Two years ago, I took my dear friend to a little indie horror film on a whim: Damien Leone’s Terrifier 2 (2022). I knew next to nothing about the franchise other than the gruesome clips of the first film I had seen online. I went in expecting a schlocky gorefest with no substance, but instead, I got a schlocky gorefest with some substance! Leone’s second film featuring David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown changed my view on horror as a genre and allowed me to expand my palate regarding independent slasher films.
With all of this in mind, you can imagine my excitement when it was announced that Leone was working on a third film with a budget in the low 6-figure range set during Christmas. There’s so much Leone could do with a strong budget and holiday gimmick. Surely this would be the best film in the trilogy, right?
Terrifier 3 brings the audience back to Miles County five years later as it is once again terrorized by Art the Clown (Thornton) and the toll it has taken on the only person able to stop him (Lauren LaVera). Audiences for this movie likely expect cutting-edge gore and bloody mayhem from a Chaplinesque slasher stealing the hearts of horror fans around the globe. The change with the second film as compared to the original was that there was actually a plot. The first film (2016’s Terrifier) served as a modern classic despite little substance in terms of writing or character work, the major draw being Thornton’s captivating performance as Art. The second film was incredibly refreshing due to a definitive (albeit conventional) plot and someone to root for against Art.
Lauren LaVera portrays Sienna Shaw, introduced in the second film as an antithesis to Art’s menacing behavior; she is meant to defeat him in the name of all that is good. In the third film, LaVera is particularly ferocious as Sienna, who, despite being in a franchise where we originally root for the killer to lay waste to the shells of characters before us, takes the film to another level. Sienna and Art’s dynamic echoes Laurie Strode and Michael Meyers in 1978’s Halloween: an innate force of good versus evil. LaVera’s performance is one of the genre’s best 21st-century final girls.
Terrifier 3 relishes that it is set during Christmas, typically the most “wonderful” time of the year. Decked out in colored lights, tinsel, and Christmas carols galore, the film uses this as a gimmick to contrast the excessive gore. The cold open alone made me understand why around 10 people walked out of the UK premiere of the film. Most of all, Terrifier 3 oozes with atmosphere in every shot, a clear result of the higher budget and production quality (the first film had a budget of roughly $35,000).
Despite the higher visual quality, the writing fails to improve from the second film. None of these films are perfectly written, and there are ideas and moments with no exploration or elaboration. Sienna describes how she wants to return to the haunted house where she faced off with Art five years prior to get the weapon she used to kill him. We never actually see this adventure, and audiences are robbed of an interesting moment for her arc in coping with her trauma. The film, which undoubtedly aims to explore Sienna’s arc of overcoming trauma, glosses over Sienna’s trauma entirely. Too many ideas were included in the script but never actually explored in a meaningful way. The ending is lackluster, potentially setting up a sequel that does not feel justified. This type of writing stagnates the franchise and unfortunately, as many slasher franchises do, we might be entering the decline of the Terrifier movies.
The one thing that will never decline in the Terrifier franchise is the copious blood and gore effects in its kill sequences. This film features some of the most gruesome acts ever depicted in film; my jaw dropped multiple times at what I was witnessing. The film includes (but is not limited to) an ax, liquid nitrogen, rats, a chainsaw, intestines, explosives, and much more. Terrifier 3 will most certainly shock even some of the bravest horror fans.
Just as the gore never falters, neither does Thornton’s iconic performance as Art the Clown. Art has a joyous whimsy that never wanes, and his entrance into any scene makes the audience tense up immediately. This is a slasher icon whether people like it or not.
Terrifier 3 is not for everyone. It is a divisive film in a franchise that is already divisive among horror fans and general moviegoers. Nevertheless, this is a titan of the modern slasher genre that has no plans of slowing down despite its lack of a substantial, well-thought-out script. Whether audiences like it or not, the Clown Cafe is open and has no plans of closing anytime soon.
Review Courtesy of Nadia Arain
Feature Image Credit to Dark Age Cinema via Bloody Disgusting