Back in the 80s, slasher movies were a dime a dozen. Nowadays they’re a lot rarer. Oh sure, there will be movies that have slasher elements in them, but the true essence of an 80s slasher was engineering situations so we can watch a villain murder a ton of people in increasingly creative and bloody ways. We didn’t need a deconstruction of society, subtext regarding the human psyche, or a revelation that our murderer was sympathetic. We just wanted gruesome violence and solid one-liners to laugh at. Freddy Krueger, Jason Vorhees, and Michael Myers were the progenitors of the modern-day slasher movie villain, and their torch is carried by the psychotic and deranged mime Art the Clown in his latest movie, Terrifier 3.
The Terrifier series started off as a low-budget and rather barebones slasher. Thanks to positive word of mouth and some absolutely insane gore effects, the budget and scale for each movie only grew and grew. At first, Art was luring people into an abandoned apartment complex and murdering whoever crossed his path. In Terrifier 3, we have a genuine plot and a series continuity, connecting elements from the past two films into a brutal gorefest. This is a bonafide franchise now!
Oh, and did I mention that this film was set during Christmas? Cause it is. With Art donning a Santa outfit and massacring anyone who gets in his way, Terrifier 3 does give off some Silent Night, Deadly Night vibes, which I can totally dig. I can’t say this is a flawless movie or even the best film in the series, but it does have a lot of moments that will certainly leave fans satisfied and eager for more.
Terrifier 3
Director: Damien Leone
Release Date: October 11, 2024 (Theatrical)
Rating: R
Set five years after the events of the second movie, Terrifier 3 once again follows Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera), who is released from a psychiatric hospital to spend Christmas with her relatives. Little does she know that Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) survived being decapitated (it’s a long story) and after sitting in a chair for five years, has returned and is walking around now as Santa Claus, doing what he does best – killing a lot of people. He has a new accomplice, though, in Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi), the survivor of the first film, who is now being possessed by the pale little girl from the second movie and using her new demonic powers to assist Art in his violent spree.
So let’s talk about the gore. If there’s one thing that the Terrifier series is known for, it’s for having an absurd amount of violence with some shockingly gooey practical effects. The first film featured vivisections and brutal bludgeonings while the second film featured one of the most gleefully insane and over-the-top kills I’ve ever seen, and those films barely had a budget. What does Terrifier 3 do with its now multi-million dollar budget? Honestly, not a heck of a whole lot.
There are plenty of kills in this movie, and they are juicy when they do appear, but there wasn’t a single kill that defined the movie in terms of gore. If anything, there was a scene that I’m sure will become infamous (and has already been extremely controversial in certain circles), but it wasn’t for the gore. I think that one scene (you’ll know it when you see it) is the scene the people are claiming they’re walking out on, saying that it’s in poor taste. I would disagree since we’re expected to hate Art for his actions and that moment does a bang-up job of making us hate him, but that’s beside the point. The effects are still solid, but I feel that in order to earn more mainstream attention, Damien Leone had to tone the gruesome violence down ever so slightly in a bid for more mainstream acceptance. It seems to have worked and this still feels like a Terrifier movie, but at times the kills come off a little bit like “been there, done that.”
Copyright: Cineverse
David Howard Thornton is still the highlight of the film by a country mile. He always seems to have a blast playing Art the Clown and is able to be creepy yet hilarious, if only through his facial expressions. Even moments that are meant to be deadly serious are funny if only because Art will do something out of left field like smack someone upside the head for no real reason. Art has become a modern-day slasher icon and Terrifier 3 only goes to show how Art is here to stay. Whenever he’s on screen, the film is damn near mesmerizing.
The rest of the film isn’t quite as excellent. When I saw Terrifier 2, I bemoaned at how the film decided to have a fairly long plot that attempted to establish a lore explaining how Art can’t stay dead, which brought angels and demons into the series canon. It all felt a bit unnecessary when the first film was a perfectly fine experience that didn’t have any of that baggage and Terrifier 3 continues down that well. It does make several good decisions, like exploring the fallout of the second film’s climax. We see how Sienna struggles to adjust back into society and how she has survivor’s guilt, PTSD, and can’t seem to get over her deadly encounter with Art.
That being said, her plot does feel a bit incomplete. She competes for screentime not only with Art but with her younger brother Jonathan (Elliot Shaw), as we frequently cut to how he’s trying, more or less successfully, to lead a normal life in college. But his plot doesn’t go anywhere and his character is essentially written out of the movie and never factors into the climax. Really, it just serves as an excuse for Art to kill people at a college, which is a perfectly valid reason, but does make his scenes a bit pointless. The same can be said for the additional lore that’s sprinkled throughout the film. Terrifier 3 is never a lesser movie with its inclusion, but it is a movie that does get muddled the more and more we stray from Art and why people want to see a Terrifier movie in the first place. We don’t want to see a theological battle between good and evil with Sienna and Art the proxies for Heaven and Hell. We wanna see some blood!
Copyright: Cineverse
At the end of the day, Terrifier 3 is at its best when it’s all about Art and his murder spree. Hell, every Terrifier movie is at its best when it’s all about Art. For the most part, the film does remember that and even though this may not be totally accurate, it does feel like he has more screen time here than in the earlier movies. His presence is palpable and even if the movie tries its damndest to make Sienna the main character, it’s still Art’s show. The film doesn’t even pretend to hide the fact that there’s going to be a fourth film, ending with a major cliffhanger that all but ensures that this isn’t the end. This is the highest-grossing movie in the franchise by tens of millions, so sequels here we come!
Like the great slasher movies before it, Terrifier 3 is a damn good time. It has a sense of humor with how over-the-top it is and the film isn’t afraid to push boundaries in terms of gore and effects. Some may say that it pushed the boundary a bit too far with who the victims are in these killings, but it still does lead to some great and memorable moments. You want to hate the villain, and Terrifier 3 does a wonderful job of making you hate Art. When the movie isn’t centered on him and instead focuses on Sienna, Jonathan, or the lore, the film loses some of its appeal and ends up spinning its wheels until Art comes back. When he’s on screen, however, you’re going to have one hell of a time. If you’re going to see one horror movie this Halloween season, make it Terrifier 3.
