‘3rd Night’ (2017) – Film Review

A lot of people say they want to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life and move to the country. They want to focus on family and have less stress. These people clearly are not horror fans. We all know that secluded areas are just an invitation for some terrible things to happen to you. I have been looking forward to 3rd Night, a film that dives wholeheartedly into this kind of storyline, and recently I gave it a watch. Read on to find out my thoughts about this film!

Synopsis:

A couple move to an Australian orchard surrounded by natural bushland to escape the madness of modern life but are terrorized by the mysterious Watcher.

My Thoughts: 

3rd Night is Adam Graveley’s feature film debut. The film stars Jesse McGinn and Robert Hartburn as a loving young couple Megan and Jonathan. They move to the Australian outback to live a quieter life and start a family. Things change rather quickly when they believe they are being watched by someone who wants to harm them.

Adam Gravely sets up the film in three nights, ultimately leading up to revealing who is trying to harm them and the eventual fate of this young couple. It begins when the couple’s cat, Nook, turns up missing. One day after Megan’s morning jog and searching for Nook, a note turns up that reads.

This is not the only note that the couple receive. The notes appear elsewhere in the house, including as some graffiti in the barn. Megan believes that this is more than kids playing tricks on them. Of course, Jonathan believes that they’re are harmless. He insists that it isn’t anything more than punk kids. But then Nook turns up, and they begin to realize that there is more going on than just kids playing tricks on them.

Australian horror films are known to be gritty. Take, for example, Wolf Creek. Both of these are “inspired by true events” films, which I find always tends to add to the hype of the scare factor of a movie, including this one. Just knowing that this, in any form, could happen in real life is terrifying. 3rd Night did have some gritty moments that I didn’t expect. The film is shot beautifully in Australia, and the location seems so isolated from the outside world, a fact that helps build an unnerving feeling throughout. I felt there was a lot of tension in many of the scenes. The performances were solid and believable. All in all, I enjoyed this film. It was a slow burn, but it was worth the wait.

Final Thoughts: 

3rd Night exceeded my expectations. It is a well constructed film with a chilling setting of the isolated outback and solid performances to back that up. As far as complaints, I don’t have many. It could have been a tad longer perhaps, and in some scenes, the tension slips a little bit. Honestly though, this is a great feature debut film for Adam Graveley and I look forward to more from him. You can check out the 3rd Night currently streaming on Amazon Prime. I’ve included the trailer below to get you in the mood. Stay tuned to PopHorror for all your news, reviews, interviews and much more!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNw_MepXVcQ&feature=youtu.be