“Terrifier 3” is the latest low-budget slasher from director Damien Leone. Five years after the events of the second film, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) has come back to life with his victim-turned-accomplice Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi).
Meanwhile, survivor Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) attempts to move on from the traumatic events of the last movie, only to discover that the terror isn’t quite over.
I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to think about “Terrifier 3,” though I figured it would be better than what came before. Thankfully, this movie was actually pretty good, thanks to its lead performances, fantastic gore and other improvements from the earlier films.
The thing with the “Terrifier” series is that the first two movies aren’t very good. 2016’s “Terrifier” introduced an iconic villain with Art the Clown and demonstrated Leone’s dedication to practical gore. However, most of the performances are genuinely awful, and there is pretty much no story to speak of — not to mention the clearly low budget of only $55,000, which explains why most of the film is set in only one location.
However, Leone proved his love for his craft by taking all the criticism of the first film and using it to improve his performance in the 2022 sequel. While “Terrifier 2” is still a film I don’t particularly love, I at least appreciate that this sequel has a likable protagonist, an actual plot and the most brutal kill sequence I have ever seen. Despite these significant improvements, the film has a self-indulgent runtime of 2 hours and 18 minutes (probably due to Leone also being the film’s editor). Regardless, it’s impressive how good it is compared to the first film, and the fact that this is yet again another low-budget project gives the film some charm that makes me want to recommend it.
“Terrifier 3” is a strong improvement over the previous entry, and quite possibly the first good movie of the series. This is, of course, debatable among movie fans, but I thought it was the most consistently entertaining “Terrifier” to date.
Thornton’s performance is still the highlight of the film, with him conveying Art’s sadistic glee without any dialogue or noise whatsoever. He is a very over-the-top character, but Thornton expertly manages to emphasize every single mannerism, making the character equal parts hilarious and terrifying. LaVera also delivers a great performance, making Sienna one of the best final girls in modern slashers.
The movie also has a slightly better story than its predecessors, partially due to being shorter than the second. It is still over two hours long, and I still believe that Leone should actually hire an editor instead of editing the movie himself. Despite this, “Terrifier 3” didn’t drag for me, and I was almost always invested in what was happening. I’m also a fan of the Christmas setting rather than Halloween.
If none of this was enticing enough, Leone continues to give horror fans some incredible gore made almost entirely of practical effects. As a fan of the genre, I strongly believe that filmmakers should use special effects rather than CGI whenever possible — and thankfully, practical gore is Leone’s bread and butter. While the kills aren’t as hard to watch as the infamous sequence from “Terrifier 2,” multiple moments had me watching through the gaps in between my fingers.
What I love the most about these films, however, is Leone’s willingness to take criticism. Every single installments addresses the problems that audiences had with previous entries, demonstrating how much he wants to grow as a filmmaker — and that’s why I love that these movies keep making money, greenlighting sequels with higher budgets. The “Terrifier” franchise isn’t particularly great (in my opinion), but its success at the box office keeps allowing Leone to master his craft with more and more money. This third entry has the highest budget to date with a $2 million price tag, and I can only imagine that the upcoming fourth (and possibly final) film will have even more money to play around with. As a horror fan and aspiring filmmaker, it makes me so happy to see how successful the “Terrifier” franchise has been.
All in all, I strongly recommend “Terrifier 3″ to horror fans and gorehounds alike. I do have a few issues with the movie, but for once, I don’t really feel like pointing them out. This was an incredibly fun movie and I can’t wait to see how this saga ends.
RATING: 7/10
