Voodoo Dawn

My review was written in December 1990 after watching the film on Academy video cassette.

"Voodoo Dawn" (a/k/a "Strange Turf") is an atmospheric supernatural thriller for genre video fans, The late Raymond St. Jacques has a relatively small role as a kindly fellow who's taken migrant worker Gina Gershon under his wing. Unfortunately, her preppie boyfriend J. Grant Albrecht (at the southern plantation to get material for his thesis) is killed by voodoo chieftain Tony Todd in the opening reel.

Albrecht's college buddies Kirk Baily and Billy Williams coincidentally are traveling to visit him during spring break and they give Gershon a lift. All three become victimized by the forces of evil, though good manages to triumph several special effects later.

Debuting director Steven Fierberg, well-known for his cinematography credits, handles this familiar material briskly. The effects aren't too good, notably a dumb-looking root-devil that bursts out of Albrecht's back during the climax scene. Open-ended tag scene doesn' work well.

Gershon holds the audience's sympathy throughout. Script's emphasis on a class consciousness theme helps differentiate this pic from the usual horror fodder.

This film was a lot of fun. I am almost certain that Gina, Tony, Kevin, Billy, and Grant had a difficult time maintaining a straight face during the shooting of some scenes. That's what made this an interesting film. The youthful comedic approach to what may had seem to be a horrifying situation for the heroes of the film. Billy "Sly" Williams had the best line, "If I die and you don't, !@*# you". Raymond St. Jacobs did a fine job as well. This movie was done relatively well in spite of it's weak plot. I gave it a 6/10.

First off, the DVD cover image above is from the wrong movie. That cover image is from the 1998 film also known as Voodoo Dawn (aka: Fait Accompli) which starred Michael Madsen and Rosanna Arquette. This film was released 8 years prior and in my opinion is a much better movie, although that isn't saying much considering the comparison. It is actually about voodoo/zombies whereas the other is more of a crime melodrama. The 1990 Voodoo Dawn isn't Oscar worthy itself but it does have its cheesy charm. If you are a zombie fan (like me) be prepared for more traditionally created zombies than the Romero shamble-type zombies. This movie also has an early appearance of Tony Todd before he became Candyman.

Voodoo Dawn started of looking promising, but as usual for a low-budget horror flick went downhill from there. The opening scene on the boat whets your appetite and leaves you wanting more. However, after this things soon become desperately dull. There's a lot of walking around and talking and something about a witch doctor. The scene in the house could have been creepy, but it just wasn't. After this, things plod along at such a slow pace that eventually I had enough and switched it off. There were a few scenes shot in darkness in which I THINK someone was killed, but it's hard to tell since you can't see a thing.

Avoid this junk, it's far too boring.