Abbigail Bush
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Jonah Abbott
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Beulah Bram
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"In 3 Tagen bist du tot" is an Austrian horror film from 10 years ago and actually one of the most known movie from this genre from German-language territory. This does not make it a good film though. The writer and director is Andreas Prochaska and his movie here runs for slightly over 90 minutes, or slightly under if you don't count the credit sequence. You could certainly call it the Middle European take on "I Know What You Did Last Summer", but I think it is inferior. It is about a young woman and her friends who had a terrible accident in the past involving an innocent child and now, in the present, this accident comes back to haunt them, not in a supernatural form though. It is all about revenge.Usually, about these films, they can work well in 2 different ways. The first would be that you actually care about the characters and hope they live because they are good people and likable. The second would be that they are so stupid and arrogant that you actually feel for the killer, which could be the case here because of the tragic background story. But neither of the two applied for me and this is why I did not enjoy the movie particularly. There were a couple moments that were decent, but there were also moments that were really bad and in which the characters acted in a truly idiotic manner. One of several examples would be when the boy points the gun at the killer at the end but stands there until he gets stabbed instead of firing one bullet after the other. I would love to say his sympathy made his reaction appropriate, but it just doesn't make any sense to me.Apparently, audiences and Prochaska thought differently about this film and felt it deserved a sequel. I couldn't agree less. At least, the filmmaker managed to step up his craft recently with the pretty gritty revenge western "Das finstere Tal". In my opinion you should watch that one and not this film here. I do not recommend "Dead in 3 Days". Thumbs down.
TdSmth5
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.
Michael O'Keefe
Joyous high school students are celebrating their recent graduation. A big dance is planned and a short vacation trip to an Alpine lake. A group of the students become concerned when each receives a text message warning of their death in three days. Most believe it is a sick joke from a fellow classmate that has a vendetta...and if so, who and why? Things get real serious when a student is found dead. Now surviving students fear time is running out before they figure out the motivation and identification of the killer. The cast includes: Sabrina Reiter, Julian Sharp, Julia Rosa Stockl, Laurence Rupp, Nadja Vogel and Karl Fischer.
Superunknovvn
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...
