Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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3rd Night lacks potential scares despite holding many elements most horror movies have to conjure up fear.
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| Director(s) | Adam Graveley | |
| Written By | Adam Graveley | |
| Release Date | 10/9/2018 | |
| Genre(s) | Horror | |
| Good If You Like | Horror Films Which Don’t Rely On Jump Scares, Guts, and Grotesque Imagery. | |
| Noted Cast | ||
| Megan | Jesse McGinn | |
| Jonathan | Robert Hartburn | |
| Cambo | Bruce Denny | |
| Rex | Connor Gosatti | |
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Summary
Megan and Jonathan have decided they no longer want the city life, so they buy 10 acres out in the bush. Which, at first, seems fine. Jonathan is making plans to get workers to pick fruits and vegetables, Megan is trying to get pregnant, and we see her and Jonathan try a few times, but then someone goes missing. Said someone being Megan’s cat Nook.
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Meanwhile, in the woods, two people, Cambo and Rex, are simply trying to survive. Find a critter to eat. But as the days go by they experience the same need to be aware of a figure which moves in the dark. Otherwise, they too may learn why this house finds new owners fairly often.
Question(s) Left Unanswered
- What exactly was the killer’s motive?
Criticism
Despite So Many Classic Scare Tactics Shown, Nothing Is Scary Here
In the film we have creepy dolls, a killer with what looks to be a pig mask, children singing scary songs, backwoods people, a whole lot of empty land, and the list goes on and on. There are a huge amount of staples of the horror genre but not much is done with any of them. Take the killer with a pig mask, for example. Yes, they stalk Megan and Jonathan, leave notes, and Megan freaks out quite a bit. However, Jonathan downplays them and there is no follow up to show the killer means business – until towards the end. For most of the movie, they just watch.
Then, when it comes to the dolls and stock children laughter, neither are used to compensate for a lackluster villain. The children’s laughter seemingly is just for us, since the only kids we see have no interaction with Megan or Jonathan. As for the dolls? Outside of likely belonging to a former owner, and being abandoned, that is about it for them.
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Which may make you think Cambo and Rex surely add something to this right? After all, they’re homeless, living in the woods, and Cambo is a weirdo. Sadly, these two seem out of place and don’t provide more than some sense of what it is like to live out in the bush of Australia and be homeless. Oh, and add to the killer’s victim count.
On The Fence
Megan
Megan was the only one who wanted to push the idea this is a horror movie. Not a movie with some creepy voyeur but a movie where you should fear for everyone’s life. However, Megan’s role in this isn’t just pushing the idea of fear but also to be provocative. Mostly by being in various stages of undress. Thus setting her up to truly be a horror female lead with it seeming she is not only vulnerable because of a killer on the loose but because she is hardly wearing any clothes.
Overall: Negative (Acquired Taste)| Purchase On (Amazon)
I think the major hangup most may have is that this is a horror movie which notes what many do for scares but doesn’t effectively use any of them. Making it so, at best, the idea of someone watching is where the fear factor comes from. Problem is, seeing a figure in the window and them leaving notes, it doesn’t inspire much fear. Add on the movie sometimes feels like it strings you along with a focus on McGinn’s body, and that’s what leads to this being considered an acquired taste.
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For as much as I can take note of how I’m used to jump scares, gore, and a certain eeriness, which is missing, some may not enjoy that. They may find the use of gore, jump scares, and overdoing it with grotesque images as a crutch. So maybe, just maybe, this movie caters to them.
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