Deemed “Poland’s first Giallo film,” writer-director Dawid Torrone’s Dead By Dawn arrived on VOD last week (available via Apple TV, Fandango at Home, and Prime Video). The film eagerly checks the genre’s essential boxes: stylish visuals, gnarly practical effects, and the requisite black-gloved killer. While it doesn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel, it serves as a polished tribute that Giallo devotees will likely appreciate.
The plot follows a troupe of actors (Sylwia Boron, Adam Machalica, Lukasz Szczepanowski, and Paulina Zwierz) commissioned by the Heissenhoffs—an artistic dynasty rumored to have occult ties—to stage a play at the family’s namesake theater. As rehearsals begin, a masked slasher starts picking off the cast and crew one by one. As the nightmare intensifies, the performers realize the play and the mounting body count may be part of a sinister ritual intended to conclude before dawn.
One of the film’s more striking elements is the killer’s design: a figure draped in black with a gnarled head covered in eyes. It is a formidable look that would have provided a fantastic mid-film reveal had it not been used so prominently in the movie’s key art.
In true Giallo fashion, Torrone leans heavily into the buckets-of-blood aesthetic. The kills are often framed from the killer’s point of view and punctuated by excessive violence, such as an early hanging that the killer finishes with a cleaver to the face just for good measure.
Visually, the film is a neon-soaked affair. While some choices are inspired—like a room bathed in a red hue provided by a victim’s own arterial spray—other sequences feel colorfully lit for no reason other than to mimic the masters. This extends to a fragmented “analog” aesthetic; the film utilizes VHS-style chapter titles and flickering, experimental imagery that feels disconnected from the narrative until the final moments.
The tributes here are handled with genuine affection. Torrone nods to the greats without falling into pure parody: an eye-impaling sequence evokes Lucio Fulci’s “Zombi 2,” while the disturbing choreography mirrors Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 “Suspiria” remake. The most blatant—and effective—homage involves needles taped under a victim’s eyelids, a direct and harrowing callback to Dario Argento’s “Opera.”
While we never truly get to know the ensemble, the performances are serviceable enough to distinguish the victims. Paulina Zwierz is the clear standout, anchoring the film’s more chaotic segments with an intense physical performance involving psychic visions and seizures.
Ultimately, “Dead By Dawn” is a capable love letter to a bygone era of horror. It’s a bit messy and perhaps too reliant on its influences, but at a brisk 87 minutes, it offers enough gore and Easter eggs to satisfy fans looking for a quick genre fix.
