• Straight to Video
• Director: Brian Katkin
• Written by: Brian Katkin, P.J. Pettiette
• Running Time: 87 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: R - Restricted
• Cast: Stephanie Jones, Muse Watson, Michael McCleery, Anthony Nicosia, Mary Kathleen Gordon, John Gavagin, Kristian Hans Horn, Coryanne Sennett, Danny Farkash, Tara Farkash

"If I Die Before I Wake” is a 70s era grunge throwback designed entirely to induce extreme responsiveness and emotion… leaving little or no space for ambivalence. Just do a quick scan of the reviews on the internet and you’ll find two camps of people pontificating on this film: those who enjoy it as an edge of your seat thriller, and those who seem unable to get beyond the extreme misogyny and rawness of it all, thus relegating its worth to that of so much trash. Then there are a few others who just nitpick about “the cheapness of the production”, or some other such nonsense, but they suck, so I’ll disregard them. Apart from that, there’s very little room here for an intermediate stance and, in my opinion, that speaks significantly to how the film achieves its objective. This film, like so many of those 70s era hostage flicks that it draws its inspiration from, is a nasty accident strewn out along a highway, all bloody, raunchy and smelly. It’s not very pleasant but damn, if it isn’t enthralling as all get out.

Personally, I count myself in as one of those ‘edge-of-your-seat’ blokes as I was grooving to Brian Katkin’s film from about the first frame, right around the moment the film’s three baddies came ambling up the stairs all predisposed to tearing some shit up and Stephanie Jones, as the film’s tense, sweaty protagonist, LoriBeth, began mad-dashing it into her eight-year old sister’s room just in time to coax her into hiding under her bed. “Is it Santa Clause?” little Mary asks her terrified big sis. “Yeah,” she whispers. “Now you have to hide.” Wow! Never losing sight of its exploitative pedigree, this film is edgy and crude – a 'balls way the fuck out' return to those grimy films of the past, namely “Last House on the Left” and (to a lesser desgree) “The Desperate Hours” -- films where the serenity of suburbia-living is turned upside down and terrorism and vengeance is doled out in equal amounts, becoming uncomplicated bed mates in a murky stew. Granted, this is a film that will surely turn off those in the audience who don’t care for unpleasant cinematic experiences, something the handful of reviews reflect. However, for those of us out there in movie geek land who enjoy a good nail-biter, this is the adrenalin rush you’ve been craving.

Too broke to afford a stay at the Hilton, three psychotic thugs (Muse Watson, Michael McCleery and Anthony Nicosia) decide to violently liberate the door of some out-of-the-way suburban residence looking for a place to crash for the night. Stirring up all kinds of shit is also, apparently, big on their must-do list. Despite that it’s a rather peaceful summer night, the family inside, consisting of two sisters (Stephanie Jones and Coryanne Sennett), a brother (Kristian Hans Horn) and a Mom (Mary Kathleen Gordon) and a Pop (John Gavagin), will soon be caught up in a storm of the most terrifying kind – one where three savages will run wild destroying everything in their -- up to that point -- typically happy, typically normal, lives. Judging from the rise in outfits designed soley to provide 'home security', there's something here that people can (and probably will) relate to. The notion that, in an instant, our worlds can be turned on its head by malevolent forces. In this case, it's three guys who have nothing better to do and a house situated just a little too far out of town.  

Just seconds after hearing a ruckus downstairs, the eldest daughter, still in her teens (but lookin' all grown up, if you get my drift), LoriBeth (Stephanie Jones), begins to suspect the worst. Her suspicions are confirmed when she peers over the railing and notices a couple of nasty brutes making their way up the stairs. Self-preservation comes second for our heroine as she endeavours to get to her eight year old kid sister, trotting unseen down the hall to her room as the three ruffians make their way in the other direction into her parent’s room. For several moments, she observes the men as they round up her father, mother and brother into a room, and proceed to sadistically torture them. This jarring fifteen-minute opening segment really is a template for what transpires throughout the next hour or so of the movie, as LoriBeth, tucked away in various corners and rooms of the house, quietly observes her captors as they terrorize and murder various members of her family, while plotting to make her grand escape. Later on, as the film really saddles up to its exploitative roots, LoriBeth’s plotting begins to move away from the ‘make-a-break-for-it’ scheme and towards avenging her family and protecting the few survivors left. Mostly it’s about avenging her family. LoriBeth’s mommy instincts really hum to life when the her eight-year old sister is threatened in the film’s final moments, as head-baddie Muse Watson suggests that they could get a couple of days of fun out of her tiny frame. Before you know it, she’s going all Sigourney Weaver on these scumbags – and all sorts of kitchen utensils are being used as weapons. Revenge is sweet, and this film goes to great lengths to roll around and get dirty in that sentiment – making mincemeat of those bleeding hearters out there who would crave a pat on the wrist and some cushy jail time for these three thugs. Fuck that! Yeah, I'm being manipulated by the director here but who honestly gives a shit? Manipulate me! Just as long as I'm getting a jagged piece of glass getting jammed into Muse Watson's eye-socket, followed by several seconds of his ass writhing in agony. Now that's entertainment!

The on-screen violence in "If I Die Before I Wake" is kept to a bare miniumum, which adds to the tension by taking the focus away from the gore. A mano-o-mano rape scene is merely implied but never shown, as is an earlier scene where Watson rapes LoriBeth's mom in a shower. In place of gore, various other ingredients are utilized to help drive the horror elements. A lengthy scene where the bloodied thugs sit and watch a videotape showing the victimized family at the beach during happier times, does wonders to fuel the anger the audience feels towards these three architects of terror beyond what they might already feel. No gore! Stephanie Jones wrote into the imdb.com (on their message board) to suggest that the minimized violence had less to do with any kind of artistic decision and more to do with censorsorship. Regardless, it works. Another aspect of the film I found rather interesting is the way the various characters are given depth -- not through lengthy exposition or flashback but through subtle verbal snippets and nuance. Since the film is essentially told from the P.O.V. of LoriBeth, our knowledge of what makes our three antagonists tick is delivered in spits and spurts -- through barely overheard conversations playing out in the background, as Jones' character makes her way from room to room like a fly on a wall. While Watson and Nicosia's character are fairly one-dimensional, Michael McCleery's character (the hanger-on baddie) seems the most rationale, and the film is given some levity in the final segment when his character's genuine concern for the family (adding some well deserved touches of humanity to a pretty dark affair) is returned in kind by one of the victimized. I was surprised by this, for sure. Some people have suggested that Stephanie Jones' character was never developed beyond what was shown on screen, however, my feeling was that LoriBeth didn't need to be developed because, in a sense, LoriBeth represents us --the audience. We will fill in the blanks of her character all on our own. LoriBeth is the every man caught up in a situation beyond their control and dealing with it the best they can.

Stephanie Jones (1996's "Rumpelstiltskin") offers a solid performance in a role that demands plenty of physicality and lots of scenes where she acts panicked and traumatized. She literally whispers every line of dialogue, minus a few at the end. And when she does actually speak aloud, there's something off-kilter about it because it is her character attempting to take back control. She doesn't just do it, she announces it! Sadly, actress Stephanie Jones' career seemed to peter out in the late 90's, just years after hitting it big. Muse Watson (1997's "I Know What You Did Last Summer"), as Daryl, the leader of this motley crew, is just plain creepy. The character is only given moderate dimension, something illuminated in the videotape sequence where he drones on about the crappy hand his family was dealt in life. Muse is a working actor who has 12 films in production as I sit writing this review. Wow! Michael McCleery (1980's "Mother's Day") as the contemplative T.J., the burglar with a conscience, is one of the more interesting characters in the film. From the outset, you get a sense that he's not okay with the situation and the audience finds themselves rooting as much for his moralistic comeuppance as they do LoriBeth's desire for revenge. However, he remains unpredictable enough that we're never one-hundred percent sure if it will ever arrive or if we can trust him entirely.

Not a fun film but an engaging, tension filled one. If you're in the mood, definitely check it out.