Connie hears the familiar sound of the whistle. When she looks up, she's horrified to see one of the Logan boys blowing it. She takes off...screaming for Warren...but he's nowhere to be found. With no place left to go, Connie climbs up a tree. The Logan brother is persistent and proceeds to chop at it. The tree falls and the grotesque twin comes after her with the machete. As he's about to strike her, Roy shoots the killer.
Warren tries to comfort his girlfriend as Roy implores them both to get off the mountain. The young man refuses to believe that Daniel and Megan are dead despite what Roy has told them.
 Later, while packing up their stuff to leave, Warren notices that Connie has made up her face. The two are suddenly aware they're not alone. Warren has had it and is terrified. Now it appears that Connie has found the inner strength to face danger. The surviving twin jumps out at them and slashes Warren in the stomach.
Connie pounces on him but the Logan boy gets the upper hand. He picks her up and tries to crush her. Finally, Connie musters up all the energy she can and...sticks her fist down the killer's throat!
Literally. The force of half her arm being inside of his mouth is enough to choke him to death. Warren, who is wounded and has just witnessed this scene, is shocked.
The sun has risen and the eerie silence is interrupted by Merry Cat, who sees her brother's body and then disappears again. Warren and Connie are left to pick up the pieces of their lives after this unspeakable experience.
Director Jeff Lieberman had scored with Squirm and Blue Sunshine. As with the former, Lieberman does a truly outstanding job depicting the raw backwoods country.
His direction, along with an interesting script by Mark Arywitz and Gregg Irving, helped make Just Before Dawn rise above the pack. It's a diamond in the rough and one of the most underrated horror flicks around...certainly from this period.
The cast is first-rate and freshfaced with Deborah Benson and Jamie Rose particularly impressive; the suspense at times is palpable. The inbred twins are frightening and the movie as a whole is a welcome twist on the Texas Chainsaw and Deliverance themes.
Most importantly, it is entirely believable from start to finish. Only a confident filmmaker can make us feel claustrophobic in the lush green expanse of woodsy Oregon. Ultimately, a scary and wonderful classic-to-be.
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