Movie Review: 3rd Night (2018)

October 4, 2018

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

Meagan (Jesse McGinn) and Jonathan (Robert Hartburn) escape the rat race and move on to greener pastures…literally, as they move into a house situated next to an orchard in the middle of East Ass-Hair. Nowheresville (it’s a real place, believe me…I’m a movie critic, and I know things). Anyway, things go smoothly enough on their first night in the new pad…minus a missing house cat, but you can bet demons to doughnuts that shit heads south with the major quickness…and it does as later that night someone watches their sex sesh from the wooded area surrounding the home. The next day strange notes appear, the disembodied laughter of a child and the squealing of pigs is heard, and a gloved hand touches Meagan as she sleeps…you know, typical new homeowner shit. Now on the third night, things go completely off-the-rails…so much so that the future of our heroes is seriously in doubt!
3rd Night is a slow burn thriller with a lot of positives going for it. First of all the film is structured so that each act basically equals a night in the new house. This is a novel approach, and helps to effectively mount the tension to mount as each day brings something new to dread. Additionally, McGinn and Hartburn make for personable leads, and we actually care about their plight once the shit well and truly hits the frightful fan. Also, excellent use is also made of the remote location as the sense of isolation is aided and abetted by the surrounding trees of the orchard, which at times create a palpable sense of claustrophobia as well. Finally there are some excellent twists in this one that really keep things hoppin’ boils n’ ghouls!
On the negative side of things, the film does attempt it’s fair share of jump scares, and almost all of them fall completely flat due to weird editing and sound cues (or lack thereof)…and if you are the sort that can’t tolerate animals buying the farm in a fright flick consider this one that will set off your terror trigger.
3rd Night took me by surprise my faithful fiends…what I thought would be a cut and dried home invasion affair turned into a suspenseful, well crafted, and surprising fright flick that I would easily recommend to you lot!
 

 

Share This Article

You May Also Like…