MovieChat Forums > Just Before Dawn (1981) Discussion > The only thing that annoyed me was...

The only thing that annoyed me was...

posted 13 years ago by BobbyBenny
19 replies | jump to latest

I enjoyed the film and thought it was very well made. But the one scene that annoys me is the scene where Megan does not realize that Jonathon has gotten out of the water, and one of the twins, grabs, feels and touches her with his hands, she at first assumes it's Jonathon, until she see's him on the shore, at this point she begins to panic and then swims to safety, seeming terrified.

But the fact that she or none of the others seem to believe this is a big deal makes no sense to me. The next scene we see her in, it is night and she is dancing around the camp fire listening to music. She seems in no way worried or traumatized by this incident.

If this had happened to anyone else in the world they would have made a big deal out of it and would have encouraged the others to leave the area. But she doesn't really seem that bothered by it. As soon as the event is over, it no longer worries her. If they had her at least trying to convince the others that this had happened and that they should leave the area, I would have been be ok with it, but the fact that she does nothing after the initial moment of fear and shock caused by the incident seems really silly to me. Also when Jonathan went missing you think she may have thought there may be some connection between the two events (to be fair they didn't really know he was missing at first, but if she knew there may be someone strange out there she wouldn't have encouraged him to go out in the woods alone to find her make-up, even if she was somewhat of a narcissist).

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] BobbyBenny 13 years ago

Yeah I believe they did think it was just her imagination, which doesn't bother me that much (if someone told you a hand had grabbed them from under the water in the middle of a lake, you probably wouldn't believe them, though it would put your guard up), its the fact that after the initial shock she herself did not seem bothered by it. If she had told them what happened and then asked to leave the area and refused to camp there, but the others said to her that they were not willin to drive her back down, so she would just have to stay. I would have been ok with it. But the way it is actually done within the film, by the next scene she seems to have already forgotten about it, which seems unrealistic.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] lorddeano 13 years ago

Well, if they had all panicked, ran, got in the van and drove off to the nearest police station it wouldnt have been much of a movie would it.

"What your mother and I must know, is.."

[–] red_skin123 12 years ago

Try reading the thread, that's not what OP was saying, he was saying that at that scene it should have escalated from that point instead of going into more atmospheric "storytelling" or put the baby to bed.

They could have put the baby to bed by having her complain or act clearly disturbed by the incident and want out of the trip and have them calm her down but nope, they just have her character go on from there in party mode because it's convenient.

[–] tenfour 12 years ago

Hey guys, I visit these threads on my films occasionally and this one caught my eye because... you're right! And I remember thinking the same thing back when i was making the movie, Megan can't just dismiss something like that and move on to partying. Her reaction to it at first is genuine and real, but 'Jonathan's' soothing wouldn't do the trick in real life and it SHOULD have carried over. There's tons of stuff to think about on a movie and a lot of what i did wound up working... or you wouldn't be talking about it 30 years later... but it was a legit F-up that for whatever reason which i can't recall now, I didn't make the adjustment at the time and I salute you for pointing it out and also to others for having intelligent things to say about it!
Thanks, Jeff Lieberman

[–] red_skin123 12 years ago

Yeah it's a fairly noticeable plothole but it doesn't piss on the parade for me, it's just a gaping hole but oh well you can't tie off everything.

I fairly enjoyed your film, the creepy atmosphere with the lucid imagery that compliments the backwoods very beautifully and grimly. But I felt like I was missing something, like a chunk of the feed was missing and it took some strength out of the blow it was to deliver to me.

I'm gonna check out your other work because I enjoyed Just Before Dawn, also how do you feel about your film being trimmed down by producers or studio or whoever the powers to be, I mean do you prefer to released cuts or your director's cut?

Really dug the scene where he looks up into the hole and see's that dude just peering in, eerie as creepy as eerie as creepy lol

[–] Lucabrasisleeps 12 years ago

Just want to say you are a very underrated director. Blue sunshine is one of my most favourite films ever. I just love the understated creepiness. The characters were very real and their acting seemed very natural. Zalman king surprisingly was good(hey I have only heard of this guy as a director of softcore films). Wierd I get the opportunity to talk to a real director who has made some great films.

We oil the jaws of the war machines and feed them with our babies

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] BobbyBenny 11 years ago

I never said it was a plot hole. I just said the aftermath of the event wasn't handled well.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] hexedd 11 years ago

My advice is just don't bother trying to make sense of what is essentially a low budget ridiculous slasher film. This is a movie that as a fan of the genre I say is "so bad it's good." The plot doesn't make sense in most parts. Most people in real life would have just listened to the park ranger and turned back or at least brought something to protect themselves. There are at least ten parts in which even the dumbest people in real life would have figured out to do something different. This is just campy ridiculous nonsense at its best.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Doom 11 years ago

I'm with you on not having a problem with the scene in the lake.

In fact, it might be BECAUSE I felt the scene was so creepy that I didn't give it another thought, other than the uneasiness you just mentioned.

I didn't consider it that big of a deal that her friends convinced her she was just mistaken?, imagining things?, etc... and hey, let's get to partying.

Then again, it was 1981... looooong time ago.

------

Wait a minute... who am I here?

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] GeneticSugarKane 11 years ago

I just watched the Extended International Cut of this film the other night and in the campfire scene following the lake incident, Megan IS still disturbed about what happened and trying to convince her boyfriend, Johnathan, to take her seriously. The fact that he's basically brushing her off and laughing at her is why she starts dancing and flirting with Warren and Daniel. She starts out trying to piss her boyfriend off but when Connie jumps in they all end up having a good time and getting drunk instead.

My IMDb lists: www.imdb.com/user/ur5570856/lists

[–] PopperTheKungFu-Dragon 9 years ago

They probably convinced her she was mistaken and she may have eventually believed it herself too. I didn't really think it was that big of a deal though the jump from that to the next scene was rather sudden.

Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Cried

[–] alucardvenom 8 years ago

I enjoyed the film and thought it was very well made. But the one scene that annoys me is the scene where Megan does not realize that Jonathon has gotten out of the water, and one of the twins, grabs, feels and touches her with his hands, she at first assumes it's Jonathon, until she see's him on the shore, at this point she begins to panic and then swims to safety, seeming terrified.

But the fact that she or none of the others seem to believe this is a big deal makes no sense to me. The next scene we see her in, it is night and she is dancing around the camp fire listening to music. She seems in no way worried or traumatized by this incident.

Yeah, that scene also bugged me. Weirdest thing is, it's quite effective scene, because we as audiences realize that killer is behind them who goes underwater, but they are unaware of it. So it's kinda well made scene, but the very next scene, redhead girl is dancing like crazy. She doesn't seem to be affected by the events at all. In fact, none of the characters ever mentions that again.

[–] Serenity3000 8 years ago

Watched this movie recently and that scene annoyed me also. Megan was the true definition of dumb chick for sure. Her laughing was annoying also.

Overall pretty good low budget horror movie. Scary and creepy film in other words, cheap entertainment.