Product Description

A clique of teenagers begins to receive life threatening cell-phone messages that warn "In three days you're dead" and they soon begin to die at the hands of a shrouded killer. One girl in the group is the only one who discovers a mysterious clue leading to the assailant's identity, but as the body count rises and the slayings become more and more vicious, no-one outside of her group wants to believe her and time is running out...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53534 in DVD
• Brand: Genius
• Released on: 2009-03-03
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Formats: Color, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: German
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.com
If it's the day of your high-school graduation, and you receive a text message saying "You will be dead in 3 days," and that creepy classmate who always stands around staring at you has been doing even more standing around staring at you lately… well, according to Dead in 3 Days, there's really nothing you can do anyway. This Austrian slasher film takes the aforementioned harbingers of doom (as well as hitting a deer with a car, always a bad sign in movies such as this) and spreads out the terror among five teenagers in the scenic lakeside town of Ebensee. The opening reels are effective, with the teens a uniformly attractive bunch; newcomer Sabrina Reiter is the pluckiest of the group. It then becomes clear that director Andreas Prochaska is more interested in recycling old horror conventions than finding a new slant on this material, and the convention he holds dearest is that slasher victims must do the dumbest things possible in order to keep the story going. Even for slasher-movie teens, this crew is an unusually nitwitted bunch. (Just as a helpful hint, please remember that if you are tied to an anchor in a boat in the middle of a lake, and there is a knife in your hand, you should probably avail yourself of the opportunity to cut the rope before the anchor is thrown in the water and you are dragged overboard. You're welcome.) The gore level is moderate, and the most horrifying sight here is not one of the grisly murders but the view inside the men's room at a nightclub. (Kids these days.) A straight-to-DVD release in the U.S., the disc offers both German-language and English-dubbed options. This film was a big enough Euro-hit to inspire a 2008 sequel, understandably titled Dead in 3 Days 2. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Nothing special, but still better than most mainstream horror flicks
Calling Dead in 3 Days a German take on I Know What You Did Last Summer would pretty much sum up all there is to know about this film, with the only exception being that Dead in 3 Days is far superior, and in reality despite the many horror/slasher conventions it follows, is better than a majority of mainstream American horror flicks. The film follows around a group of attractive grads who all receive a text message telling them, you guessed it, they'll be dead in 3 days. Before you know it, they're being picked off one by one by a hooded killer. There's some decent gore, and even some decent scares to be found in Dead in 3 Days, as well as some gorgeous cinematography as well. Other than that, Dead in 3 Days doesn't offer anything that you haven't seen countless times before, but the film is still worth a look at the very least for die hard slasher fans.

Great small Austrian movie
This movie ran in Austrian cinemas some years ago and it`s really a well made slasher film, done on a shoestring budget with good non professional actors. Some setpieces remind us of the glory days of Argento and other great directors. Saw today Part 2, which is even better and a lot more gruesome than the first one. An absolute must have for any slasher aficionado who likes his kills with some depth to story and characters.

A Solid Slasher with more Water than Blood
Probably the most solid slasher flick I've seen in awhile.
(especially considering the lack of slashing)
It's an Autrian slasher flick, (so it's in german, if you speak german)
though surprisingly every song on the soundtrack appears to be in English.
If you don't like subtitles, that's alright, 'cause it comes dubbed,
and can I just say.. I don't remember ever hearing a better dubbing job.

For those who know slashers:
It's acts like a 90's slasher (Scream, I Know What You Did, Urban Legend, etc.)
without any of the humor.
Picture those movies if their puppy just got hit by a missile.
It's not funny like "Hatchet", it's a lot more serious.
It's not overly gory like "Laid to Rest", (it does have it's moment though)
It's slower and more involving than both.
And it's probably 14 thousand times more engaging than "Cold Prey" could ever hope to be.
But it's not getting nearly as much love as any of the aforementioned.
The only issue I can see some people having with this flick, is that it drags it's feet at some points.
All in all I'd say this slasher "should" be the epitome of the term "sleeper"

It's about a group of friends who all receive a message on their phone
saying that each will be dead in 3 days.
... they pay no mind to it... 'til one of them disappears.
Yes it's vengeance plot we've seen before but this time around it has;
actual characters, with real character development,
played by actors & actresses who can actually act,
some gore (1 scene in particular is brutal),
believable dialogue, excellent cinematography,
and for whatever reason the director seems either,
obsessed with water,
or is bashing you over the head with foreshadowing.
Every other scene is of water, and practically every death involves it.
But there is method to this madness.
There is method.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Keep your friends close.. really close.. or they might disappear.

ALSO RECOMMENDED:
Cold Prey, Laid to Rest, Hatchet, Steel Trap, I know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, Black Christmas, Halloween, Identity, Just Before Dawn, Sleepaway Camp