Terrifier 3 (2024)
No mindless gorefest
Terrifier 3 chronicles the latest blood-soaked exploits of Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), a sadistic demon from another dimension who revels in torture and savagery. The previous two Terrifier movies were set on Halloween, but this one adopts a Christmas setting.
Picking up five years after the climactic end of the previous installment, it continues the story of Sienna Shaw (Lauren Lavera), the angel warrior final girl who defeated Art in Terrifier 2.
Sienna is no longer a precocious teen. Now in her twenties, and struggling with severe PTSD, she is living with her aunt Jess (Margaret Anne Florence), uncle Greg (Bryce Johnson), and young cousin Gabbie (Antonella Rose). Meanwhile, her little brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam) is away at college, where he is hounded by questions about his traumatic past.
Lauren Lavera gives a genuine, heartfelt performance as Sienna. Her emotions are so raw and authentic. It’s not easy to make us care about the characters in a slasher movie. After all, most of them are shallow fodder designed to increase the body count. Not Sienna. She feels like a real person. It’s amazing that Lavera was a total unknown just a couple years ago. I don’t know how director Damien Leone found her, but he struck gold.
Interestingly, Leone has repeatedly used Christian imagery in his depictions of Sienna. Terrifier 2 has her wearing an angel costume. This time (minor spoiler alert), she wears a crown of thorns at one point. Leone is depicting Sienna as a messianic figure, which has intriguing implications for the future of the franchise.
David Howard Thornton is again great as Art. This is his third go-round, and he looks very comfortable in the role. It must be tough to play a character who never speaks, but Thornton’s charisma and body language more than compensate for the lack of dialogue. In fact, Art would probably be less scary if he had a voice.
One of the best parts of Terrifier 3 is the emergence of Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi), who was criminally underused in both previous movies. As the ending of Terrifier 2 hinted, Victoria is now Art’s new sidekick. She is possessed by the spirit of the Little Pale Girl, Art’s dour young companion.
The ghostly little clown is having fun inhabiting Victoria’s hideously disfigured and mangled body, but she has her sights set on an even better prize. Scaffidi looks like she’s having the time of her life in this role. She’s constantly taunting and trash talking Art’s victims.
Hats off to Damien Leone, who has directed all three Terrifier movies, as well as a prequel of sorts called All Hallows’ Eve (2013). He has clearly learned from some common constructive criticisms of his previous films (Terrifier‘s lack of plot, Terrifier 2‘s excessive runtime) and it’s easy to see his growth as a filmmaker. Leone has effectively built up an intriguing mythology around his franchise, including the introduction of fantasy elements such as a magic sword.
How it compares to the previous two
Like its predecessors, Terrifier 3 is extremely gory and violent. There’s no doubt that the average moviegoer will be appalled by much of the material presented here. The film reaches its carnal apex in an absolutely brutal shower scene. Quick tip: Don’t get it on with your girl/guy in the shower when Art is around! It’s not gonna end well!
That said, if you’ve seen the previous two Terrifier films, there’s nothing here that surpasses them in terms of ick factor. I would also have wished for more creativity in the kills. Art loves hacking off limbs with his chainsaw/axe and we get that repeatedly here. There are some moments of innovation, though. One scene really surprised me: Art pulls off a deadly terrorist attack at a mall during the bustling Christmas shopping season.
To me, the original Terrifier is still, by far, the most disturbing movie of the series. It’s a sleazy and mean-spirited flick that never pretends to be anything more than that. Terrifier 2 and 3 are superior to the original in terms of all the typical objective qualities that we rate movies by: writing, acting, directing, etc.
But Terrifier remains the only movie that truly made me feel the dread and creepiness that is only found in the most sickening slashers. Horror villains inevitably get less frightening as they become more familiar. Some of the Terrifier shock value has worn off.
Terrifier 3 builds up the series mythology a bit more, but anyone looking for definitive answers for where Art comes from, or why he kills, is not going to find them here. The ending leaves the door wide open for another sequel. Based on how this movie concludes, I would be willing to wager that we will learn a lot more about Art, and his home world, in the next installment.
A few final thoughts on this movie and the series so far:
1. Damien Leone is a demented creative genius who, against all odds, has created a new horror icon. He’s done it his way and has resisted allowing any major studio to compromise his grisly vision. He is planning to make at least one more installment.
2. Lauren Lavera has a great chance of being remembered as one of the best, if not *the* best, scream queens of the 2020s.
3. David Howard Thornton’s portrayal of Art the Clown is iconic. I don’t want to be hyperbolic, but his performances are on par with Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger.
Rating
Terrifier 3 is a gleefully deranged slasher that expands the franchise’s world while remaining focused on a small group of important characters. It is on par with Terrifier 2 in overall quality.
If forced to choose, I’d pick Terrifier 2 as the (slightly) better film, but this third installment lives up to the hype and provides fans with everything that a slasher should. It will be interesting to see where the franchise goes from here!
Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece): 7.5
