Al tercer día

Is a 2021 Argentine horror film. But to the one who understands. I've been watching horror movies for at least 35 years, it's rare that I don't get it like this. It's not ridiculous, huh. Meaningless. And it's also very boring. A mother and son who ran away from home get into a car accident. And then the boy suddenly disappears. His mother is trying to find him. Then a lot of meaningless events happen and it's over.

There is no sexuality and nudity in the film.

Where do I begin?

1. A bunch of characters who seem pretty unrelated and you have no idea what they have to do with one another.

2. Either dubbing from Spanish, or a drunk audio engineer.

3. Make up your mind: is it a demon or vampire movie, or something completely different?

4. The first 90% of the film had nothing scary and no relevance.

I only gave it 5 stars because the "monster" looked good.

Mariana Angheleri is the only reason for my four star rating. She is much better than the material here. She is escaping from a domineering ex with her boy when she has a car accident. What follows is a mess. A priest recites the Apostles' Creed, thus, "on the third day." He goes on a bloody rampage without explanation. I can appreciate a good devil themed film such as The Exorcist or The Omen, but they had clear and concise story lines. On the Third Day is an incomprehensible mess.

For a movie that features some big heavyweights from the Argentinian acting scene, this movie feels incredibly amateurish.

The narrative is disjointed and jumbled, and the movie is edited with no sense of cointinuity, the story (nothing new or surprising to begin with) feels like a succession of unrelated scenes.

There are plenty of random oniric-like sequences peppered with fx that look like something from a 60's B horror movie, but not in a good way.

Furthermore, there's little to no explanation for anything that the protagonists do, they just wander from one scene to the next doing things because the script demands it (minor spoiler: ten minutes into the movie and just after a quick exchange between them, the doctor decides to take his patient to... a psychic? Why was he so eager to help her, in the first place?. De-rigueur hypnotism session ensues and we have a glimpse into what the big reveal is going to be, and boy, is so cliche and trite, and done with the subtlety and technical prowess of an elementary school play).

Acting, maybe with the exception of Gerardo Romano and the two cameo-length appearances by Arturo Bonín and Rodolfo Ranni, is mediocre.

It could have been a little scary B horror movie with a 60's feel to it, but it ended up being almost like a satire.

Stylish horror worth checking out for light fun. If you enjoyed Terrified (2017) - this would be an ideal companion film for a double feature. This movie is a bit kitschier. The story is skeletal, occasionally predictable, and just enough to keep things always moving forward. It seemed to be a love letter to Bava and Argento in almost every way...Gothic overtones, and some of those characters! The flow made the viewing experience similar to reading a graphic novel or comic (better than Creepshow ever did). Some very striking and beautiful sequences and the lighting always seemed spot on. The hypnotism scene was so ambitious, fun, and well done. The basic Horror aspects of this film are rather common. Nothing here hasn't been seen before. The way they were put together, however, definitely held my interest. I was interested and curious which direction things would go. There are even a few genuine surprises. Some outrageous bits that were unintentionally amusing. Excellent practical effects. It was nothing I'd take seriously...but a very fun watch. For those confused by the ending - there is a post-credits sequence that spells it out.