Director – Daniel de la Vega (Necrophobia 3D, Dead End)
Starring – Federico Aimetta (History of the Occult, Watch ‘Em Die), Mariana Anghileri (Kryptonite, Killer Women), and Octavio Belmonte
Release Date – 2021
Rating – 2.5/5
When Shout! Factory announced the start of their Shout! Studios line I was pretty fucking excited for it. Shout! and Scream Factory releases are among some of my favorite films in my collection but with Scream!’s new focus on re-releasing their films from blu to UHD this gives them a new outlet to focus on bringing new films to the table. The last few years of Shout! Studios has saw some genre titles but not as many as I would have liked.
A few weeks ago I received the press release for Shout! Studio’s release of the Argentinian horror film On the 3rd Day. I was really digging the artwork for the film so I reached out for a review copy. I was lucky enough to secure one and like always I want to thank Shout! Factory for sending this one over to check out.
**Spoiler Alert** The film begins with a young woman and her son getting distracted behind the wheel resulting in an accident. She is found three days later with no recollection of the accident and is searching for her son. She finds herself in the hospital but unable to find her son she escapes. Now the doctor and a detective are searching for her while she is searching for her son. However, when she is able to find him she finds herself in the middle of a true horror story as a priest, the one who she wrecked her car into, is battling his own demons. **Spoiler Alert**
On the 3rd Day has an interesting premise that could have been really effective but the way in which the story unfolds and the painfully long and eventful scenes makes it one difficult film to finish. If the film would have flipped the script a little and explored more of the priest instead of the mother then we would have one hell of a horror title.
The acting in this one is great. I fucking loved the characters and how far the cast was willing to go to bring them to life. They were fully dedicated to their performance and did a fantastic job. The entire cast is experienced and they did a fantastic job making use of that experience.
The story for this one is interesting idea but the way it was brought to life made for a bit of a dull film. The scenes are far too long and the way in which the story unfolds is not enjoyable or entertaining. Honestly, I feel that the film would have been so much more enjoyable if it followed the priests side of the story instead of the confused mother searching for her son. It’s very uneventful until the end and did not fully utilize the story like it could have. The pacing is this films biggest enemy.
Finally, the film has some great make-up effects at the beginning of the film but does get more gruesome as it progresses on. The effects are great and the last leg of the film was almost enough to redeem it. Overall, On the 3rd Day has an interesting story but the way it’s done makes for a very dull movie experience. I wanted to like it but I couldn’t bring myself to do so. Skip it.
