Rated: Not Rated, but It’s Got Gruesomeness!
Running Time: 76 Minutes
From: Dark Sky Films
Available on Digital Platforms: June 24, 2022
At first I was a little upset with myself. Why? How could I request a film to review where I would have to read during it? I mean, it turns out the movie is from Germany, and, well, they speak German in it, and the movie has English subtitles if you so desire. I guess I got sucked into the ton of accolades the press kit listed, and as the movie began, I was intrigued by the main characters of Margot and Dieter so reading it was!
The movie is Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes, and while you may have to read a lot during the movie, it is mostly worth it.
Let’s get to reviewin’!
As the movie opens, we learn that Margot (Luisa Taraz) has inherited a castle. Cool! She is also married to, for no better word, an asshole. Oh, boo-hoo, quit your complaining Dieter (Frederik von Lüttichau), you had to know it would be a long drive to a castle in the middle of nowhere?
They arrive at the castle and Dieter now exclaims, “Your family has all this money, and all we get is this dump?” Yea, this is Dieter.
Margot, on the other hand, sees potential in the dump and remembers the good-old days of the castle. She begins to envision scenes of seduction and mystery.
Meanwhile our “hero,” Dieter, is on the hunt in the basement for vintage wine, only to be freaked out and lose his car keys.
Not to get too much into the weeds about this movie, but there seems to be some insanity building once someone ends up this castle, kind of in the way, in The Shining, Jack went crazy once in the hotel.
Yup, Dieter is losing his mind, and rather than try to find the car keys in the basement and get the hell out of there, he decides they should just spend the night in the creepiness. Me, I just couldn’t help but wonder, “Aren’t these people getting hungry?”
And, oh yea, Margot has now arrived on her side of craziness, much to the, hmm, “detriment” I guess is a decent word, of Dieter.
And thus ends the first half of the film. I was sucked in.
Then came the second half.
As the second half began, I completely understood the insanity of the first half, and that was fine. The bummer part, though, for this review? I can’t mention the second half without ruining the first half.
So, what to say?
I suppose all I can mention is I thought the first half of Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes was a solid, weird, horror movie. The second half just kind of rolled into, “You might want to be careful with those drugs!”
Don’t get me wrong, as a whole I was entertained. For the second half, though, I almost wish the movie folks had just kept the “castle weirdness” out of it, rolled the story back to crazy people with a real-life revenge result, and then called it a day.
A solid 4 stars in the first half, I suppose 3 stars for what they were trying to accomplish in the second half, so let’s average things together and give Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes 3 ½ stars. Some fun horror stuff, even if you do have to “read” during the movie!
That’s it for this one! I’m Andy! L8R!!