Dead Before Dawn 3D 2013

As Casper Galloway (Casper) stands watch at his grandfather Horus’s Occult Barn, the weight of responsibility settles upon him like a shroud. The day his father met his untimely demise in one of the shop’s very own demonstrations has left Casper with an irrational fear of anything that could potentially put him in harm’s way. So, when Horus receives a lifetime achievement award, Casper takes charge, ensuring that everything runs smoothly while his grandfather is away collecting his well-deserved recognition.

Horus returns to the shop with a trophy and a warning: “No one is to come within spitting distance” of an ancient urn adorned with a skull perched atop a shelf. He shares the dark history behind this cursed artifact, explaining that Casper’s great-grandfather Gilbert Galloway had once imprisoned a malevolent spirit within its confines. According to legend, should anyone release this entity, it would bring nothing but ruin and despair upon those who had dared to set it free.

As fate would have it, Charlotte (Charlotte), the object of Casper’s affections, stops by the Occult Barn, and he attempts to impress her with a complimentary purchase for loyal patrons. However, things quickly spiral out of control as more friends arrive, further complicating the situation. In an effort to show off his grandfather’s impressive collection, Casper takes down the urn, only to clumsily drop it, releasing its dark energies into the world.

Despite Casper’s frantic warnings about the dangers that lurk within, his friends dismiss him as paranoid, convinced that he is merely seeking attention. They create their own curse, claiming that anyone who makes eye contact with them after 10 pm will ultimately succumb to a zombie-like fate known as “zemon.” The zemons, it seems, can spread their infection through hickeys rather than bites, and those who fall prey will meet a grisly end before rising from the dead once more. As if this weren’t enough, they introduce an additional rule: should someone bestow a French kiss upon a zemon, the latter would become their loyal servant.

As panic sets in, Casper’s friends realize that they have only until morning to find a way to break the curse or risk being doomed for eternity. Alas, they fail to devise a simpler means of undoing the damage, leaving them with an insurmountable task ahead.

As the witching hour approaches, a sense of unease settles over Casper as he frantically prepares for the curse he’s convinced is imminent. His mother, however, is oblivious to her son’s dire warnings, instead assuming he’s under the influence of something more earthly. But when 10 o’clock strikes, Casper’s anxiety gives way to skepticism, and he reveals to his mother that a bizarre occurrence at the Occult Barn has left him spooked. The tension in the air dissipates as she reassures herself that her son is, indeed, of sound mind.

Meanwhile, the football game unfolding outside takes a gruesome turn as players and cheerleaders alike succumb to a mysterious force, prompting Casper’s friends to realize with horror that their earlier prank has unleashed a dark reality. As chaos erupts, Casper’s own world begins to unravel when he discovers his mother attempting to take an ill-advised bath, only to have her interrupted by the very curse they’d dismissed as mere fantasy.

In the midst of this supernatural maelstrom, Casper stumbles upon his friend Becky, whose boyfriend had already fallen prey to the zemons’ malevolent influence. Her newfound understanding of the curse’s power is tempered by a healthy dose of fear as she grasps the gravity of their situation. Together, they hasten to the football field, where the group discovers a gruesome tableau: the lifeless bodies of their friends and acquaintances, with only Casper and his companions standing amidst the carnage.

As the zemons awaken and give chase, the gang seeks refuge in the home of Seth, another member of their tight-knit circle. But Seth’s revelations about the curse’s insidious power - namely, that any eye-contact with others accelerates its deadly effects - only adds to the group’s growing unease. With the zemons closing in on their heels, Casper and his friends make a desperate bid for escape, fleeing into Seth’s trusty Winnebago as the night wears on.

As the group embarks on a perilous quest to unravel the mystifying curse that has beset them, the enigmatic Horus (Horus) makes a shocking return, his countenance transformed by a mixture of incredulity and dismay. His horror is palpable as he discovers the harebrained scheme that unfolded in his absence, a plan hatched without his guidance or wisdom. Before he can impart the necessary knowledge to reverse the curse, Horus falls victim to its dark power, his prized trophy lodged deep within his skull. However, in a final act of lucidity, he imparts crucial information to his companions: they must dig deeper to find the items needed to reseal the malevolent spirit.

With unyielding determination, the group sets out to gather the requisite components: the ashes from the previous urn (which Casper had wisely stored in his backpack), a human skull (one that Dazzle assures them can be found in their college’s anthropology classroom), a heart (obtained through a gruesome dissection of a toad), an urn (eventually replaced by Seth’s mug after Dazzle succumbs to the zemon curse and shatters it), and the treasured timepiece belonging to Horus’s father, which they must recover from his grave.

As they navigate this treacherous landscape, most members of the group meet their untimely demise at the hands of the malevolent zemons, leaving only Casper and Charlotte as the sole survivors. A tantalizing revelation in the ancient texts reveals that Casper’s ultimate sacrifice is necessary to break the curse. Undaunted, he prepares for his impending doom by setting off a grenade, readying himself for the great beyond. However, fate has other plans, and time rewinds to the moment just prior to the urn’s shattering; the group retains its memories of the harrowing ordeal, ensuring that they will not inadvertently trigger another curse.

In a bittersweet epilogue, Casper and Charlotte celebrate their graduation by visiting Horus, expressing their desire to join the Occult Barn staff in order to finance their new life together. Overjoyed by this prospect, Horus decides to take his first-ever vacation, his attire suggesting that he will be heading to the sun-kissed shores of Hawaii. As he departs, the couple shares a romantic moment, only to inadvertently topple the urn in their passion, prompting them to utter the chilling phrase: “We’re so dead.”