‘Until Dawn’ Review : Pop Culture Leftovers

‘Until Dawn’ Review

April 26, 2025 5:29 pm |

Until Dawn may be tied to the videogame by primarily name recognition, but maybe sometimes a drastic shift from the source material is for the best. David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) delivers a haunted house narrative filled with clever integration of classic horror tropes. It may not be the game, but maybe it’s something potentially better for new fans.

The film follows a group of friends that travel to the last known location of Melanie, sister of Clover – who left shortly after their mother’s death to head to NYC. Somehow, Melanie wound up in Glore Valley. After a semi-sincere interaction with a convenience clerk that last saw her sister, Clover and the others head toward the mystery spot – unknowing their fate that lies ahead.

Once signing in to a mysterious welcome center in the middle of nowhere, the clock starts clicking and a horror glass revolves to begin the countdown to dawn. The group’s car is suddenly missing, darkness illuminates the center that certainly less than welcoming to newcomers as death looms around every corner.

The film is a surrealistic mixture of slasher, supernatural and mystery elements – crafting a goretastic explosion of themes and carnage throughout its 103 minute run. The creature design is undeniably creepy and instantly gets you on edge – aware of the unlikelihood of them getting out alive, but unsure what will haunt them this very night. The production design for a 15 million dollar budget is remarkable for a studio picture – it perfectly curates not only a haunted house, but a deadly forest and a cave system that no one in their right mind would enter.

While some may complain about the combination of these creatures and horror themes like throwing everything into the kitchen sink – personally it garners the expectation of surprise and tension as you truly are unsure who may show up as a returning guest or a stranger to the house of horrors. The film has a cast of 5 friends and several hidden connections, such as the convenience clerk played by Until Dawn alum Peter Stormare. His participation is one of the many underlying hints and nods to the original IP to be on the lookout for during the film.

The acting as a whole is of mixed quality, a truly disappointing element of the film. Apart from Michael Cimino, who played the lead in the Hulu series Love, Victor – the remaining cast are practically unknown to me. The others having minor roles in such films as Anora (Ella Rubin), Freaky Tales (Ji-Young Yoo), Hellraiser (Odessa A’zion) and The Alto Knights (Belmont Carmeli). Cimino as Max, the ex-love interest to the emotionally damaged Clover (Rubin) offers the best performance in the feature – emotionally charged by the trials of the night ahead while genuinely fighting to hold Clover’s affection through it all. The others – Clover, Nina, Megan and Abe are given an unsatisfyingly minimalistic approach to their characterization, but the performances behind the characters are also far too stiff and generic to assist – in line with the typical low-budget horror.

Sandberg delivers the atmosphere to make every second a nightmare to sit through in the best possible way. Tensions rise easily and while Sandberg’s decision to utilize some of the best scares in a found footage formatting while also in a rapidly moving reel is a bit befuddling. 13 nights becomes more like 4 or 5 as we learn that more time has passed than us or the survivors are aware of – the repeated signature in the guest sign-in book are the only correct indication. Missed opportunity to preserve those high octane jumpscares into something more impactful.

Nonetheless, the scares are still effective and considering the game has nearly nothing to do with the scenario on screen – Sandberg has created a welcome new kind of horror movie that truly didn’t need the name recognition. Happy Death Day mixed with a classic slasher mixed with some of the best nightmares Supernatural could muster up in their 15 seasons on air – Until Dawn is an outrageously fun experience that no matter what is going to irk videogame purists.

Simultaneously Published on Cinefied.com