Good news, gorehounds. Art The Clown is still the most f*cked-up show in town! Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3 is finally here, dumping its Halloween Horror Bloodbath all over your pretty little Christmas decorations. And SPOILER ALERT: It’s super gory, super gross, and loaded top to bottom with I-Can’t-Believe-I-Just-Saw-That moments of pure, unfiltered depravity. Forget about garland, this year we’re wrapping the Christmas tree in intestines!
It should come as no surprise after 2 blood-splattered entries that Terrifier 3 is (easily!) the goriest movie of the year…and isn’t that what we all came to see? These movies have taken on an expectation from Horror fans that, thankfully, Damien Leone is able to deliver on. After Terrifier 2, I think we all said “Holy shit! How the hell are they going to top that!?” and guess what? You’re gonna find yourself saying the same dang thing after you finish this deranged slice of gore cinema. Terrifier 3 is Gene Siskel’s worst nightmare. It’s senseless violence! It’s reprehensible sleaze! It’s vile, disgusting trash! Hooray 🙂
“Terrifier 3 is Gene Siskel’s worst nightmare. It’s senseless violence! It’s reprehensible sleaze! It’s vile, disgusting trash! Hooray 🙂”
5 years after the bizarre events of Terrifier 2, Art The Clown (David Howard Thornton) returns to Miles County to wreak havoc over the Christmas holidays. Why Christmas? Who cares! The movie definitely doesn’t, so why should you? Besides, isn’t it always fun to see Santa hack and slash his way through an idyllic winter scene? Anyway, it’s Christmas time. The Shaw family is trying to put the past behind them and celebrate the season together. The events of the previous film still haunt Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and her brother Jonathan (Elliot Fullam) is struggling with regular college issues. You know, like, true crime podcasters hounding you for an interview, or a maniac with a chainsaw stalking the hallways of your dorm. Totally normal young adult problems.
But let’s be real, “Story” isn’t exactly the strong suit of these movies. When you get down to brass tacks, the Terrifier movies are about challenging yourself not to look away. They are hilarious and over-the-top and filled with NSFL sequences of gross-out gore. They are not the movies you come to for a well-thought-out and carefully developed plot. On the plus side, they never promised a good story. The Terrifier movies only promise an avalanche of insanity. If you want plot, go watch a Hallmark movie. Here, you will only find the most brain-scrambling practical effects humanly possible.
The gore-obsessed weirdo in me wants to appreciate Terrifier 3 only those terms, but I can’t honestly say that I love any of these movies. When Art is ripping off faces or splitting people in half with a chainsaw, I’m all-in. But beyond that…it gets complicated. In three films we’ve gone from unrelenting serial killer to supernatural demon monster vs magical sword-wielding fantasy princess and it really doesn’t work for me. It’s like these movies are parodying themselves in live time, always shooting for the most absurd idea regardless of whether or not it makes sense.
Story is the key ingredient. Gore is the seasoning. Terrifier 3 is a boiled potato with a lethal dose of salt on top for flavor. It’s a full-on assault of hyper-violent brutality (always a plus) but one that comes with a boatload of complicated world-building and trauma wallowing (always a bummer). It’s a testament to how accomplished the practical effects are, and how captivating David Howard Thornton’s performance is, that you can flip-flop between such extremes and still have a good time. I know a lot of people really dig the audacity of Leone’s ever-expanding universe but I just can’t get behind it. And yet, when it shifts gears and goes headfirst into Horror, it’s a super-f*cked-up banger of artistic sadism and sidesplitting body destruction.
“A full-on assault of hyper-violent brutality […] but one that comes with a boat load of complicated world-building”
Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3 will be in theatres nationwide on October 11th! And be sure to let us know what you thought (and how many people vomited at your screening) over in the official Nightmare on Film Street Discord!
WHERE TO WATCH TERRIFIER 3:
