terrifier

Movie Night [Christmas Countdown]: Terrifier 3

Dr. K1 Comment

Released: 11 October 2024
Director: Damien Leone
Distributor: Cineverse / Iconic Events Releasing
Budget: $2 million
Stars: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Antonella Rose, Samantha Scaffidi, and Elliott Fullam

The Plot:
Supernaturally reborn Art the Clown (Thornton) and his demonic cohort, Victoria Heyes (Scaffidi), torment traumatised Sienna Shaw (LaVera) and her family at Christmas.

The Background:
The fear of clowns (or “Coulrophobia”) crops up a lot in horror and reality, largely thanks to fictional “Evil Clowns” like Stephen King’s Pennywise and twisted psychos like John Wayne Gacy. Though I’ve never found clowns particularly scary, writer and director Damien Leone touched upon Coulrophobia with The 9th Circle (2008), a short film that featured a prototype of Art the Clown (Mike Giannelli). Though merely a supporting character, Art was popular enough for Leone to bring him back in Terrifier (2011) and All Hallows’ Eve (2013), and to expand the character into a modern-day slasher icon in Terrifier (2016). Though a modest success met with largely positive reviews (especially for David Howard Thornton’s performance and the sickening gore), Leone was dissatisfied with some his characterisations of the protagonists and sought to address this in the 2022 sequel. Weathering criticisms about its brutal content, Terrifier 2 was a critical and commercial success and Leone was excited to add additional nuance to Samantha Scaffidi’s returning character. Leone also gave wrestler Chris Jericho additional screen time, reaped the benefit of a vastly increased budget, and sought to emulate John Carpenter by shooting the film with Panavision anamorphic lenses. With a $90 million box office, Terrifier 3 was the most successful of the franchise at the time, and the reviews mirrored this. While the narrative and extreme content continued to be criticised, critics praised the ever-expanding lore and characters, with many reviews lauding the various complex and captivating performances, and this success all-but ensured the continuation of the controversial slasher franchise.

The Review:
Terrifier 3 opens with pure, unadulterated shock value: a home invasion around the festive season where Art’s dressed as Santa Claus and which establishes the slightly different direction of the film. Namely, Leone relies far more on long, lingering shots and a tense build-up to the brutal gore. Thus, we follow cute youngster Juliet Thomas (Luciana VanDette), who’s awakened by the sounds of commotion on the roof she adorably believes is Santa. While her mother, Jennifer (Krsy Fox), encourages her imagination to get her back to sleep, neither her father or brother (Mark (Alex Ross) and Timmy (Kellen Raffaelo), respectively) have any time for her wild claims. Juliet’s ecstatic when she creeps downstairs and sees Santa lingering near the family tree, but enters a state of awestruck shock when Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick pulls out a fire axe and tip-toes upstairs to hack Timmy to death (off camera, but still rather shocking) and brutalise Mark. Yes, it’s Art the Clown in his newest festive guise, as spiteful as ever. He relishes Jennifer’s screams as he bludgeons Mark and gleefully chases her downstairs before caving in the distraught mother’s head. Art then helps himself to milk and cookies and even does the dishes. Art spies Juliet hiding in a kitchen cupboard, though her fate’s ultimately left ambiguous and I wouldn’t be against seeing her return in a future film. This opening is extremely unsettling, mainly because it’s easy to imagine it happening. Mark tends to leave the front door unlocked and ajar and he and his son are slaughtered before they even knew what hit them. To say nothing of Jennifer’s horrified reaction to her son’s body parts strewn around his bloodstained room and the trauma Juliet suffered as she tries to comprehend the horror happening before her eyes. It’s extremely effective, mainly because of the time Leone takes to build anticipation and the way he teases us with bits and pieces of the kills. I am surprised that Terrifier 3 didn’t go the whole hog and show Art hacking a child to death, considering the franchise isn’t exactly known for pulling its punches.

Traumatised by her encounter with Art, Sienna struggles to realise her seemingly divine destiny.

A security guard (Chris Jericho) at the mental hospital where the horrifically disfigured Victoria Heyes has been incarcerated since the first movie then stumbles open the scarified wretch consuming a nurse, Art’s disembodied head joining in and connected to Victoria by a ghastly umbilical cord! Victoria lets out a plea for help that appears to be her last gasp of sanity and humanity before the demonic force (the “Little Pale Girl” (Amelie McLain) from the last film) possesses her. The demonic Victoria then cheerfully joins Art in tearing the guard’s head to pieces, Art’s headless body having sprung to life and travelled across town after ripping off a cop’s (Stephen Cofield Jr.) head. This reanimation and possession seems to exhaust them as they travel to an abandoned house and enter a strange hibernation, Art reclining in a rocking chair and Victoria slitting her wrists in a bathtub, where they wait for five years. It’s not entirely clear why: potentially exhaustion, as I said (Art seems visibly annoyed with Victoria’s antics, as though cranky and needing a nap) or possibly because the dark power of the Halloween season is leaving them. Regardless, they lie dormant and the “Miles County Clown” becomes a modern-day myth discussed on true crime podcasts like Mia’s (Alexa Blair Robertson), a fangirl who’s hooking up with Jonathan’s (Fullam) roommate, Cole (Mason Mecartea). We catch up with Sienna as she’s being discharged from five years in therapy following her bizarre and brutal encounter with Art. Jonathan, however, is in college and seemingly happy to survive on a diet of denial, pills, and isolation, despite initially being so obsessed with demonology and possession that he wrote Sienna letters about his wild theories regarding Art, the demonic forces behind him, and the strange, seemingly angelic destiny bestowed upon Sienna by their father, artist Michael Shaw (Jason Patric). With her mother dead, Sienna stays with her aunt and uncle, Jess (Margaret Anne Florence) and Greg Shaw (Bryce Johnson), though their compassion wanes as Sienna becomes agitated and aggressive after first sensing Art’s presence and then receiving conformation that her tormentor is still alive.

Though Sienna tries to find peace with her extended family, Jonathan remains in denial.

Sienna is very different from the last movie but is initially determined to get back on track and rediscover herself by rekindling her sisterly relationship with her cousin, Gabbie (Rose). Gabbie is in awe of Sienna and looks up to her as an idol and older sister, admiring Sienna’s scars and reading her journal, a private musing of the nightmares that still haunt our traumatised heroine. Sienna tries to rebuild bridges with Jonathan using the festive season and is dismayed to find her little brother deep in denial and refusing to believe that Art is still alive. Despite her years of therapy, Sienna is still very fragile; she relies on medication to sleep and is shaunted by screams and visions from her experiences. She’s either hearing the dreaded “Clown Café” jingle or seeing delusions of her brutalised best friend, Brooke (Kailey Hyman), feeding her survivor’s guilt and leaving her a neurotic mess. However, as good as LaVera continues to be, I would’ve liked to see more emphasis placed on Sienna’s fractured mental state. Brooke could’ve shown up more, for example, and Sienna’s scars could’ve been more prominent. Her relationship with Gabbie was adorable, though, and there’s a sense that Sienna relies on this normalcy to move on from her past, but Sienna is quick to anger when Mia badgers her and erratically lashes out at Jonathan when he seemingly turns his back on her, unaware that he’s hiding his panic attacks. Terrifier 3 delves a little more into Sienna’s past where, as a child (Luciana Elisa Quiñonez), she was doted on by her father, who depicted her as an angelic warrior. Jonathan also claims Sienna was “chosen”, presumably by angelic forces seeking to counterbalance the demon that possessed Art and Victoria, and the film teasing with a bizarre nightmare depicting the statuesque Virgin Mary (Juliana Lamia) forcing a bound demon (Michel Vidal) to forge Sienna’s magical sword.

Joined by the demonic Victoria, Art’s more supernatural and malicious than ever.

Though he may have started as a theatrical, but still mortal, serial killer, Art has become something far worse. He was essentially supernatural in Terrifier 2, but it’s taken up a notch here, with his headless body lumbering about and killing and his disembodied head being reborn through Victoria. Yet, though Art can reattach his head, shrug off bullets, and hibernate for years, he still feels pain when attacked by Sienna and her sword, and his abilities remain rooted in his bag of tricks (now given a festive makeover). Art cobbles together a liquid nitrogen spray device and later boobytraps gifts with a homemade bomb, and cosplays as Santa seemingly on a whim. He spots Charles Johnson (Daniel Roebuck) drinking in a bar and excitedly accosts him, believing he’s the real Santa, only to steal his outfit and leave Johnson a frigid, bloody mess. Art delights in luring victims with his festive guise, enjoying the same degree of anonymity his clown outfit gave him at Halloween, making his horror even more visceral since he targets children. Art’s joined by Victoria, a demonic presence who literally (and gruesomely) gets off on Art’s antics. Although Victoria’s very loquacious, she’s very aloof about who and what they are. Jonathan’s theory that the demonic force possessed the worst person imaginable (a serial killer) and is seeking to inhabit another, stronger body seems as true as his belief that Sienna’s been “chosen” to oppose these forces. Victoria first mocks Sienna’s status as a saviour then compliments her strength, and then literally tries to break Sienna by murdering what little family she has left so she (as in Victoria) can forcibly possess her. Unfortunately, this finale kind of relegates Art to Victoria’s henchman as she dictates the torture and is presented as something of a puppet master. It’s only a fleeting suggestion and the two are depicted more as equals when they do appear onscreen, but I would prefer Leone steer away from diminishing Art like that in future instalments.

The Nitty-Gritty:
I’m not going to get into a debate about whether or not Terrifier 3 is a Christmas movie. It’s set during the festive season, there are Christmas trees, mall Santas, presents, and trappings everywhere, and Art’s going around dressed as Santa, which is enough for me! I will, however, debate the evolving lore. While it seems like Leone is simply making up the story as he goes, suggesting things that may or may not be relevant in the future, there’s a strong suggestion of biblical forces at work. Jonathan believed the Little Pale Girl was the key to it all the film suggests that Art was once a serial killer who, upon his death (either in Terrifier or before), was possessed by a demonic force like the demon in Victoria. Someone, presumably angels or another divine presence, then seemingly chose Sienna to counter these forces and worked through her father to prepare her for this destiny, bestowing her with a magical sword forged by a captive demon. However, while this is said to be the only weapon capable of stopping Art and Victoria, Art still recovered after being beheaded by it and he survives another stabbing from the blade here, though the sword does heal Sienna’s wounds. Sienna previously fell down some kind of Hell hole in Terrifier 2 and another pops up here to swallow Gabbie and the sword, and Sienna’s haunted by memories of the Clown Café, an unsettling upbeat corner of whatever Hell these demons are from that seemingly relishes the suffering of others. It’s intriguing and there are some interesting visuals and suggestions here, though Terrifier 3 stubbornly refuses to provide any explicit details, perhaps to maintain a sense of mystery or perhaps because Leone hasn’t figured out how it all fits together yet. Instead, the film uses it as a backdrop to Sienna’s fractured mental state, which leaves her on edge and tormented by nightmares, though I would’ve liked to see more of these so we could get a better sense of how much she’s struggling with her guilt.

The film certainly delivers the brutal kills you’d expect, though with more suspense than before.

Terrifier 3 had an uphill battle trying to top the last film’s gruesome kills and, perhaps in recognition of this, puts more effort into building tension before Art strikes. Naturally, there are exceptions: Art’s headless body pounces upon the cop that discovers it, for example, Victoria viciously stabs an unassuming exterminator (Michael Genet) through the neck with a shard of glass, and Art opts to simply gun down the bar patrons before torturing Charles. Interestingly, some kills are kept off-screen: we never see what Art and Victoria do to the Art cosplayer (Peter Mitchell), for instance, and both Greg and even Jonathan die off camera. This was an odd choice for me, and it felt like some scenes were cut from the movie, so jarring was their end, to the point where I’m assuming Jonathan is either still alive or we’ll get a flashback in Terrifier 4. Of course, there’s plenty of onscreen brutality and it’s just as macabrely fascinating and disturbing. While Art starts rather pedestrian with a fire axe, he and Victoria are soon ripping Chris Jericho’s jaw off and it’s not long before demented clown is slicing through another exterminator’s (Jon Abrahams) head with a Stanley knife and ripping his skin down his skull! Art’s particularly proud of his liquid nitrogen contraption, which he uses to flash-freeze Charles’ leg, hand, and face before bashing the limbs with a hammer and ripping his beard off. The film’s standout kill sequence sees Art attack Cole and Mia in the college showers with a chainsaw, cutting through bone and muscle and leaving Mia a gibbering mess of sliced meat as he grants her wish to be face-to-face with pure evil. Cole gets the worst of it, having half a hand chopped off, then his leg severed in sickening fashion, before being sliced up the rear and then from the groin to his belly, leaving him little more than steaming meat on the tiles. While it’s truly bizarre that Jonathan’s supposed death happens offscreen, it leads to a particularly ghastly end for Jess as she gets a plastic tube hammered down her throat and is forced to swallow rats before having her throat cut. It’s a scene eerily similar to a sequence form American Psycho (Ellis, 1991) and one that, again, I feel could’ve been even more extreme, like the rats could’ve come clawing out her nether regions or something!

Although Sienna dispatches Victoria, Gabbie falls to Hell and Art escapes into the night…

Perhaps the most distressing kills, however, are those that befall the unsuspecting children fooled by Art’s disguise. After posing as Santa at the mall, Art leaves a bunch of kids and their parents splattered across the festive scenery with a bomb, which deeply unsettles Sienna to the point where she starts screaming for Jonathan to be brought to them so they can get to safety. Although Greg begrudgingly goes to get him, Sienna wakes from a disturbing dream to find her uncle beheaded and nailed to the lounge wall and Art and Victoria in her home. Bound and gagged and beaten with a mallet, Sienna’s forced to watch her aunt’s horrific death. Her relief at finding Gabbie alive is short-lived since the girl’s held at knife point by Art and Victoria triumphantly presents Jonathan’s gory skull to her captive. When her first attempt to possess Sienna fails, Victoria prepares to kill Gabbie to finally break Sienna’s spirit but decides it’d be amusing to watch Sienna open Gabbie’s Christmas present first. After Art bashes Sienna’s hands to a pulp, Victoria demands she open the gift but she and her mute cohort are horrified when it turns out to be the magic sword (which Sienna recovered from the Terrifier funhouse, though I’ve no idea why she left it there or why we never see her get it…) Empowered by the sword, Sienna stabs and beheads Victoria and then jousts with Art, who attacks with his chainsaw. Although Sienna pins Art to the wall, she’s forced to abandon him when Victoria’s remains rot away and open a portal to Hell right under Gabbie! Despite Sienna’s best efforts, she fails to save her cousin, who’s sucked into the void alongside the sword. Although Sienna’s wounds heal and she’s determined to save her surrogate sister, Art escapes into the night to continue unsettling the populace, ending the festive slasher on a cliff-hanger…

The Summary:
I had high hopes heading into Terrifier 3. The first one might’ve been a bit rough around the edges, but the sequel was such a vast improvement, with memorable gore and a relatable and adorable main character to root for. Terrifier 3 seems to struggle with its momentum right from the start, substituting gruesome kills for suspense, which would be fine if this wasn’t a series known for its in-your-face splatter gore. While there are some standout kills and many of the dismemberments and torture sequences are as brutal as you’d expect, it’s jarring when the camera cuts away or significant characters like Jonathan are seemingly killed onscreen. If Leone is going for pure shock value by killing kids, the least he can do is follow through and present some nightmarishly unsettling deaths rather than merely showing us the bloody aftermath. It doesn’t help that Terrifier 3 feels like it’s making the story up as it goes along, clumsily suggesting a coherent narrative through exposition and teases but potentially setting up for an underwhelming payoff. Art’s still very mysterious but the supernatural, demonic context takes some of the allure off him, as does relegating him to Victoria’s henchman in the finale. It’s a fleeting moment and one that’s inconsequential compared to the carnage Art unleashes throughout the film, but I wonder if it might’ve been just as good, if not better, if Victoria had accompanied him throughout and joined in with the kills, if only to cement them as equals. Similarly, while I enjoyed Sienna’s struggles with her trauma and her desperate attempts to continue on after everything she went through, I don’t think the film focused on her delusions and nightmares enough. It could’ve been so much more harrowing if she was having visions of her loved ones so that she (and we) question her sanity. Instead, it’s kind of swept under the rug near the end. It feels like some of this (like other sequences and deaths) were cut to save time, resulting in an uneven narrative that left me unsatisfied at times. David Howard Thornton and Lauren LaVera still give excellent performances, newcomer Antonella Rose is everything Elliott Fullam isn’t, and I did like seeing Victoria depicted as a cackling witch and the hints towards some greater biblical endgame…I just hope the payoff is satisfying and it all fits together in the end.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy Terrifier 3? What did you think to Victoria joining Art as a demonic partner? Do you agree that more focus should’ve been placed on Sienna’s fractured mental state? Which of the kills was your favourite and what did you think to the greater emphasis on tension? Did you also feel like key moments were cut from the film? What’s your favourite Christmas-themed scary movie and which Terrifier film is your favourite? Let me know your thoughts about Terrifier 3 in the comments, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other horror and Christmas content!

Movie Night: Terrifier 2

Dr. K2 Comments

Released: 6 October 2022
Director: Damien Leone
Distributor: Cinedigm / Iconic Events Releasing
Budget: $250,000
Stars: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, Sarah Voigt, Kailey Hyman, and Casey Hartnett

The Plot:
After being mysteriously resurrected, the demonic Art the Clown (Thornton) stalks grieving Sienna Shaw (LaVera) on Halloween night, unaware that Sienna may hold the key to stopping his senseless slaughter for good.

The Background:
The fear of clowns (also known as Coulrophobia) is a surprisingly common trope in both horror and everyday life thanks to fictional “Evil Clowns” like Stephen King’s Pennywise and twisted killers like John Wayne Gacy. Writer director Damien Leone tapped into this fear with his short film, The 9th Circle (2008), a which included a prototype of Art the Clown (Mike Giannelli). Despite his small role, Art proved popular enough for Leone to revisit the character in his subsequent films, Terrifier (2011) and All Hallows’ Eve (2013). Seeing Art as a chance to create a truly iconic slasher villain for a modern audiences. Terrifier made a modest profit and attracted largely positive reviews that praised David Howard Thornton’s performance as Art as much as the stunning gore. Dissatisfied with some elements of the film, Leone sought to craft a truly captivating and well-rounded protagonist for the sequel, while also expanding the scope of the franchise. Despite the discomfort of her Valkyrie costume, Lauren LaVera enjoyed her time on setand worked closely with Leone to give Art a heroic counterpart. With an increased budget thanks to a successful Indiegogo campaign, Leone worked around the COVID-19 pandemic to depict a prolonged and arduous murder scene that attracted much controversy. Despite some criticisms regarding the unnecessary brutality towards women and reports of audiences vomiting or fleeing screenings, Terrifier 2 was a critical and commercial success, with reviews praising LaVera’s nuanced and appealing protagonist as much as Thornton’s continued physical commitment to the killer clown. Sweeping the 2023 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, Terrifier 2’s success more than justified another sequel in 2024 and unquestionably established that Leone had a franchise on his hands, for better or worse.

The Review:
Terrifier 2 picks up right where the first one ended. After terrorising Miles County, Art the Clown shot himself in the head to avoid arrest, leaving a sole survivor – the horribly mutilated Victoria Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi) – confined to a mental hospital after going mad from the experience. Despite his fatal injury, Art bursts to life and attacks coroner, Seth Bolton (Cory DuVal), slicing his throat, ripping his eye out to temporarily “replace” his own, and finally bashing his head in with a surgical mallet. Garbed in a blood-soaked clown outfit, Art retrieves his bin bag full of “toys” and heads to a laundromat to freshen up, silently giggling over the bad news in the local paper and being approached by a mysterious cherub dressed almost identically to him. This “Little Pale Girl” (Amelie McLain) appears to be an unidentified demonic spirit, one only Art or those close to him can see, and it’s implied she causes his otherwise inexplicable resurrection. The Little Pale Girl appears throughout Terrifier 2, often sporting glowing eyes and imitating voices, and is seemingly a spiritual guide to the murderous mime as she encourages and somewhat directs his actions. The film then jumps ahead to the following Halloween Eve, when the fallout from Art’s killing spree is still felt throughout Miles County. Jonathan Shaw (Fullam) is strangely obsessed with Art, who’s presumed dead but also missing, to the point where he wishes to dress up as Art for Halloween, a decision his overworked and short-tempered mother, Barbara (Voigt), vehemently shoots down. Jonathan’s macabre imagination and fascination with serial killers disturbs his older sister, Sienna, though her concerns fall on deaf ears since her mother is more concerned with work and expressing her grief by scolding her children for any right- or wrongdoings.

Alluring Sienna makes for a sympathetic, relatable, and well-rounded protagonist.

The Shaws are in turmoil following the death of their patriarch, a talented artist who once envisioned his daughter as a Valkyrie warrior before succumbing to an unnamed disease. While Sienna remembers her father fondly, spending months constructing an elaborate recreation of her father’s drawing to wear to a Halloween party and “feel close” to him, it’s heavily implied that her father underwent a dramatic character change as his disease worsened. He barely knew who he was by the end and is said to be abusive towards Sienna, which perhaps is what drove him to drown his sorrows and kill himself in a car wreck. Either way, the Shaws deal with their grief in different ways: Barbara focuses on work and has a short fuse, Jonathan veers down a more morbid path, and Sienna focuses on her costume project. Having already struggled with her mental health and still relying on pills to curb her anxiety attacks and nightmares, Sienna is barely holding together; all she has is her project and the ornate sword her father gifted to her. Well, that and her friends, Brooke (Hyman) and Allie (Hartnett), who treat her like an adopted sister. While the three are close, Sienna’s condition and trauma keeps a wedge between them. She’s easily triggered by talk of gore and Brooke later chastises her for being so uptight and doom-and-gloom all the time. Sienna’s life is made more difficult by Jonathan, who lands in hot water when visions of Art and the Little Pale Girl see him reprimanded at school, aggravating his already borderline abusive mother. Haunted by ominous dreams of Art and his “Clown Café”, Sienna’s mental state is often questioned, especially when her room spontaneously combusts, to the point where few share her concerns when she sees Art in the flesh. While the main protagonists victims of Terrifier were largely forgettable, Sienna is a far more well-rounded character. Vulnerable, beautiful, and creative, she’s determined to make an impression with her costume and goes to great lengths to try and keep Jonathan safe by the finale.

Sienna rightfully gets most of the screen time, though her friends and family do add to her plight.

After going through their father’s sketchbook, Jonathan surmises that he was aware of Art and depicted Sienna as angelic warrior to combat the evil clown. Her outfit echoes this, painting her as a Valkyrie and setting her up as a flawed and suffering representation of light versus Art’s twisted evil. Focusing on Sienna and her family strife was a fantastic idea; it removes some of the grimy “Grindhouse” atmosphere of the first film but gives us someone to sympathise with and root for. Unfortunately, Allie is just kind of…there…empathetic to Sienna’s troubles but struggling to fully relate to them. Brooke is much more outspoken and reckless, snorting coke with her boyfriend, Jeff (Charlie McElveen). Still, they exude more personality than their predecessors and we care about them by proxy since they’re close to Sienna rather than simply being throwaway victims. However, Elliott Fullam seems out of his depth, portraying Jonathan as a weird, obnoxious, conflicted brat who hyperventilates his way through most scenes and spends most of his time riling everyone up or wailing on the floor. It’s clear that he and Sienna have a bond, one that’s frayed since their father died, and they come together nicely in the end when Art kidnaps the boy to lure in his sister. To be fair, it’s no wonder Jonathan and even Sienna are messed up with a mother like Amanda. She can barely hold herself together to care for her kids and is far more likely to strike them than encourage or comfort them. Amanda’s inability to keep her cool sees her literally lose her head courtesy of Art, further scarring Jonathan when he finds the clown he’s been obsessed with stuffing mashed potatoes into the remains of his mother’s head! The Little Pale Girl callously uses Sienna’s family against her, imitating Jonathan’s voice and even assuming Amanda’s form just to trap and taunt the girl, and learning of their condition only serves to further agonise the already suffering Sienna, who’s literally put through hell in order to realise her father’s destiny for her.

Art gets a supernatural, demonic edge that makes him even more cruel and sadistic than before!

While Art was previously portrayed as a disturbing but nonetheless human figure, he’s now got one foot in the supernatural. Reborn not as a zombie or some undead spirit, Art retains the same twisted sense of humour and sadistic streak as before, but we spend more time with him between kills. We see him swiping supplies from Seth’s office, washing his clothes with mirth, constructing new weapons, and express visible disgust and frustration when his prey fights back. Art becomes fixated on Sienna, possibly because they seem to share a strange mental connection (Sienna often dreams about or has visions of Art, for example). When he finally gets his hands on Sienna, Art doesn’t rip her to pieces like his other victims; he brutally beats her and leaves her alive. Indeed, Art is far more elaborate with his kills this time, stalking and taunting them with his clown-like antics and then drawing out their deaths with a cruel malice. Art is functionally superhuman now, shrugging off gunshots, spiked implements to the head, and easily ripping off limbs and through chest cavities. He remains vulnerable, however, being slowed by weapons, bleeding, and being temporarily subdued by a sawn-off shotgun. However, he returns each time, spurred on by the Pale Little Girl, and eager for his victims to scream in agony. When Jonathan lays unconscious at his feet, for example, Art is visibly disappointed and resorts to chewing on the boy’s ankle to hear his screams. As his victims scream and bawl, Art gleefully mocks them, his silent laughter and crocodile tears mirroring the very real pain and suffering of his prey, who are forced to endure more agony than appears humanly and scientifically possible. We also get a few titbits about a possible backstory for Art: he holes up in an abandoned theme park, specifically the Terrifier fun house where it’s said the Pale Little Girl died some years prior, and it’s almost implied that he was somehow brought to life by Sienna’s father’s drawings. Naturally, Terrifier 2 doesn’t go into detail with this but the Pale Little Girl’s presence, Art’s seemingly supernatural edge, and the breadcrumbs offered by Sienna and Jonathan certainly go a long way to suggest that there’s more to Art than simply being a mute, killer clown.

The Nitty-Gritty:
The visual and narrative upgrade from Terrifier to Terrifier 2 is both impressive and very welcome. While the first was a grimy, shocking piece of splatter-gore, the second is a far “cleaner” and more mainstream horror offering. However, while its indie, Grindhouse-inspired roots may have been downgraded, Terrifier 2 remains a disturbing and twisted watch. The increased budget clearly allowed Damien Leone to utilise better camera, better lighting, more elaborate gore effects, and far more visually interesting locations. I liked the gritty, back alley setting of the first film, but it did become stagnant at times and very much felt like Terrifier was merely an appetiser for what Leone and Thornton are truly capable of. Terrifier 2 opts for a suburban setting for a disturbing amalgamation of the suburban horror of John Carpenter’s Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) and the “Gallio” horror cinema. In Terrifier, the horror wasn’t so much the over-the-top gore but more the randomness of Art’s attacks; he seemingly picked victims at random and was unpredictable. That unpredictability is still present in Terrifier 2, only now locking yourself in your home isn’t enough. Art simply forces his way into Allie’s house, and the Shaw’s, brutalising his victims and cropping up in a laundromat and Halloween store without a care in the world. Art’s presence is unnerving even considering the spooky season since he acts so aloof; even him trying on goofy sunglasses and honking horns at Sienna is enough to rattle her. This is given a raw edge through Sienna’s visions and nightmares, where Art massacres a children’s television show as a figure of mirth warped into a violent psychopath. Just researching Art and seemingly being fascinated by his legend is enough to cause Jonathan to see the Little Pale Girl, though Terrifier 2 suggests there’s more to this and some mysterious link between the Shaws and Art since Barbara is incensed by the mere mention of him and Sienna is seemingly positioned as Art’s polar opposite.

Art gleefully subjects his victims to gruesome, brutal torture before tearing them to pieces!

Art is now obsessed with raking flesh and tends to target eyes, possibly because he’s missing one at the start. He pulls out Seth’s eye, stabs the Halloween store clerk (Johnath Davis) in the orbital area with a broken bottle, and slices a scalpel through Allie’s eye to start her torturous death. No one is spared Art’s wrath, even an exhausted laundromat patron (Thomas Smith) gets a broken mop jammed into his head just because he woke up! Art’s bag of tricks has been expanded; he carries corrosive acid that he tosses in Brooke’s face and a sawn-off shotgun to blow Amanda away. Art also brutalises the melting Brooke with a custom-made nail bat and other implements, used a tommy gun and blowtorch in Sienna’s dream, and even stabs Jeff in the dick and hacks it off to taunt Brooke! Art lashes Sienna and Jonathan with a barbed whip, slashes them with a scalpel, and hacks off the clerk’s head with a rusty hatchet! However, Allie takes the prize for the film’s most memorable and morbidly fascinating kill! When Art breaks into her house, he chases her to her bedroom and slashes her eye, then savagely descalps her with a pair of scissors before slicing into her back to expose her ribcage. He then wrenches off one arm, splits the other down the middle, and dumps bleach and acid over her as she whimpers, bleeding on the floor. Art then tears half her face off and mutilates her to the muscle and bone when Allie’s mother (Amy Russ) returns home. Despite being little more than a flayed corpse, Allie still has the strength to call for her mother, leaving the woman a screaming wreck as Art silent cackles away, Allie’s flesh still stuck in his teeth! It is, honestly, a painfully disturbing sequence of brutality that I just cannot turn away from. The sheer ruthless nature of Allie’s suffering trumps anything, even that kill, from the first movie and certainly suggests that Art exudes an aura that prolongs his victim’s suffering and empowers him, since he clearly gets off on their agony!

Although Sienna powers up and defeats Art, the demonic clown is reborn through his former victim…

After suffering a panic attack thanks to her condition and Brooke spiking her drink, Sienna heads home with Brooke and Jeff. However, Sienna forces them to redirect to the abandoned funfair when Jonathan calls for help. This is, however, a trap laid by Art and the Little Pale Girl. As Sienna searches for her brother, Art castrates Jeff in an attack that’ll make your eyes water and brutalises Brooke, ripping out and partially eating her heart. Although Sienna valiantly attacks Art, she gets cut up and beaten unconscious, though this is where Terrifier 2 loses much of its momentum as the final act descends into an extended chase and attack sequence where Sienna and Jonathan run around looking for each other. Art delights in cutting Jonathan with a scalpel, shrugs off having his own bat lodged in his skull, and maniacally whips both Shaw siblings, gouging their flesh and repeatedly throttling Sienna. Although Jonathan tries to help, Sienna ends up stabbed in the abdomen with her own sword and drops down a mysterious hole from which the screams of Art’s victims echo. Transported to the Clown Café, Sienna ultimately drowns in a glass chamber. While Art feasts on Jonathan’s ankles, Sienna hears his screams and is mysteriously resurrected by her father’s blade, which heals her stomach wound (though not her others) and allows her to claw out of whatever part of Hell spawned Art and the Little Pale Girl. Sienna attacks Art with the magical sword and fatally wounds him. Like the last film, Art offers no resistance to this; indeed, he not only joyfully offers his neck but also seems to nod in respect for Sienna’s strength. Full of righteous vengeance, Sienna hacks off Art’s head but is too traumatised and injured to stop the Little Pale Girl taking it. A mid-credits scene sees an agonised Victoria Heyes spewing vile liquids from her nether-regions. Drawn to the normally docile patient’s cries, Victoria’s nurse (Leah Voysey) finds she has written curses and a declaration of love to Art on the walls with her blood and faeces. Oh, and Victoria is also seemingly possessed by the Little Pale Girl, since she sports the same glowing eye…and chortles maniacally as she cradles Art’s newly born severed head!

The Summary:
Terrifier 2 certainly improves on many of the flaws and shortcomings of its predecessor. Not only is the scope widened, but the locations and effects greatly benefit from the additional budget, to say nothing of Rostislav Vaynshtok and Paul Wiley’s synth-style score. The greatest trump card Terrifier 2 has over the first film is in Sienna. Lauren LaVera captivates with a natural beauty, charismatic appeal, and sympathetic vulnerability. She may get the lion’s share of screen time and characterisation, but it greatly benefits the film and her friends, while less developed characters, still add to her plight. Terrifier 2 does a decent job of exploring how grief affects different people, from Amanda focusing on work and lashing out at her kids to Jonathan’s odd obsession with serial killers like Art. Sienna choses to focus on her artistic expression to remember the good times she had with her father and feel closer to him, honouring his memory with her attractive (but clearly uncomfortable) Valkyrie outfit. As a pure, almost angelic figure, she’s perfectly positioned as Art’s archenemy and opposite, being traumatised and insecure where he’s bold and colourful. While Art’s mystery is only deepened here, with supernatural and potentially demonic elements being weaved into his character and him showing a burning rage at times, he’s also more unhinged and brutal than ever! Terrifier 2 turns the dial up to twenty-one, never mind eleven (!), with its deranged and sadistic kills that border on torture porn. It’s shockingly gruesome seeing Art maim, hack, and assault his victims and the film certainly isn’t forgetting its Grindhouse roots in these long, uncomfortable sequences that will have you questioning your obsession with horror. While this is enough to satisfy me as a horror fan, and to rate Terrifier 2 as the superior compared to its sequel, everything about this film justifies this rating since its so much more polished compared to the original. Whereas Terrifier seemed like an expensive proof of concept, Terrifier 2 has an actual plot, a developed main character, and adds a touch more intrigue to its inhuman villain. It feels less like a random assortment of grimy, shocking gore and more like a more complete and nuanced movie. It’s still not for everyone, the third act drags a bit and squanders the momentum of the second half, and some may even be offended by its content, but Terrifier 2 was a far more enjoyable experience for me as a film and horror fan and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to take a dive bomb into the more extreme end of the genre.

My Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Great Stuff

Do you think Terrifier 2 surpasses the original? What did you think to the additional supernatural elements given to Art? Were you also a fan of Sienna, her eye-catching outfit, and her position as Art’s reluctant opposite? What do you think is happening with the Little Pale Girl? Do you agree that the gore was far more brutal this time, or did you find it too unrealistic? Are you scared of clowns and, if so, why? Which of the Terrifier films is your favourite and how are you celebrating horror this month? Share your thoughts about Terrifier 2 in the comments, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other horror content!

Movie Night: Terrifier

Dr. K2 Comments

Released: 15 May 2018
Director: Damien Leone
Distributor: Epic Pictures Releasing
Budget: $35 to 55 million
Stars: David Howard Thornton, Samantha Scaffidi, Jenna Kanell, Catherine Corcoran, and Matt McAllister

The Plot:
After being creeped out by a lewd, mute clown named Art (Thornton) on Halloween night, Tara Heyes (Kanell) and her best friend, Dawn Emerso (Corcoran), are hounded and brutalised by the sadistic killer.

The Background:
Coulrophobia (or the fear of clowns) is a common trope not just in horror, but in everyday life. Personally, I’ve never found clowns to be scary but the media is full of examples of “Evil Clowns”, with two of the most notable being the Joker and Stephen King’s It. It’s this fear that writer director Damien Leone tapped into when he made his directorial debut with The 9th Circle (2008), a short film that introduced the first prototype of Art the Clown (Mike Giannelli). Though only a supporting character, Art proved popular with audiences and Leone revisited the character in his next short film, Terrifier (2011), and the feature-length anthology All Hallows’ Eve (2013). Afterwards, Leone decided to make an entire film focusing on the character, one that would pay homage not just to slasher film icons and franchises, but to Giallo and splatterpunk cinema. Primarily geared towards showcasing gory, practical effects at the expense of characterisation, Leone put a lot of care into his kill scenes, ensuring Catherine Corcoran’s safety in what became one of the film’s most notorious moments. Seeking to create a truly iconic slasher villain for a new millennium, Leone recast Mike Giannelli as Art the Clown after being impressed by David Howard Thornton’s physical awareness and penchant for improvisation. After premiering at the 2016 Telluride Horror Show, Terrifier released in a handful of cinemas and made a modest profit considering its low budget. Reviews were largely positive, praising the performances and the jaw-dropping gore, However, while Thornton’s portrayal of Art was lauded, some felt the film didn’t quite live up to its potential, a sentiment Leone agreed with and aimed to address in the sequel. Indeed, Terrifier impressed enough not just to earn a critically and commercially successful sequel in 2022, but to kick-off a whole new slasher franchise (for better or worse).

The Review:
Terrifier establishes a few things right from the opening sequence, in which shots of Art applying his makeup and getting dressed for a jaunt on the streets are interspersed with talk show host Monica Brown (Katie Maguire) interviewing a severely disfigured woman. This sets the stage for how creepy and off-kilter Art is; he seemingly purposely adopts a clown-like guise to unsettle his victims and disguise his cruel intentions. These shots of Art getting ready and hauling his bin bag full of tricks echo the opening of A Nightmare on Elm Street (Craven, 1984), a clear influence given the reference to “Craven’s” Halloween supplies and Art’s depiction as a silent version of Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund). Next, this opening establishes that the film isn’t going to be pulling any punches as Monica’s guest is horrendously disfigured after surviving an attack from Art a year previously, to the point where she chooses to isolate since her appearance is so horrifying. Finally, this opening shows that there’s a mean streak in Terrifier that extends beyond its mysterious and silent killer. While Monica appears sympathetic and attentive on-air, she ridicules her guest to her boyfriend after the cameras stop rolling. The embodiment of beauty and drive, Monica arrogantly dismisses her guest’s suffering and expresses disgust and even fear at even being sat with her. Luckily, it turns out Monica was right to be afraid as her guest pounces on her, brutally maiming Monica’s face and cackling like a witch as she lays a bloody, equally disfigured mess on the floor. Therefore, within around ten minutes, we learn everything we need to know about Terrifier: it’s going to be an unsettling spectacle of gore and depravity featuring somewhat unlikeable characters being torn apart in ways that may shock and disgust.

Fun loving Dawn and sensible Tara run afoul of a cruel-hearted and vicious killer clown.

As a long-time horror fan, I’m here for it. I’ve become largely desensitised to a lot of horror and much prefer it when movies don’t hold back. And Terrifier certainly isn’t holding back at times. Unfortunately, it does suffer from an uneven pace and comes across more like an extended proof of concept for what Damien Leone and his instantly iconic killer are capable of. Although the film’s set on Halloween night, the spooky season is primarily used to semi-explain Art’s clown-like appearance. It is the perfect excuse for Tara and Dawn to hit the town and get wasted, however. Clearly long-time friends, these two are an incorrigible duo, teasing each other and having a fun rapport. Dawn is the more promiscuous and reckless of the two, joking about her sexual lusts, drunkenly accosting Mike the Exterminator (McAllister) to let Tara pee, and insisting on a selfie with Art when they spot him leering at them in a pizzeria. While Tara is instantly creeped out by Art, Dawn brushes off her worries and chastises her for being a buzzkill, lamenting that Tara always has to be the “good girl” and overthink things. Rattled by the encounter in the pizzeria, Tara’s anxiety only increases when they find Dawn’s tyres slashed. Luckily, Tara calls her sister, college student Victoria (Scaffidi), who heads out to pick them up, and Tara convinces Mike to let her pee inside the house he’s spraying for rats. Unfortunately, Tara’s concerns about Art catch up to them when he attacks and subdues them both. Strapped and bound to a chair, Tara can only watch helplessly as Dawn is strung upside down and sawed in two from her crotch to her head with a rusty hacksaw! Though Tara shows some fighting spirit and manages to escape and even attack Art, she’s slowed by a severe injury to her ankle and unceremoniously executed by multiple gunshots when Art surprises her with a pistol.

In a film full of underdeveloped characters, Victoria might be the least fleshed out of them all.

Thus, Leone pays homage to Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960) by spending a good half-hour or so building up Tara as the film’s plucky, underdog “Final Girl” only to abruptly kill her off and switch the focus to her sister, Victoria. It takes Victoria some time to reach Tara’s destination and, when she does, she’s too late to help and is distraught to see Dawn’s remains and her sister’s mutilated corpse set up to taunt her. A college student studying for her midterms, Victoria drops everything to help her sister but is extremely out of her depth when confronted by Art, who delights in mocking and tormenting her. When Victoria stumbles upon what she believes is her sister’s injured body, her first thought is to call for help, but she’s horrified when it turns out to be Art in disguise, having ripped the scalp and much of the torso off a deluded resident (Pooya Mohseni). This disturbed but ultimately harmless lady shared a moment with Tara and tried to offer Art a mother’s comfort to spare her baby, a simple child’s doll, only to be left a gory mess. After Art relentlessly shreds her body with a cat-o’nine-tails, Victoria is saved by Mike, who survived a mallet to the face and gets her to safety, finally calling the cops. However, Mike gets his head literally caved in when Art renews his attack, leaving Victoria to desperately try and escape the building and the crazed maniac pursuing her. Although Tara’s characterisation is pretty paper-thin (she’s a fun loving but ultimately sensible young girl), I think it’s a lot better than Victoria’s. We don’t learn much about Victoria except that she’s studying for her midterms (we don’t even know what her major is) and that she’s loyal to her sister. Beyond that, she’s just a vessel to follow and witness and react to Art’s brutality and honestly has less appeal than Tara because at least she was dressed in the Halloween spirit. Horror films, especially slashers, aren’t generally known for their compelling victims but the “Final Girl” is usually more well-rounded and memorable. Sadly, Victoria and her fellow victims are simply window dressing in Art’s first outing, failing to really make much impact until the film’s twist is revealed.

Art’s cruelty and unpredictability make him an especially dangerous and bloodthirsty killer.

Therefore, Terrifier lives and dies through the depiction of its mean-spirited killer. Art barely tries to mask his creepiness, sporting a leering grin, crooked nose, and mangled teeth and setting people on edge simply by walking into a room. To make matters worse, he follows this with some truly disturbing physicality, beaming at Tara with an upsetting sneer and creeping her out by presenting her with a ring. While Steve (Gino Cafarelli) from the pizzeria is aggravated by Art’s nonchalant stare and refusal to speak, he’s incensed to find the clown defecated all over the toilets and throws him out, much to Art’s feigned chagrin. Of course, the slighted Art has the last laugh, hacking Steve’s head off with a hatchet and leaving it burning on the counter like a jack-o-lantern for Steve’s fellow employee (or possible his brother?) Ramone (Erick Zamora) to find. Lugging a bin bag full of hacksaws, knives, ammo, and other implements, Art’s unpredictability is as shocking as his brutality. You never know what weapon he’s going to whip out next or what he’ll do with it, leading to him hacking Ramone’s hand in two with a clever, sawing through and then ripping off another exterminator’s (Michael Leavy) head, and drawing a pistol to repeatedly blast Tara in the face. We learn nothing about Art except that he’s on a killing spree and that he relishes in torturing and maiming his victims. He never utters a single word, not even a cry or breath, though his visible frustration at being out of bullets and his agony when stabbed or beaten is clear thanks to Thornton’s masterful physical performance. What really seals it, however, is that Art will silent cackle when assaulting his victims, toying with them and mocking their suffering while delighting in the arterial spray and steaming organs spilling to the floor. At one point, it seems Art is subdued by a mother’s touch, however this proves only a temporary reprieve and Art is truly depicted as a chaotic force without mercy who tortures and kills for the sheer fun of it.

The Nitty-Gritty:
I can respect this approach. Although horror is full of iconic killers, many lose much of their mystique when too much of their backstory is revealed, humanising them and making them sympathetic. There is absolutely nothing sympathetic about Art, who gleefully mocks his prey, smears his faeces over walls, and chortles manically (but silently) when sawing Dawn in half. Still, there’s something to be said about giving some hint about who Art is and what drives him. He’s clearly mortal, since he bleeds and reacts to pain, and clearly a nomad, holing up in whatever filthy squalor he finds and seemingly targeting people at random. He’s capable of anger, since he flips Victoria off when she stabs him and spitefully maims anyone who dares to fight back. He also appears inhumanly strong, taking a beating from Tara and manhandling his victims at times. Despite appearing a very childish and immature figure, Art is cold, calculating, and vindictive, slashing Dawn’s tyres and drugging Tara and even texting Victoria to lure her into the building. Consequently, Terrifier presents what little narrative it has as a series of random and shocking events that could’ve happened to anyone. This is where the film’s true horror lies as while Art’s murderous acts are enough to traumatised unsuspecting audiences, they’re so over the top that they’re less scary and more disgusting. While none of the actors give particularly stirring or award-winning performances, they’re depicted as normal, everyday folk who unwittingly attract a depraved serial killer and I think the random nature of this is far more (dare I say it…) terrifying than all the hacksaws and knives. The idea that you, or anyone, could just be walking the streets and be set upon by such a crazed maniac is unsettling, to say the least, and Art only serves to heighten this fear by brutalising his victims in ways that would make Ed Gein blush.

Terrifier supplants characterisation with shocking splattergore and unapologetic brutality.

Yes, you shouldn’t really go into Terrifier expecting some game-changing plot or emotionally charged characters. I like the three female leads but there isn’t much to them and, let’s not mince words, it’s clear that Terrifier is simply an excuse to show off incredible and revolting gore and unsettling practical effects. Things start strong with Monica’s host appearing more like a mincemeat skeleton than a person, sporting an emaciated grin and one barely functional eye. She leaves Monica in an even worse state, clawing at her face and leaving her a gibbering mess of bloody, meaty chunks, and Tara is repeatedly stabbed in the ankle, hobbling her to keep her from running at full speed. While we only see Steve’s burning head, we get to watch Art hack up Ramone on the pizzeria floor and see in gory detail when he crushes Mike’s had under his heel. Tara’s death is easily the film’s weakest and least creative kill, but there’s something shocking about the cold-hearted nature of her being mercilessly shot to death. The other exterminator, Will, gets a more spectacular end as he’s stabbed in the skull before he can even react and then has his head partially sawn off before Art nonchalantly kicks it away. The doll-pampering resident pays for her kindness by getting scalped and having most of her skin torn off; Art then parades around in her flesh, clearly enjoying his new look. However, it’s Dawn’s death that’s the showstopper. Strung upside down by chains and hanging completely nude, she’s sawn in half and we (like Tara) are forced to watch as her guts spill to the floor and Art silently cackles maniacally. It’s a truly sadistic and brutal moment made more uncomfortable by where he starts sawing, and the sheer shock of the sequence is enough to keep you from questioning how a simple hacksaw easily cuts through flesh, bone, and muscle.

Art somehow reanimates after blowing his brains out and Victoria’s left a mangled mess.

Although Tara fights back, she lets rage cloud her judgement and is caught off-guard when Art pulls out a pistol, leaving her writhing helplessly on the floor as he blasts her face full of bullets. When Victoria arrives, she discovers a full-blown massacre, with bodies strewn everywhere and Art relentlessly pursuing her. Unprepared and overwhelmed, the grief-stricken Victoria can only run, scream, and cower as Art targets her next. Though she exhibits some of the same fighting spirit as her sister, Victoria’s ultimately more reliant on Mike to help fend off the psychotic clown. Unfortunately, Art quickly recovers from Mike’s attack, kicking and finally crushing Mike’s skull with his oversized clown shoes. Victoria manages to squeeze through a locked door to safety, only to be mercilessly taunted by Art as he swipes at her and blows a clown horn in her face. Although she appears to have escaped him, Victoria is blindsided when Art suddenly drives Mike’s van through the doors and into her, knocking her unconscious. Luckily, Mike got through to the cops and a couple of officers (Jason Leavy and Steven Della Salla) show up to apprehend Art. Clearly frustrated at being interrupted, Art toys with the cops and then whips out his gun. However, rather than fire at the cops, he instead shoots himself in the head rather than be arrested. Art’s mangled body and those of his victims are then bagged and taken to the county coroner, Seth Bolton (Cory Duval), who begrudgingly agrees to process the corpses in return for a bacon sandwich. However, after unzipping Art’s body bag, Seth’s perplexed by a sudden and mysterious power outage. Though he shrugs it off, he’s horrified when Art suddenly springs to life, a disgusting grin on his face, and starts choking him. This cliff-hanger ending then cuts to a hospital, where Victoria was taken after surviving Art’s assault. Unfortunately, Art decided to eat her face, leaving her with a mangled and hideously disfigured visage and revealing that she was the mutilated guest who attacked Monica at the start of the film…!

The Summary:
Terrifier is, perhaps, the most notable independent horror of the last ten years. Shot and styled very much like a “Grindhouse” picture, the film wears its influences on its sleave and is very much a celebration of the splatterpunk and slasher genres. While this is a positive, it also works against it, particularly in the characterisation of its leads. Damien Leone has since stated dissatisfaction with these elements and I’m forced to agree. While I didn’t mind Tara, Victoria was essentially a blank slate and many performances were questionable, at best. It’s irrelevant, in many ways, however, since Terrifier is just an excuse to show off some depraved gore and showcase its sadistic serial killer. Accordingly, it’s no surprise that David Howard Thornton steals the show as he throws his all into Art, embodying the character with manic glee and showcasing a range of emotions simply through body language and facial expression. Art’s unlike many horror icons as he’s silent but entirely expressive, cruel and vicious and yet wholly unpredictable and spontaneous. His entire visage is his gimmick rather than any one weapon and he kills simply for the thrill, and the mindlessness of his character and actions add not only to Terrifier’s allure and mystery, but its horror. It’s increasingly all-too-easy to imagine some sick fuck stalking the streets, accosting young women and engaging in deplorable acts and the random nature of Art’s killing spree is just as unsettling as his gore-drenched kills. And damn, does Terrifier deliver on the gore! Leone’s twisted imagination is a joy to see; even if the effects stretch the limits of physics and logic at times, it all comes together as a celebration of the genre. However, I do feel Terrifier was lacking in some regards that keep it from being a true classic. It certainly gave the genre a kick up the ass and it’s worth a watch, but Terrifier views more as an extended pitch for a bigger, more refined movie, especially in retrospect having seen the sequels. I’m therefore not as impressed or awed by the film as I would like as it’s lacking in some basic filmmaking areas, resulting in a special effects and physical acting showcase whose soul appeal are the disturbing gore and instantly iconic serial killer.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you get a kick out of Terrifier? What did you think to Art and David Howard Thornton’s performance? Were you also disappointed that his victims were largely forgettable? Did the gore make up for these moments or did you find it a bit too depraved and over the top? If not, which of Art’s sickening acts was your favourite and what did you think to these effects? Would you have liked to learn more about Art or do you think it’s better he stayed mysterious? Which of the Terrifier films is your favourite and how are you celebrating horror this month? Share your thoughts about Terrifier down in the comments, support me on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other horror content!