Dead in Three Days

Madman Entertainment

R4 DVD

Dead in Three Days (In 3 Tagen bist du tot) is marketed as “Austria’s first horror” film and it certainly packs a very nice and even nasty punch.

The first section of the film builds a firm foundation of ordinariness filled with the lives of a group of friends. There is a leisure in these early scenes not often seen in Hollywood productions. It takes it’s time setting the stage, allowing us to connect to the various actors and their lives. This level of character development is important because it helps increase the tension and suspense which explodes later in the film.

During the early section of the film are lots of everyday concerns, love, parties and music. Indeed, there is lots of music, the use of various types of music from edgy rock to classic pace the film well and really helps create the ambient mood of the various scenes.

The build-up of their everyday lives creates a great background but with occasional “dark hints and suggestions”. These range from a simple change in music, a strange look and or more directly, accidently killing an animal in their car after graduation.

We also get some great misdirection with Pat, a loner wishing to join their cliché, constantly watching them from a distance, menacing or just isolated we are unsure. He seems disturbed, but how can we be sure ?

After a graduation party, Martin goes missing and they all realize they have received a text message saying “dead in three days”. They have no comprehension of what it means and the police are less than helpful. It seems like a threat, but why three days ?

The fairly ineffective local police and detectives form an interesting backdrop throughout the film – it could have easily become a procedural cop film, but it avoids this by focusing on the various victims rather than the investigation, indeed the police play a very minor role in the film altogether.

The first killing (that of Martin) is extremely well filmed, it focuses intently on the imagery of water, which becomes more and more significant as the plot unfolds. The slow drowning is compelling and is an example of excellent cinematography.

As you look back at the film later, you realize how important images of water really are, ranging from slow pans across the surfaces on lakes to reflective surfaces and dripping taps.

All of these techniques help add a unique feel to the film, it has a great mood and a unique European look which is nice in these days of bland “Hollywood” environments where everything looks the same.

Throughout Dead in Three Days there is an emphasis on high quality filmmaking, using shadows and light, sounds and textures to create a superb mood. Certainly there are some great shocks and solid violence, but these are in context and the “gore and guts” factor is kept in check by an emphasis on storytelling.

Misdirection is used to quite an effect and as we realize Pat is not the killer, we wonder what the background story really is. This leads to central motif of the film which is a terrible childhood mistake that comes back to haunt them all. Now certainly this is not new and is perhaps a bit predictable, but the style of the film, the solid character development, the beautiful cinematography and the use of the evocative landscapes make this a superior film.

The climatic scenes in the old broken down house and the final revelation of the killer is a nice shock followed by some excellent action and a sad and melancholic flashback about the events that led to what has occurred.

I especially like the way in which the killer is portrayed as a sad, grief ridden and broken character who is driven to the edges of sanity to seek revenge.

Rather than being a two dimensional monster she is a broken human character with which you may even sympathize, well, maybe a little, perhaps....