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“I think I just vomited my soul…”
Judging from that description, you might get the impression that At Dawn They Sleep is a big-budget production – I mean, you’ve got vampires, demons, angels, shootouts, wall-to-wall gore, not to mention flying sequences, car crashes, Hong Kong-style fights on wires, an exploding power station, and the total destruction of a house -- but in fact, the movie was shot on hi-def video by a non-pro cast and crew in suburban New England (Seekonk and North Attleboro, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island, to be exact) for a cost hovering somewhere below your last paycheck. But adversity, it would appear, is not in the vocabulary of Paulin and George, who simply took deep breaths and set about to create their monster/action picture on the grandest scale they could afford. And you know, they pretty much pulled it off. Yeah, the flying sequences and wirework stuff aren’t exactly believable, but it doesn’t look ridiculous – it’s to Paulin’s credit that you get an impression of what he wants to do without seeing the shortcuts he had to take. And yes, the acting is just okay, and the whole angel/vampire thing is a bit muddled, but I was never bored by At Dawn They Sleep (which is more than I can say for a lot of horror movies with bigger bank accounts than this), and I was frequently impressed, especially by Paulin’s make-up effects, which encompass everything from torn-out throats to an infant corpse and a full body demon costume, complete with foot-long horns. George’s stunt work and coordination also deserve a round of applause – he pulls off a fistful of John Woo-style shootouts and car crashes (including one complete rollover, with him behind the wheel), sets himself on fire, and built part of a house in Paulin’s backyard to demolish with a runaway car. It might’ve been a lot easier for them to (as Paulin later states) to just make a slasher picture with teens running around in the woods, but clearly, they’re horror fans as well as filmmakers, and they want to win over an audience that knows all too well about getting burnt by unambitious low-budget genre films. I’m pleased to say that they succeeded at their task. Video Outlaw’s DVD includes friendly and self-deprecating commentary by Paulin and George, who discuss the slight differences between the DVD and VHS versions of the film (new sound effects and some tighter editing) and share plenty of anecdotes about the picture. There’s also a making-of featurette, which does a nice job of illustrating Paulin and George’s knack for working with a limited budget (Paulin fills his basement with leaves and greenery to shoot forest scenes during the dead of a Massachusetts winter), as well as the limited protection and set-up George had to create his stunt effects (for the car rollover, he has a plywood ramp and a motorcycle helmet to protect himself – yikes), though a subsequent clip reel, “Ouch! That Hurts!” shows that everyone took more than a few lumps during the course of the shoot. A passel of deleted scenes, galleries of production stills and the angels in various cheesecake poses, and a short film, Damnation, which incorporates Dawn’s head-scratching conclusion, round out the extras. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here by saying that if you’re thinking about making a low- or no-budget feature or short, you’d do well to check out At Dawn They Sleep, even if you don’t care for the gore or the subject matter. Paulin and George definitely prove that seemingly insurmountable things like money and time can be overcome with dedication, inspiration, and drive. Oh, and plywood doesn’t hurt either. *the soundtrack is credited to War, Arckanum, Dawn, and Usurper. Anything you wanna know about these bands, ask Sleaze.
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Bay State drug dealers
Stephen (writer/director/editor/co-producer/make-up effects creator
Paulin) and
Ian (co-producer/stunt coordinator George) take time from their regular
routine of executing unfaithful flunkies, going to black metal shows* and
shooting it out with rival gangs to screw a pair of Goth girls in their
suburban-grandma-style home. The next morning finds the pair sicker than
dogs, but this is no hangover: after puking their brains out, the two
suddenly cocoon themselves in sticky resin-like material, and then emerge
as full-blown vampires. The head Goth chick, Terri (Jen Glendye) returns
to explain this unforeseen switcheroo: the two ladies, it seems, are part
of a pack of bad girl angels (with wings and all) who carry a beef against
humanity, and plan to destroy it by turning horny guys like Stephen and
Ian into ravenous bloodsuckers. The boys give their fangs a test spin at a
local church, and find the spine-breaking, throat-tearing and flesh-eating
to their liking – in fact, this whole monster vibe turns out to also be
the perfect weapon against their competitors. But just as all seems
hunky-dory for our newly minted night children, a minion of Satan (with a
lot of Ls and Xs in his name) arrives to tempt Stephen with an enticing
offer: more power in exchange for one dead angel. Not a bad bargain,
thinks our boy, and off he goes in search of the Goth girls. However, Ian
harbors a bit of a crush for Terri, and finds himself facing off against
his former partner in a no-holds-barred vampire battle royale.