Review: After the Dawn (2012

A survivor of warfare born chemical attack, Cassie Becker (Nicole Kruex) faces a new world of terrible realization. The Human race has suffered terrible recourse in the wake of an attack that never should have been leaving the remaining inhabitants in a state far less then human. It has been six months since to the day in this new world of indescribable destruction and isolated fear. In search of the only person she holds dear Cassie must fight the onslaught of creatures once precious to her in an unstoppable journey to reunite. After the Dawn is written by Nicole Kruex and Mitchel A. Jones who also is the director. It´s hard not to notice the obvious influences from both The Road and 28 Days Later but this is more drama than horror. The acting is pretty good and Nicole Kruex does do a good job. The production values are pretty good, it´s nicely shot and edited but it´s too clean, it´s after the end of the world but the streets are too clean, no debris and so on, the characters clothes are clean they only have some smudge on their faces. The soundtrack is excellent! The pacing is very slow, which isn´t necessarily a bad thing but After the Dawn is very talky. There are some good moments and there are some tense scenes but they are way too few. There is also a ton of flashbacks in the movie, used to explain Cassie Beckers background and motivation, but I find them a bit distracting as they are too many flashbacks and they are also overlong. There is no gore (well there is some blood splattering but that´s it) which is a mistake, and trust me if someone blows his head of with a shotgun it would be MUCH messier than it is in this film. There is no T & A in this..
After the Dawn will be released by Midnight releasing on 9/25.
This review is based upon a passwordprotected online screener supplied by Midnight releasing.
Rating: 2 out of 7. After the Dawn is a bleak post-apocalypse drama with a few sprinkles of horror in it, the production values and acting are good but it´s has a very slow pace and it´s very talky. If there hade been more horror, some gore and perhaps some nudity it would have been better.

/JL