Movie review «Terrifier 3»

On November 7, the Christmas slasher «Terrifier 3», which is a sequel to the previous two films in the «Terrifier» horror franchise, was released in cinemas. This means that the ominous and mysterious clown Art, who has already become a cult figure among fans of bloody horror films, is officially making his way to Ukrainian big screens. How was reported earlier, not all viewers were ready for the scenes of extreme violence offered by the movie. In the review below, we will tell you what is so scary about the ruthless mime this time.

«Terrifier 3»

Genre Christmas slasher about the supernatural
Director Damien Leone
Starring David Howard Thornton, Lauren Lavera, Elliot Fullam, Samantha Scaffidi, Margaret Ann Florence, Bryce Johnson, Clint Howard, Tom Savini
Premiere movie theaters
Year of issue 2024
Website IMDb, official website

Five years have passed since the events of the last movie. Although the desperate girl Sienna Shaw beheaded the infernal clown Art, he still found an opportunity to return to the ranks, and even with his little demon girlfriend in the body of the disfigured Victoria Hayes. Now the sweet couple is terrorizing people on Christmas Eve, and it’s only a matter of time before they get to Sienna and her younger brother Jonathan to finish their bloody business. It’s going to be a hell of a ride black Christmas. Almost always smiling, Art has already become not only a prominent part of pop culture, but also a real cultural phenomenon. A worthy successor to cult horror icons such as Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers, and a true symbol of independent low-budget cinema, from which the iconic movie buffs. Not being subordinated to studios that can dictate their terms, the creator of the «Terrifier» Damien Leone is free to realize the wildest and most daring ideas on the screen.

So the director seizes the moment and spits on absolutely all moral norms, shocks with the most brutal scenes of violence, offers the aesthetics of blood that flows incessantly, and literally flaunts this permissiveness. That’s why «Terrifier» seems like a breath of fresh air against the backdrop of innocent mainstream franchises like «Scream» or bloodless one-dayers on streaming. That’s why movies make a lot of money on a ridiculous budget. That’s why, looking at the successes of our colleagues and neighbors in the film distribution industry, Joker I went into a corner to cry quietly. Already in the opening scene, Leone makes us remember the slasher «Silent Night, Deadly Night», where a young boy in a Santa Claus costume grabbed a fire axe and selflessly chopped down everyone who came to hand. Art follows this example, only with his sense of humor, not forgetting to eat a cookie and drink a glass of milk left for Santa by a friendly family. He will also politely wash the dishes. And the most attentive viewers will definitely notice a reference to «The Shining» Stanley Kubrick.

However, the biggest part of the franchise’s perverse charm rests with Art and his insufferable antics. Such a charismatic and frightening bastard is hard to find. The scene where the killer decorates the Christmas tree with… human intestines is worth a look. The counterpoint is the festive Christmas music as he tears to pieces and gutters the next doomed poor souls. It will be a very bad Santa. If the authors of the neighboring «Azrael» also offer senseless violence for the sake of violence, but hide dubious religious symbolism under the sauce of bloody massacres, trying to present it as something narratively serious. The creators of «Terrifier» are proud of their bloody senselessness. Their creation exists purely for the sake of shock content and audience discomfort. And they generously spice up their outright trashiness with black humor, like a clown’s teeth. It’s a fun time, suitable for viewing in hell itself.

Here, in addition to the chainsawed students who, of course, had sex or the transformation of human faces into a bloody mess, we have the backstory of the protagonist, hints of expanding the lame mythology, and, again, we remember «Azrael», — there are biblical images. They don’t really affect anything, but they make us think about the local confrontation not only as a typical slasher battle between a maniac and a final girl, but literally as an antagonism between an angel and a demon. In one of the scenes, the viewer will see the legendary Tom Savini, who worked as a makeup artist in George Romero’s classic «Dawn of the Dead» and «Day of the Dead», in the same «Friday the 13th» and in countless other horror films. Here, he will give interviews from a TV screen, just like he did in Zack Snyder’s remake of «Dawn of the Dead» 20 years ago.

Damien Leone is already working on the fourth movie, which he says should be the last. However, given the success of the series, it’s hard to believe that this will be the case; he, the long-suffering Laurie Strode fidgeted with Michael Myers for over 40 years.