Trois jours à vivre

"In Drei Tagen Bist Du Tot" (2006) is an excellent slasher movie from Austria, a land that has, since the silent time, proved to deliver constantly world-class movies like no other German speaking land did. To whoever does not believe that, I highly recommend the "Hoanzl" collection with several hundreds of region-free available DVDs amongst which you will even find early Mihaly Kertesz = Michael Curtiz movies amongst other classics about which the non-European audience can just dream.

"In Drei Tagen Bist Du Tot" is remarkable in many respects: First, it is the first Austrian slasher movie. Second, practically all actors have never acted before. Third, the budged was 2 millions of Euros for which in Hollywood one would not even take a camera out of its closet. Third, the whole movie is spoken in Salzkammer dialect and, as usual in Europe, filmed In Loco. (On the contrary, in Hollywood movies it is usual nowadays that the beginning is filmed in Utah, the main part in Rumania, and the end in Canada.) In 2007, "In Drei Tagen Bist Du Tot" got amazingly the Austrian film price, the now so-called "Austrian Ticket" which was given before, in 1996, to Vilsmaier's "Schlafes Bruder". I also welcome this movie because Horror has a very small tradition in European film-making. While the Swiss film De Facto died with Kurt Früh in 1979 and the German film with Fassbinder in 1982, our whole hope stays with Austria.

In Ebensse, the teenagers Nina (Sabrina Reiter), her boyfriend Martin (Laurence Rupp), Clemens (Michael Steinocher), his girlfriend Alex (Nadja Vogel) and Mona (Julia Rosa Stöckl) are best friends since their childhood. On their high-school graduation day, they all receive the same message in the cellular: "In three days you will be dead!", but they believe is a stupid joke from their weird schoolmate Patrick (Julian Sharp). However, when Martin is found dead in the lake Traunsee, the group realizes that it is not a prank. When Nina is attacked and Patrick is killed trying to save her, they recall a tragic incident from their childhood.

"In 3 Tagen Bist Du Tot" has a tense and promising beginning. The acting of the young and unknown cast is good, but unfortunately the story is weak, actually a rip-off of the franchise "I Know What You did Last Summer" and using the clichés of the genre. In the end, this flick is watchable and forgettable, but entertains. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Morto em 3 Dias" ("Dead in 3 Days")

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...

Ah, Austria ... Unquestionably one of the most beautiful countries in the world and the cinematic home of the famous "Sissi"-movies, millions of vintage Tiroler sex comedies and probably a handful of thankfully obscure yodel musicals as well. And thanks to director Andreas Prochaska, Austria now also has its very own teen-slasher-movie! Prochaska clearly was fed up with the enchanting postcard-image reputation of his home country and uses the exact same picturesque lakes and flowery decorated mountain hotels as the hunting territory of a demented serial killer. "Dead in Three Days" blends together the prior-warning idea of "The Ring" with the more traditional and old-fashioned maniacal tendencies of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and the wholesome results in an overall competent, albeit unmemorable new horror film. On their long-awaited day of university graduation, five close friends all receive the same text message on their mobile phones. In three days you'll be dead, which naturally sounds like a lame college prank. Of course, it isn't a joke and the teenagers quickly find themselves pursued by a killer who has an old score to settle with the clique. "Dead in Three Days" is too slow-paced to really compete with the vintage slashers of the 80's and the script spends too much time on the detailed character drawings. The plot as well as the killer's outfit is too derivative of many existing slashers – especially the aforementioned IKWYDLS – and there nearly isn't enough tension and/or spectacle. The gore-factor and killing scenes are unmemorable, with the exception of one awesomely grim decapitation sequence! "Dead in Three Days" is okay entertainment for avid slasher-fans to pass the time but, of course, if it wouldn't be for the fact that Austria has few or even no history in the genre of horror, this mundane teenkill-film would barely even make it to DVD.

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...