Bronson West
Growing up, I always wanted to know what it was like to be back in the heyday of the slasher, you know? I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to witness a classic slasher evolve and become a global icon right before my very eyes. You know what? I think I finally have. Enter, Art the Clown and Terrifier 3.
I’ve been a big fan of Art since just before the first Terrifier when I came across the Terrifier short, and I thought it was brilliant. I was excited when I found out that a feature was on its way. The original Terrifier mostly works as a proof-of-concept for Art as a slasher and personality and, to me at least, does its job very well. Terrifier 2 is where we get introduced to more stories, and everything shapes up a bit more. But with Terrifier 3, everything has gotten to the point of holding up all on its own, and not only does that help the movie, but it helps Art shine, showing more personality and playfulness than we’ve ever seen.
David Howard Thornton gives me those vibes that people in the ’80s probably got from seeing Freddy Kruger slowly turn into this massive icon. Not only that, David Howard Thornton’s performance gives off Robert Englund vibes as a whole. Maybe this is my way of saying that David Howard Thornton is the next Robert Englund, and you know what? I’ll own that.
Now, let’s start getting into what makes Terrifier 3 the best in the franchise thus far. In a nutshell? Creativity. This movie was beyond creative with its kills, the effects, the humor, and definitely the setting. Sure, we have some Christmas horror movies, but this one feels different. Instead of being a Christmas slasher, it’s more of a slasher that happens during Christmas time. It’s the Die Hard of slasher films. It’s incredibly fun.
Lauren LaVera also does an incredible job back in Sienna’s shoes, giving us an insanely strong and resilient final girl who’s slowly climbing up the ranks for me personally. She’s just so intense and focused in her antithetical nature to Art. Antonella Rose also killed it as Gabbie with another solid and poised performance. Overall, the acting was superb.
The pacing of the film moved along very well. It never felt like there was much downtime between the stuff that mattered. There isn’t a whole lot of filler here. My biggest gripe with Terrifier 2 was that the third act tended to drag a bit, maybe 15-20 minutes or so, but I’m very happy to report that in Terrifier 3, that does not happen. The third act was very digestible and moved along great.
As for the story, there’s still not much to really chew on, but that’s completely fine. This isn’t some deep, introspective film. It does touch on trauma, how it can affect people, how people react to it, and how those around you can sort of see you in a new light because of that. Although these moments are needed for character growth, at the end of the day, Terrifier 3 is still a mean slasher movie, and boy, does it do that perfectly.
I commend Damien Leone wholeheartedly for his approach to gore and practical effects. It elicits such a visceral and real response from people that CGI could never dream of doing. Does it look a little hokey sometimes? Yeah, probably. But you know what it also looks like? It also looks like that guy gets his damn head caved in, and that’s as real as it can look on film. It sort of reminds me of this slasher from 2007 called 100 Tears. Oddly enough, that one is about a killer clown. But sometimes, the effects feel like I’m watching 100 Tears again, bringing me back. That’s also a pretty low-budget slasher from back in the mid-2000s. I’d recommend watching it! Anyway, back to Terrifier 3!
All in all, this film has incredible effects. Damien is really doing a lot for that area, and I just love to see it get more and more love as this franchise gets more popular. It’s very well deserved. On top of that, the creativity in this movie when it comes to kills is astounding. They may not be original, but my god, they’re done in ways I’ve never seen.
There’s a specific scene that takes place in a shower, and oh boy, it’s something special. Granted, I don’t think any kills in Terrifier 3 really top the bedroom scene in Terrifier 2, but they don’t have to, nor did I feel like they were trying to. They’re just really fun kills with some great spins on older, more familiar kills.
Lastly, I want to touch on how Art gets more breathing room in this to be, well, Art. We’ve seen the playful side in the first two Terrifier movies, but this one just feels like he’s finally hit a groove. He’s funny, oddly charming, incredibly brutal, and, well, he’s Art the Clown. Again, David Howard Thornton just gives that extra special something to Art that makes him completely lovable yet terrifying (get it?). Props to Damien Leone for the look, too. This is one of those scenarios where all of the stars aligned and gold was struck.
I alluded to it at the start of this review, but let me be clear: Terrifier 3 is a coming-out party for Art the Clown and how much of an icon he is destined to be in the horror space. We’ve all been waiting for the next Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, or Freddy Krueger. Well, we got him, and his name is Art the Clown.
Go see Terrifier 3. It’s out in theaters now. You won’t regret it.
