Dead by Dawn (2025) by Dawid Torrone

Director: Dawid Torrone

Year: 2025

Country: Poland

Alternate Titles: Marwti Przed Switem

Genre: Slasher

Plot:

Arriving at a remote building, a theater troupe arrives at an abandoned theater to rehearse a strange play, learn they’re trapped inside with a deranged, masked killer targeting the group for preparations into a bizarre occult ritual, and must find the connection behind everything to get away.

Review:

For the most part, this was a blast and has a lot to like about it. Among the better aspects on display here is the solid and engaging setup that works incredibly well to appear as a rather ordinary genre vehicle before appearing as something else. The main setup of the group, appearing at the darkened, barely operational theater, begins rehearsing for their play while trying to make do with the staff, who are working to keep the building operational to their discomfort, as it impedes their plans for the performances, giving this a great starting point. The conflict between the two sides comes across even better with the atmosphere of the location, with the darkly lit building and raging thunderstorm keeping it ominous and mysterious on its own, even before the inclusion of the darkened ritualistic offerings comes into play. Even though the film hints at that early with the bizarre rehearsal performance that goes on, it doesn’t take until the halfway point that something that bizarre is occurring, which allows this to build up some great atmosphere involving what’s going on.

As well, there’s also quite a lot to like here with the strong slashing action. This one is far more brutal than expected, going for a series of vicious and somewhat shocking stalking scenes. The opening attack on the wheelchair-bound priest after speaking to a gathered crowd is a fantastic way to get things going, while the first attack at the theater, involving the killer striking one of the guards in their hut and stalking the dismembered-but-still-living victim through the hallways, is a strong way to get things going. The rest of the stalking scenes and encounters throughout here are quite a blast, with the ambush in the control room that the group is unaware of until it’s too late to save him or the later scenes in the theater hallways being chased are just as much fun, and with the whole experience wrapped up with graphic kills and a fantastically creepy mask for the killer, give this one a lot to like.

There are some minor issues here that hold it down. The main detriment found here is the bizarre presentation structure, putting everything into ordered chapters that serve no real purpose. The main setup as a whole works incredibly well with the egotistical and delusional actors running around the theater trying to rehearse this mysterious play while a masked killer knocks them off one by one, yet that whole thing is interrupted several times over to introduce strange title cards indicating specific points in the story. The episodic structure is unnecessary and irrelevant when it’s barely mentioned at all and is barely missed when the focus on some of the longer sections breaks during the main story that it could’ve used to build up the meaning for the whole ritual, since that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. It just seems to come together rather arbitrarily and doesn’t serve this with any kind of purpose, being the main issue here.

Overview ****/5

An immensely effective and likable slasher effort, this one comes together well enough and gives this a lot to like, even though it does come slightly undone by its flaws at the end. Those with an interest in the style or approach taken here or who don’t mind any of the issues here will have the most to like, while most others out there will have a lot to like.