Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes (2021)

"Dreamy EuroGothic"

One of my favourite films from Frightfest 2021, Kevin Kopacka's trippy hymn to 1970s EuroHorror is getting a cinema release (now) and a digital release (next February) from Fractured Visions.

We open with a smartly dressed, couple exploring the rotting country house they have inherited. There's the suggestion of a Sadean relationship between the two, both in dialogue and in the use of a whip (shades of Franco?) while every now and then we are shown some seemingly unrelated and far more lyrical imagery à la Jean Rollin. 

Half an hour in and there's what I can only describe as 'an Umberto Lenzi moment' (you'll know what it is) and then we learn that we have been watching the making of a movie. The film crew exhibit a distinctive 1970s vibe as they descend into an orgiastic, drug-fuelled party (shades of Martino's ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK but also Franco's SUCCUBUS). As the evening progresses it turns out that the lead players in this particular tragedy may well be the director and his screenwriter girlfriend, doomed to wander the gloomy mansion forever - or are they?

A number of films in recent years have claimed 1970s EuroHorrors for their inspiration but few, if any, have managed to nail the style and substance and overall feel as well as DAWN BREAKS BEHIND THE EYES. As well as the directors already mentioned, it's a film that's reminiscent of the work of Renato Polselli and Luigi Batzella although I can fully understand why their names aren't being used in the publicity. 

Suffice to say, if you love early 1970s EuroGothic as much as I do you'll definitely want to catch this one, possibly a couple of times to appreciate the clues in the plotting. Here's the trailer:

Kevin Kopaka's DAWN BREAKS BEHIND THE EYES is on general release at selected cinemas from Friday 3rd December 2022 and will be on digital in February 2023