If I Die Before I Wake Year: 2000 Director: Brian Katkin Written by: Brian Katkin Threat: Psychopath Weapon of Choice: Shard of Glass Based upon: none IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
None

The tyranist's thoughts
This film tries very hard to fall into a sub-genre that I really hate: horror realism. I say tries because it clearly wanted to be the home invasion version of Last House on the Left, but it falls short and ends up being a somewhat disturbing, but ulitmately unrealistic portrait.
I still disliked it.
A family in a supposedly secluded home are settling in for the night when three men show up, break the front door down (not one family member hears the crashing door somehow), and proceed to terrorise the family. Eventually the teenage daughter gets fed up and manages to beat up three grown men.
Starring everyone's favourite fisherman, this one wasn't much of a movie. The premise is relatively solid, but it lacks in dialogue and execution. Not bad enough to have earned a Skull for either of those, but enough that it just ends up being disappointing. Perhaps if they had thought up a better ending or a few more convincing plot points this would have turned out better.
It's probably a bit deceptive of me to give you the impression that there was potential here. Honestly, if they had pulled off what I thought they were trying to do with this movie, I would have loathed it, whereas I found it tolerable viewing instead.
I guess it's up to you whether you see this one or not. It isn't special enough for me to recommend, and it isn't bad enough for me to warn you away. Good luck.
Posted: April 25, 2005

Rish's Reviews
I got a copy of this film back in 2002, and popped it in my VCR in early 2003. I only made it through twenty minutes or so before I popped it right out again. By then, I had a few lines of a review and a couple of Skulls, but I threw those out (oddly, just a week or so ago), deeming life just too short to have to watch this crap.
I gave the tape to my friend tyranist, since he's always had a stronger stomach than me, and forgot about it. Until now. I see he finally broke down and watched it, and I pity him. This is my least favourite type of horror film, and life really is too short.
This isn't a review, I just wanted to say this.
Posted: June 1, 2005

Total Skulls: 14

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?