In 3 Tagen bist du tot

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.