My Review of Terrifier 3 (2024)

 

Written And Directed by Damien Leone

Sienna (to Gabbie): "Best Christmas present ever!"

Sometimes it's genuinely mind blowing how things can just take off. I mean the first solo outing for Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) was something of a modest affair but met with fair criticism over it's torture porn aspects.

Then the sequel came out two years ago and introduced a Final Girl for the 2020s in Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) and instantly cemented itself a fanbase. Every horror killer needs it's veritable thorn in their side. I think Art and Sienna are destined for this dance for a little bit longer.

With the first two movies making decent use out of a Halloween setting, this one decided to add some nightmare fuel for Christmas. Art opened the movie by slaughtering an entire family on Christmas Eve, only to leave a little girl alive in his own sadistic form of giving for the Holidays.

Coupled with some flashbacks that reintroduced the unfortunate Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi), now possessed by the Pale Little Girl and giving birth to Art's head. Let's just say that once again, Art has a partner in crime and one that also did a lot of talking too. 

As for Sienna, she's become an adult, had a bout of hospital treatment and an estranged relationship with her college attending brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam). To say she's got unresolved issues from her encounter with Art would be an understatement. Sadly for her, not everyone wants to hear about those issues.

There's a family support system with Sienna's aunt Jess (Margaret Anne Florence), the latter's husband, Greg (Bryce Johnson) and daughter, Gabbie (Antonella Rose). Greg's more waty of Sienna while Gabbie's in full idolising mode, even going as far as reading Sienna's diary and wanting to learn more about Art the Clown.

As for Art and Victoria, they build up a kill count between the pair of them as they hunt Sienna down. A shopping mall full of kids, a dive bar with patrons, the use of rats and Jonathan's roommate, Cole (Mason Mecartea) and his girlfriend, Mia (Alexa Blair Robertson) are all fodder for the big event itself. Even poor Jonathan became more expendable in this one.

The final act itself between Art, Victoria, Sienna and Gabbie certainly had it's moments. The movie definitely doubled down on the religious side of things with Sienna and with Gabbie's fate, the groundwork for the inevitable fourth movie will definitely take this franchise to a very hot place. Yes, I know what I did with that pun.

- There are many disgusting moments in this movie but aside from the rats, Victoria pleasuring herself with a shard of glass was horrific.

- Gruesome homage to Psycho with the way Art dealt with Cole and Mia. 

- Flashbacks with Sienna's father, Michael (Jason Patric) filled in a few gaps while a bloodied Brooke (Kailey Hymen) hated Sienna.

- Chris Jericho was back as orderly Burke and Daniel Roebuck played Santa Claus. Neither survived of course.

- Standout music: O Christmas Tree, Deck The Hell and God Rest Ye Scary Gentlemen.

- Chronology: Five years since the events of the previous movie.

Terrifier 3 turned out to be something of a triumph in it's own unashamedly gruesome way. It maintained the quality of the second movie, found new ways to be disgusting, expanded on some mythology and set up it's next installment nicely. Oh and it had fun in its festive setting. 

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Terrifier 2 (2022)

 

Written And Directed by Damien Leone 

Jonathan: "They used me to get to you. They lured you here for a reason."

Sienna: "Why would you say that?"

Jonathan: "It's what Daddy saw."

When you release a horror movie that managed to be a hit but rightfully got criticism for it's handling of women, how do you follow up with your sequel? Well, you make an effort to course correct and to this movie's credit, there's definitely a concentrated attempt to do better.

In the last movie, we saw the brutal treatment that characters such as Tara, Dawn and Victoria all received at the hands of killer clown. Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton). Two of them died and Victoria's fate certainly feels worse than death itself. She's also a factor in this sequel.

However if the first movie enjoyed switching up final girls, this sequel similarly does the same. Here the focus fell on to teenage girl Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) and her younger brother, Jonathan (Elliot Fullham) as both of them finds themselves to being the latest targets for a certain clown. Not to mention anyone else in their orbit.

Notably both Sienna and Jonathan's mother, Barbara (Sarah Voigt) finds herself to be one of the many kills by Art. However, before her death, she was largely depicted as an abrasive character, who struggled to connect with her children as well as believe the strange goings on that surrounded them as well.

At first it seemed like Jonathan's fascination with Art was going to lead to him being a budding killer himself but meeting Art in person managed to scare him straight. Then there was Sienna herself, who in one movie alone certainly proved her mettle as a final girl for the 2020s.

Dressed as an angel warrior, it was up to Sienna to not only save both herself and her brother while Art also murdered her friends but it was revealed that her own father predicted Art's antics. The movie also seemed to imply something supernatural about Sienna as well as she managed to defeat Art but not really.

Like many horror baddies, Art does refuse to stay dead and in this movie he also got himself an ally in Little Pale Girl (Amelie McLain). I don't think Art needed a sidekick this early on but I also found Little Pale Girl to be just as creepy and disgusting as Art, so I guess I was wrong. As for how Art will be back for the upcoming third movie.

That was where the post credit scene came into play. Poor Victoria had a worse time than Sienna and Jonathan given that she had to give birth to Art. It made for a truly disgusting ending to a mostly improved second solo outing for the villainous clown. 

- Professional wrestler Chris Jericho had a role in the movie as a nurse named Burke. Felissa Rose and Tamara Glynn also have small roles in the movie.

- The Clown Commercial dream/nightmare sequence was particularly well done.

- This movie was filmed before COVID, but also reshot after lockdowns as well.

- Chronology: From where the first one left off after Victoria's attack on Monica but a year since Art escaping the morgue. Still set in Miles County, New York.

There's definitely an improvement in Terrifier 2. The clear that's put into Sienna as a character as well as the supernatural implications with both her and Art the Clown. These along with Victoria's tragic continued existence are certainly worth expanding on in the next movie.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Terrifier (2016)

 

Written And Directed by Damien Leone

Dawn (to Tara, re Art): "That's the nicest thing a guy's done for you all night."

I know it's a tad early to be watching movies set during Halloween but I'm not much of a summer person and I thought it was time to reassess these movies. This first one, yup, it's a bit of a challenge.

Shot on a very small budget and very much looking that way, the movie opened with bitchy talk show host Monica Brown (Katie Maguire) interviewing the badly disfigured Victoria Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi) on live television. It turns out that a year ago, Victoria barely survived an attack by a brutal serial killer named Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton).

Victoria might have survived but clearly her encounter with Art did a serious enough number on her that she ended up savagely attacking a mocking Monica backstage. Then the rest of the movie jumped back a year to the night in question.

A year prior, Victoria's sister, Tara (Jenna Kanell) and the latter's friend, Dawn (Catherine Corcoran) had been out celebrating Halloween when they had the misfortune to bump into Art the Clown. At first he seemed like an oddball but it didn't take long for both Tara and Dawn to realise how dangerous he truly was. 

Yeah, one of the main issues with this movie is that Art's brutal attacks on both Tara and Dawn but the latter especially came across as really exploitative and nasty. For a character who doesn't speak a word throughout the entire, there's a not very subtle undercurrent of misogyny from Art in the way he targets women.

That's not to say there aren't male characters who don't get violently killed by the homicidal clown but the emphasis on how he goes after women was far more pronounced here. Especially when Victoria got thrown into the mix by the second half of the movie.

In terms of final girls, the switch up from Tara to Victoria isn't strictly a bad thing but even by Damien Leone's own admission, they're not very well developed as characters. Still though with Art being unkillable and Victoria's dark descent, at least they set up the work a sequel.

- Art the Clown originally appeared in two short movies that got merged into anthology movie All Hallows' Eve.

- Art had a very nasty habit of writing his name, using his own feces. He also has a trash bag of weapons.

- I did feel bad for that poor lady with the doll who foolishly tried to appeal to Art's humanity. It did not end well for her.

- Chronology: Halloween 2017 and 2018 respectively in Miles County, New York.

Terrifier undoubtedly is a mixed bag of a first movie. There's no doubt that Art the Clown works as a horror baddie and it's not hard to see why the character has quickly become a hit with horror fans. Sadly the protagonists are poorly developed, which does derail things a bit here.

Rating: 6 out of 10