Rating: NR | Runtime: 125 minutes
Release Date: October 11th, 2024 (USA)
Studio: Cineverse Entertainment
Director(s): Damien Leone
Writer(s): Damien Leone

Did you wrap this yourself?

It’s been five years since the murders from Terrifier 2 and Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) is exiting her latest psychiatric stay in hopes of getting her life back. Aunt Jessica (Margaret Anne Florence) and Uncle Greg (Bryce Johnson) are happy to comply with her young cousin Gabbie (Antonella Rose) desperate to spend every waking hour with her new “big sister from another mister.” But it’s not quite the happy ending Sienna should receive after slaying her demon (David Howard Thornton’s Art the Clown) at the end of her and brother Jonathan’s (Elliott Fullam) nightmare. Family and pills only go so far to curb visions of the dead.

I went into Damien Leone’s latest Terrifier installment blind, so Sienna’s introduction after an infamously gruesome prologue (I get people walked out and threw up, but the gore in this franchise is way too cartoonish to even begin making me feel squeamish) was a welcome sight. Why? Because I wasn’t certain Leone would follow up the mythology building he started in Part 2. Since the short from All Hallow’s Eve and the original Terrifier feature both focus upon random events and kills for blood and laughs, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Terrifier 3 pivoted to a whole new narrative again. Thankfully, it doesn’t.

Most fans probably wouldn’t care since they’re here to see how the VFX and gore one-ups itself (the prosthetics butchered here look and feel like the actors to a disturbing level, so the budget was well spent), but I personally need more investment than that. Story was the reason Part 2 finally got me on the positive side of things with this IP. Sure, the whole “Sienna is the savior of humanity against Art the Clown’s evil because her father drew it in a comic book before losing his mind and committing suicide” is hardly a solid plot foundation, but it did tell me that Leone might just have a plan. Even if he doesn’t, sticking to a main through line at least helps provide focus.

The film is thus exactly what you’d expect from a slasher sequel starring its predecessor’s survivors. Whether paranoia or reality, Sienna knows Art is back. And if Art is back, we know he’s coming for her. So, it’s Leone’s job to get us there with memorable horror and additional insight into his master plan. That means another holiday for maximum public exposure (there’s nothing like a mall massacre at Christmastime with the villain dressed as Santa) and supplying Sienna PTSD to remember the dead and her repressed past (including a cameo from Jason Patric as Dad). Add yuletide motifs (milk and cookies, beer-guzzling Saint Nicks) and pop culture fad (true crime podcasts) and neither Art nor Vicki (Samantha Scaffidi) is without victims to terrorize.

The kills are good. I could have done with a bit more variety beyond the constant bludgeoning of flesh to a pulp by hammers and knives, but we do get some nice chainsaw action too. A few are actually conducted off-screen for redundancy’s sake (although we’re still over two-hours in runtime) and surprise reveals, but I don’t think we’re missing too much. I’d say at least three heads get fully ripped apart, so … do you really need a fourth and/or fifth? Bask in the cameos from genre mainstays like Clint Howard and SFX legend Tom Savini instead. Dig into the demonology research and a scene of Sienna’s sword being forged in fire that excited me more than anything else Leone has yet thrown our way.

And the more he seems to skew away from the cheap vaudeville gags towards that sort of sinister hellscape, the more invested I become. Because while watching Thornton have a blast toying with his food and being able to sing along to Leah Voysey’s “The Clown Café” or Jon and Al Kaplan’s “It’s A Terrifier Christmas” are great, I’m all-in on discovering what evil force is truly at work beneath the white paint. Art the Clown loves public transportation, but something happens here to suggest Leone might be taking us to a whole other world or dimension in the future. With Terrifier 4 already in pre-production, I’m ready to find out.

Note: I’m now hearing the “walkout” controversy might have been disingenuously manufactured by inviting patrons to a free screening of a “new holiday movie” only to show them Terrifier 3 without any warning about its content.

---

David Howard Thornton as “Art the Clown” in the horror film, TERRIFIER 3, a Cineverse release. Photo courtesy of Jesse Korman/Dark Age Cinema.