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| Images courtesy of Cineverse |
Horror films and their fandom aren't always seen in a flattering light, and extreme horror fans are occasionally portrayed as pariahs, even within the scene. Often a horror fan will declare, "Oh, I love horror films but not stuff like A Serbian Film or August Underground, only sickos like that kind of stuff!" It is a strange position to take the moral high ground on, as extreme horror is just as fake as the less intense material and is the same type of escapism.
Why do people love to watch horror in the first place? It could be a safe space to experience fear and danger (and subsequently adrenaline) without the real threat of physical harm. It could also indulge one's curiosity about death and its trappings, especially in a society that hides it away behind velvet curtains and wooden caskets. More fundamentally, some people enjoy the technical aspects, the art of creating realistic props and viscera. The Terrifier franchise encompasses all of these concepts and has somehow wormed its way into the mainstream consciousness, shocking those who haven't been initiated into this niche corner of horror fandom and delighting those for whom it's old hat.
The Terrifier films have been on a journey. The first full-length outing with Art the Clown was basic and straightforward, but in the second film, Damien Leone went for broke and fleshed out the story with surreal nightmare logic and high fantasy. Terrifier 2 was a huge hit, making fifteen million dollars on its 250,000 dollar budget. If anything is consistent about horror films, it's that when a movie is a success, that guarantees that many sequels will follow. The main issue with the second outing was the length, almost two hours and twenty minutes, and the story, which needed more cohesion and clarity. Everything else in the movie was top-notch: costumes, music, practical gore, and David Howard Thornton's performance as Art.
While Leone executed some restraint with the length of Terrifier 3, the writing could be more focused, and the characters feel more fleshed out. In the world of extreme horror, the story often isn't the main focal point; it's usually a paper-thin plot used as justification for a collection of gore set-pieces. Intriguingly, Leone wants to add story and symbolism, but his writing needs to be more robust to support it. On paper, the ideas are great, a biblical tale of good versus evil with liberal amounts of '80s fantasy tropes and aesthetics mixed in. Art represents an old god, an all-encompassing malice wrapped in the guise of a clown suit. Thornton is exceptional in his role, oscillating between glee and malevolence at the drop of a hat. Plus, it's Christmas time, and there's always room for more Christmas-themed horror flicks.
The final girl, Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera), is back again, struggling with PTSD five years after the events of Terrifier 2. Sienna is an engaging protagonist who subverts some of a horror film's more common tropes of a female character. She's strong-willed and has a lot of agency, but due to her struggles with her mental health, she is muted for most of the film until the third act. The most notable flaw in Terrifier 3 stems from the flow and the editing. The kill scenes featuring Art and Sienna's storyline feel disconnected, almost like two separate films spliced together. Both storylines hardly intersect, and the transitions between the A and B plot rarely feel natural. The third act felt too long and chaotic because there was not enough natural buildup to Art and Sienna crossing paths again, resulting in a confusing climax and an unsatisfying cliffhanger ending.
On a technical level, Terrifier 3 blows most modern horror films out of the water with its expertly crafted and executed practical effects and mean-spirited murder scenes. Horror has been languishing in focus-grouped PG-13 limbo for far too long, and the Terrifier series feels like being thrown to the wolves (in a good way). My screening had numerous walkouts, and it's fun to feel like you are watching something forbidden and outside the status quo; this is outsider art that is ironically being distributed on a massive scale. Hopefully, with Terrifier 4, Leone can finally grapple with his ambitious story and bring the two halves of his vision together into a mayhem-filled package.
--Michelle Kisner