Trois jours à vivre

DEAD IN 3 DAYS is a vengeful, maniac-on-the-loose film from Austria.

A group of young, beautiful friends are being stalked and killed in nasty fashion after receiving the titular text messages. At first glance, this is a clone of I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. However, look closer, and it is superior to that movie in pacing, which is slower and far more suspenseful. There is also a gloomier atmosphere that adds to the overall creep factor.

The characters are more believable as well. Do they make some "dumb" decisions? Sure, like almost every twenty-something in every slasher film ever made! As for the killer, there's a grim determination about the way in which this person dispatches victims, and while the final revelation may not be too surprising, it is handled in an interesting way. A pleasant surprise...

As mentioned before this movie probably is the first one of its kind to be made in Austria by Austrians artists only. Austria's good times in the movie industry have long been gone and modern Austrian filmmakers concentrate mainly on producing artistic stuff that relies heavily on the actors (mostly due to funding problems). So this film is quite different from what is coming from Austria nowadays but it's not so different from what is coming from Hollywood. That's a new approach and that's OK. In my opinion the movie is better than the average Scary Movie flick. The story is quite straightforward, the ending is adept though not too surprising. The gory scenes come at the times you expect them to come. Sometimes you know what is going to happen before but that's what we call suspense and if it was good enough for Hitchcock it's good enough for everyone. And it works here too! The movie doesn't stay on a high level of tension all the time. It speeds up then slows down then speeds up again several times. Nice flow. The director does a really good job and I especially appreciated the cinematography. Some really nice pictures, good camera positioning. The cutting was good too and makes the movie look more expensive and professional than it was.

The young actors are mostly unknown but mostly talented and add to the overall positive impression the film made on me.

I enjoyed watching the film although it's not a perfect piece of work (therefore my score of 7/10) but judge for yourself. Let's hope there will be more to see from the people who made this movie. I think there is still a lot of potential to explore.

5 friends just pass some grueling oral examination and graduate. At a party they all get the same SMS telling them that in 3 days they will be dead. And sure enough one of them is attacked and disappears. Two of the girls find him the next day drowned in the lake.

Another of the girls is later attacked, kidnapped, but with the help of another schoolmate who would like to join their clique she manages to escape. The schoolmate isn't that lucky. But at least she was able to see the face of the killer.

The police make a sketch and identify the killer she saw. It's someone who's been long dead. But the girl remembers something else. He's the father of a boy the kids new as children.

When 2 more kids are attacked finally the police tries to protect them. But they decide to go and investigate the house of the dead man where they find all sorts of secrets. In the end they confront the killer and the reasons are revealed.

Dead in 3 Days is a pretty decent Austrian horror movie. The kids are likable enough even though neither they nor the police act particularly rational given the circumstances. There is some good gore and it features the best use of a fish tank in a horror movie. Direction is good but there are some weaknesses as well- too many extreme closeups, the action is also filmed too close up that makes it hard to identify what is going on. Sounds effects are good but too loud.

Overall, an OK horror movie in a different setting and with an attractive and likable cast.

This Austrian made slasher is nothing more than a rip-off of popular American slasher movies, like "Friday the 13th" or "I know what you did last summer" (this one was clearly a example for this one here). And like "I know what.." it's pretty bad and not really worth a watch, well, maybe if you wanna see how Austrians do it, go for it. For me the only thing really worth mentioning is the landscape, which looks really nice, it's set in a beautiful Austrian village surrounded by mountains, and the FX are pretty good and bloody, but it's just not enough of them. And for me a a Swiss person I also really like the Austrian language. And about the plot, not really worth mentioning, some plot holes here and there.

I was more than just a bit skeptical when it came to watching "In 3 Tagen bist du tot". The plot seemed pretty stupid and I wasn't convinced that the makers would be able to pull off something like that in a typical Austrian village setting. I was right about the first thing, but director Andreas Prochaska really did a nice job translating the essence of movies like "I Know What You Did Last Summer" into the Austrian landscape.

Sure, "In 3 Tagen bist du tot" suffers from the usual slasher weaknesses, but for once this is actually a good thing. It means that this movie is on one level with the international competition. The acting may not be Oscar material, but it could have been way more awful. What hurt the movie more is that it's pretty slow at times and although there are one or two scenes that will make you jump, there are too few of those shocking or scary moments. On the plus side, Prochaska makes great usage of that small town creepiness by setting some moody scenes on a lake or in an old, creaking house. There's also quite a bit of gore, which is never a bad thing in a slasher movie.

The movie's one big flaw, however, is the derivative plot. There is absolutely nothing new here story-wise. Imagine "Friday The 13th" with just a few "The Ring"-elements and you got "In 3 Tagen bist du tot". It's as if the producers focused more on making their version of the movies that attracted so many ticket buyers in the late 80's rather than actually trying to come up with something original. They were impressively successful in that aspect, but the next step should be to bring forward new ideas. Apparently, Austria is able to make good horror movies. Now it's time to go for a GREAT one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...