One of my all time favorites.

Fantastic!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Little, no-budget film that looks like it was filmed with a cam-corder and cost about $0.12. But, it has more going for it than most over-bloated Hollywood Asian remakes being churned out ad-nauseum.I think why I liked it was because the story really gripped me. I will say that the flick is made with non-actors in black&white photography. But, director Jay Reel(who portrays the psychic detective seeking the vampire)expertly edits the film to optimum effect despite having little money. This film is inspired and ambitious..a rare quality that I felt in every frame of the movie.The plot is simple enough, but works..Dawn is a 9 year old girl with an insatiable thirst for blood. Her mother was a "vampire"(more on why I have this in quotes in a second)and died giving birth to her. Dawn's father(Ray Boucher)and her are nomadic, journeying all over the midwest hardly ever staying anywhere too long because she feasts on the sick and elderly. Unlike many films which would try to make this some sort of sordid comedy, the film plays this straight. She's a girl who doesn't wish to crave human blood, longs for the company of children and school..she simply wishes to be normal. That is what drew me.Now, explaining just a small bit on the type of vamp Dawn is. She only craves blood, can not eat anything we eat(food is poisonous to them), and can sense suffering and pain which allows them to find those who are near dying(..or living their final stage of life on earth).But, their mistake will be Dawn wishing to see where her mother was buried..to visit a past town that will also have the psychic chasing them.

It's a wacky world. Writer/director Jay Reel pulled together all his resources and little money to make "Dawn," a twist on the twist of vampire movies. The concept is refreshing and original (I'm assuming you know the story by now) - this is the backbone to the movie that carries it to the very end. If corporate filmmakers made this movie, they'd no doubt receive critical praise and success. Who cares about them. Reel has made a movie that never gets made in the mainstream, much like other Texas filmmakers in the past: Eagle Pennell (Last Night at the Alamo) and Andy Anderson (Learning Curve). Very few micro-budgeted films ever have such originality and an introspective approach to the storytelling. Dawn stands out from other's in it's low-budget category in a major way. Reel should have no problem securing funds for another effort based on the success of this one. Hats off to you.

I watched the movie without even taking a pee break. The story line was very interesting. I enjoyed it very much. Great work Jay. Best of luck in your future movies. And when you are called to receive your first grammy, I will stand beside you. Thanks.

The first thing that struck me about DAWN was it's originality. Writer/Director Jay Reel crafted a smart tale about a father and daughter who, on the surface, seem normal, but are having to deal with a dark secret. It's a story of a man drifting throughout the land in search of food for his vampiric daughter, and of a young girl coming to grips with her ability and her curse.The movie does show it's small budget in the fact that some of the performances were stiff, and it was obvious that the most of the actors were friends and aquaintances of the filmmaker.But to me the story wins out over this. DAWN has a good story, and it's worth a look if you get a chance.Nick