‘Terrifier 3’ Movie Review: Art The Clown Steals Christmas With More Splatter And Coal-Black Humor
Photo from Dark Age Cinema
From Jeremy Kibler
The low-budget, splatterific Terrifier franchise began as a taut, grimy, extremely mean video nasty of a one-off in 2018, until its two-hour sequel, 2022’s Terrifier 2, upped the ante in terms of gory physical harm and mythology. Making the shift from Halloween to Christmas with Terrifier 3, writer-director Damien Leone knows how to keep upping the ante with his newborn horror icon and, for better or for worse, the supernatural/religious lore. This is the type of extreme, ruthlessly gruesome horror movie that will make every non-horror fan think that anyone who watches it is a complete psychopath.
Previously on Terrifier… Art the Clown, the Miles County Clown (brilliantly played by David Howard Thornton), gets his decapitated head back, thanks to Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi), the facially disfigured survivor from the first Terrifier and now his demonically possessed helper, giving birth to said head. Everything has gotten supernatural at this point, so you either go with the setup or not. From there, Art and Victoria take a nap in an abandoned house ready for demolition until it’s time to paint the town red again just in time for Christmas. Five years after her trauma from the last film, chosen final girl Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) has just been picked up by her uncle (Bryce Johnson) from a nice psychiatric facility but still suffers from major PTSD. Her Aunt Jessica (Margaret Ann Florence, a dead ringer for Neve Campbell circa 1996) tries to be supportive, and Sienna dotes on her niece Gabbie (Antonella Rose), who might be the nosiest child and thereby deserving of harm. Meanwhile, Sienna’s brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam) is giving college a try and hopefully gets to see his sister for the holidays. But Art is very much alive, and he does pick up a Santa Claus suit (you’ll never guess how) and continues his rampage.
Off the top with a well-paced set-piece involving a young girl waking up her parents about Santa being on their roof, Terrifier 3 means business. Art isn’t above killing a few brats, but that’s just the warm-up. The easily offended and weakest of stomachs should definitely sit this one out and stick with A Charlie Brown Christmas. How could Leone and his team possibly top the upsetting, adding-salt-to-the-wound bedroom death of Terrifier 2? Terrifier 3 gets very close, delivering the ultra-gory goods out of disgusting prosthetics and practical effects. Art turns a Mall Santa into Frosty. A shower sex scene in a frat house takes a notable line from Heathers quite literally (hint: it involves a chainsaw). There is an early moment of voyeurism while a demolition worker is being scalped that’s almost too off-putting, and part of the climax involving rat torture feels protracted. Nothing is off limits here, and yet Leone’s tone is rarely without a twisted, coal-black sense of humor (you bet Art makes a snow angel on a floor of blood).
David Howard Thornton is a gem of a physical performer as Art the Clown, who still has a killer personality and mugs with a mischievous sadism without saying a word. He’s kind of a little stinker but very much a sicko who’s really good at his job. Art met his match in Sienna, and Lauren LaVera is a strong, appealing anchor while getting put through the wringer once again.
The lore involving a magical sword and Sienna’s angel warrior costume (inspired by her late artist father, played by Jason Patric in a flashback) is getting overblown, as are the religious overtones. The anything-goes rules reduce the sense of danger a bit, but there’s no lack of unthinkably horrific kill scenes you can’t unsee. Limbs are not just severed but frozen with liquid nitrogen and hammered to pieces.
Eventually, Terrifier 3 keeps putting a hat on a hat on a hat, reaching an exhausting climax. The more story Leone tries to tell, the more he seems to push himself into a corner with needless fantasy mythology (and surely the inevitable Terrifier 4 will tie everything up). Until then, this depraved Grand Guignol surely crosses every line with a grim smile, and you will already know if you’re in or out.
Rating: 3/5
Terrifier 3 is being re-released on December 24th and 25th.
