In the Terrifier franchise, Art the Clown (played brilliantly by David Howard Thornton) carries around a giant sack of accessories — almost like the Santa Claus of sadism. When Art reaches into his bag of tricks, it could be something unthreatening, like a bicycle horn or a child’s doll; or it could be a tool for the type of torture that could make Hellraiser’s cenobites reach for a barf bag. Art’s collection is filled with limitless possibilities, a literal mixed bag of options. The same is true of the films in this series by writer-director-editor Damien Leone, particularly this latest Christmas-themed installment, Terrifier 3. Throughout this cult horror franchise that has grown to immense popularity in recent years, the beats stay relatively the same: Art the Clown massacres in truly despicable and disgusting — yet technically impressive— ways, which is balanced by a dull, still story of normal people who will eventually have to deal with the wrath of Art. The budget might have ballooned to ten times what Terrifier had, and the kills have gotten far more gruesome, yet Terrifier 3 is still the same mixed bag that this franchise has always been.

What Is ‘Terrifier 3’ About?

If you’re new to the Terrifier series, this third film begins by getting the audience acquainted with this installment’s unique brand of violence and gore. We watch as Art the Clown, dressed as Santa, enters the house of an unsuspecting family during the holidays and decides to murder them all. This family has nothing to do with the rest of the film, existing simply as fodder for Art’s mayhem. What makes Terrifier so different from other horror franchises is how it relishes in the savagery and viciousness. We don’t just watch Art murder parents and their child, we watch him hack away until there’s nothing left but red goo that used to be a human, all while their loved ones watch, Art’s actions soundtracked by their heartbroken screams. Needless to say, it’s…a lot and even those desensitized by the first two films in this series will find plenty to make them flinch and squirm in this latest massacre.

Terrifier 3 takes place five years after the events of Terrifier 2, in which that film’s Final Girl, Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera), and her brother Jonathan (Elliot Fullam) survived Art’s attack, decapitating him and escaping to safety. But decapitation doesn’t mean much to Art, as at the end of the last film, we see his alive-yet-severed head being birthed by his victim/partner-in-crime Victoria “Vicky” Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi) in a mental institution. Again, it’s a lot. In the last five years, Sienna has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals, dealing with her understandable fears, and seeing visions of those she feels she unintentionally led to their deaths via Art. Meanwhile, Jonathan is in college, doing his best to move beyond the past, which has meant mostly staying away from his sister.

Art and Vicky, however, have mostly been waiting over these last five years. Literally sitting in one place, dormant, covered in dust and cobwebs, waiting for their maniacal return. While there doesn’t seem to be a method to their madness, Leone finally expands the lore within this series somewhat, making it clear through some very blunt exposition and heavy-handed Christian imagery that while Art and Vicky are signs of extreme evil in this world, Sienna is the good to counterbalance them, and potentially the only one who can stop this duo.

‘Terrifier 3’s Dual Story Is Uneven and Doesn’t Work as It Should
Image via Cineverse

Terrifier 3 wants us to revel in the vicious kills that Art engages in, finding new unsettling ways to destroy a body. Like the previous films, Art and Leone are both at their peak playing in the blood, cracking bones, peeling back skin, and letting the violence flow. There’s no question that Leone’s skill in escalating these murders has grown significantly since the first film and the practical effects are undeniably impressive with each new death. And yet, it’s the way that these kills are handled that makes Terrifier 3 truly horrifying. It’s not enough to kill each person, Art has to literally destroy the body as much as possible, leading to murders that last several minutes, as each possible part of a human is broken to cause immense pain. But even worse is that Leone often makes family members of the deceased watch Art’s destruction. It’s not enough in that opening sequence that we hear a child getting murdered, we also have to watch his mother find his dismembered body in his bed, then have us watch her cry and scream at her child’s annihilation.

In fact, Terrifier as a series goes so far that as you watch yet another person getting hacked to meaty bits, it almost makes you question if there’s a larger commentary to Leone’s madness. These films are truly at their best when centered around Thornton’s performance, primarily when he’s playing around with his future victims, miming jokes, and, well, being a clown. Art the Clown is a fascinating character who’s stuck in a franchise that doesn’t quite know how to best utilize him. Art can’t help but remind us of the horror icons of the ‘80s and ‘90s that became bigger than the franchises themselves, like Freddy, Jason, or Pinhead, and with his extreme murders. With Art shifting from an often hilarious presence to a monstrous individual, it’s almost as if Leone is making us question why we are drawn to movie serial killers and their penchant for violence in the first place. OR (and more likely), maybe Terrifier 3 and the franchise in general just wants to savor the maximum amount of grisly scenes they can come up with and not worry about any larger meaning.

Related ‘Terrifier 3’ Character Posters Tease a Blood Red Christmas [Exclusive] The latest installment in Damien Leone’s horror franchise arrives in cinemas on October 11.

But the duality of Terrifier 3’s story — a problem that’s stuck with this entire series — is one that never quite works, leading to tonally uneven films. When Terrifier 3 relies on Thornton’s monster clown schtick, it’s silent, distressing, and grotesque (complimentary). But when Leone has to write actual human characters, they come off as stiff, unsatisfying, and, frankly, boring. It’s as if humans only exist to become dead humans, and trying to write actual people has never been a strong suit in this series. Yet. because of how this story splits, it’s pulling the audience in two polarizing directions. On one hand, Terrifier 3 clearly wants us to appreciate the new ways Leone and Art find to kill people, yet it also wants us to sympathize with those who have seen this madness and escape Art’s grasp. Terrifier 3 wants its blood-covered cake and to eat it too, and it never works. It’s great that Terrifier 3 at least pushes the lore behind Art and Sienna into an interesting direction, but it’s doing that for the sake of future releases, not for any satisfying conclusion to this film.

Terrifier 3 is an odd film in an odd series, as Leone clearly wants us to appreciate the escalated gore that is brought to this horrendous world, but also seemingly wants us to see the implications that such violence causes. Please sit back and enjoy the organs and blood that spew everywhere, but also, don’t pay too much attention to the parent or child of the murdered who is also watching their life destroyed before their very eyes! But also, do care when it suits the story at hand. As a mindless killing display, Terrifier 3 is impressive, but it wants to be more than that, and that’s where the problems lie. Like Art’s bag of tricks, Terrifier 3 often is little more than a mixed-up collection of tools that can be drawn upon depending on the whims of its holder, without any rhyme or reason—just pure mayhem, for better, but mostly, for worse.

Terrifier 3, from writer-director Damien Leone, wants to revels in the violence, but also struggles to deal with the implications of that violence.ProsDamien Leone has crafted some of the most brutal and disgusting kills you’ll ever see in a film.David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown is as disturbing and often hilarious as ever. ConsLike the rest of the films in the franchise, Terrifier 3 struggles when it comes to creating real people.Leone’s wants us to appreciate the violence, but also can’t figure out what else it’s trying to say with that violence.

Release Date October 11, 2024 Director Damien Leone Cast Lauren LaVera , David Howard Thornton , Antonella Rose , Elliott Fullam , Samantha Scaffidi , Margaret Anne Florence , Bryce Johnson , Alexa Blair Robertson , Mason Mecartea , Krsy Fox , Luciana VanDette , Clint Howard , Bradley Stryker , Daniel Roebuck , Chris Jericho , Tom Savini , Jason Patric , Alex Ross , Kailey Hyman , Kellen Raffaelo , Lisa Marie Falcone , Stephen Cofield Jr. , Corrine Kelly , Joe Falcone , Peter Mitchell , Marie Maser , Jon Abrahams Runtime 125 Minutes Expand

Terrifier 3 comes to theaters on October 11. Click below for showtimes.

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