On a crisp Sunday October evening, I find myself sitting in a nearly packed theater in the heart of Deer Park’s Tanger Outlets. Around me, I can’t help but try to get a read on the people in the audience. Their reactions to the carnage on screen are almost as entertaining as the movie itself. Some are cringing in a state of nausea and unease, while others are gasping through grins at the monochrome clown’s depraved antics. Some have already left, tapping out after the film’s gruesome opening scene. It is about twenty five minutes in, and horror’s latest icon, Art The Clown, is engaged in what he does best, brutally butchering two construction workers unlucky enough to stumble upon his lair, while his possessed and disfigured partner in crime conducts lewd acts on herself with the jagged shard of a broken mirror. Six more people walk out to a soundtrack of gags and vocalizations of “Oh My God.” and “Bro…”
This is just one of the visceral highlights of Terrifier 3, the latest independent sleeper hit by writer/director Damien Leone that rode a wave of hype and controversy to the top of the box office, grossing over $23 million against a $2 million budget and trouncing Joker: Folie a Deux in its disastrous second weekend. Like its 2022 predecessor, Terrifier 3 has gathered hype through word of mouth and hit film festival appearances leading up to its theatrical release, scaring up huge box office returns in its opening weekend, currently having grossed $41.6 million against its combined marketing and production budget of $5 million as reports of viewers throwing up and walking out add a layer of morbid mystique to the hype. But is Terrifier 3 as brutal as people say? More importantly, is it any good?
Picking up five years after the grisly events of Terrifier 2, Sienna and Jonathan Shaw, played once again by Lauren Lavera and Elliot Fullam struggle to rebuild their lives and cope with the trauma inflicted upon them by The Miles County Clown. Haunted by vivid visions of her past, Sienna must once again defend her family on an eventful Christmas Eve as Art the Clown awakens from a state of dormancy to settle the score between them. Against a festive holiday backdrop Art carves out a bloody path of destruction, aided by Samantha Scaffidi’s Vicky, the original film’s sole survivor, now under the control of Terrifier 2’s demonic “Little Pale Girl” in a possession that isn’t fully made clear.
Terrifier 3 more than lives up to the franchise’s notorious reputation, somehow outdoing the first two installments in terms of over the top gore, campy clownery, and shocking content. Kicking off in media res with the massacre of a family unfortunate enough to live in Art’s path of destruction, it is quickly made abundantly clear that no one is safe, and nothing is off the table. The middle of this plot light movie consists largely of demented visceral vignettes, a sizzle reel of slaughter showcasing the film’s remarkable makeup effects and the physical performance of David Howard Thornton, who is given plenty of opportunities to show off his clowning skills as Art in an act that’s as creepy as it is comical. Making audiences chuckle and cringe, often at the same time, It’s easy to see how Art the Clown has emerged as horror’s newest icon, with the potential to reach the level of fame and instant recognizability of legendary villains like Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, if he hasn’t reached it already.
While light on plot, yet surprisingly heavy in lore and worldbuilding, Terrifier 3 narrowly manages to dodge the series reputation for being pointless gore porn through returning final girl Sienna Shaw. Played by modern day scream queen Lauren Lavera, Sienna’s story deepens as she unravels the mystery connecting her and Art the Clown while struggling with the trauma endured in Terrifier 2. She tries to put on a happy face for her family while at the same time being haunted by visions of her butchered friends and the clown that turned her life upside down. As Art and Vicky close in on her however, she must face the demon that destroyed the life she knew in a suspenseful climactic showdown. Sienna’s arc is conveyed with ease by Lauren Lavera, who cements herself as the bloody, beating heart of the series with a far better performance than a grimy gorefest like Terrifier 3 probably warrants.
In its theatrical run, Terrifier 3 has set a new record as the highest grossing unrated movie of all time, trouncing big budget studio competitors, including fellow killer clown feature Joker: Folie a Deux, displaying a definite appetite in some audiences for its unhinged style. This box office success will no doubt inspire imitators in the small budget horror scene, and cement the fledgling franchise as more than just a flash in the pan.
Bloody, Brutal, with just enough heart and character to keep things interesting, Terrifier 3 more than lives up to the hype it has built up. It’s shameless splatterpunk trash, and proud to be so, and its boldness in this regard grants Terrifier 3 a unique identity that sets it apart from its peers in the genre. While not having much under the surface, its strong performances and horrific visual effects will hook in audiences who can stomach the intense content on display. A gleeful throwback to grindhouse horror, Terrifier 3 feels like an important benchmark in its genre with the potential to influence and define the genre’s identity in the 2020s. While difficult to recommend with its shocking material, Terrifier 3 is worth watching, though how much of it viewers can bear to watch will vary from person to person. For those looking for a festive seasonal horror in the vein of classics like Black Christmas and Silent Night, Deadly Night. Terrifier 3 will prove to be a fun and festive endurance test of bad taste.
