Terrifier 3 (2024)


I wonder if at some point Damien Leone is going to have Art the Clown appear for all the major holidays.  He started off on Halloween and, for the second official sequel, decides to bring his own twisted version of Christmas cheer.  Some time in the future Art may ruin Labor Day by oppressing the proletariat with a pair of garden shears but, at least until the next one comes out, he's more than happy to be the worst mall Santa ever. 

Shortly after Art (David Howard Thornton) is killed by avenging angel Sienna (Lauren LaVera), his headless corpse makes its way to the hospital where Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi) is incarcerated.  After regrowing his head they escape together and find an abandoned house to hibernate in for the next five years.  At that point Art returns to Miles County on Christmas just as Sienna, newly released from the mental hospital, comes to live with her aunt Jess (Margaret Anne Florence), uncle Greg (Bryce Johnson) and niece Gabbie (Antonella Rose).  She is looking forward to her brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam) coming to visit for the holidays as well.

The problem is Sienna is still seeing visions of her dead friends and is rightfully concerned that Art has returned, as he is going about, with Victoria, on a spirited killing spree as he makes his way toward her and her family.  Jonathan and Sienna are also being harassed by a podcaster named Mia (Alexa Blair Robertson) who wants the story of their encounter with Art the Clown.  Through all this Sienna begins to realize more about what she and Art really are. 

I know an issue that many have with this movie is that it does take some of the mystery away from Art and, by extension, Sienna, although it doesn't take a whole lot of exposition time explaining it.  One still has to figure some things out, such as Victoria's place in everything.  Since the little girl from Terrifier 2 isn't hanging around she serves as his companion this time, as well as his mouthpiece.

My complaint is there wasn't enough time spent advancing this story.  Leone, in the past, has been talented at stringing together a bunch of violent scenes without worrying too much about plot.  Terrifier 2 was different and was stretched out to do so.  This time around he was asked to keep it two hours or under, and almost does that.  However, that means he goes back to the pattern of Terrifier, making the gore scenes the focal point.  I know that most likely the next movie will be heavier on that and, at the heart, it will be a tried-and-true "chosen one" hero's journey. 

Leone remains as the director but hired out the makeup effects on this one.  They are still pretty much, if not all, practical.  There are some that try hard to shock, but none of them come close to the hacksaw scene from the original or the bedroom scene from the second.  The improvement in Terrifier 3 over several "no-holds-barred" horror films is that, when children are killed, it's not with a wink of, "See how naughty we are?"  The times when it does happen do go over the top, and not in a humorous manner. 

While this is still much better than the original movie it still pales in comparison to the second.  I don't think Terrifier 2 needed to be as long as it was, but it managed to fill most of that running time with an entertainment, albeit not to everyone's taste.  This points up why Leone continues to work outside the studio system.  By limiting his time Leone also limited the story.  I don't think we need a three- or four-hour Terrifier film to bring things to a close, but I do look forward to the kills being woven once again within an interesting story.  The end of this one does certainly hint at that. 

Terrifier 3 (2024)
Time: 125 minutes
Starring: Lauren LaVera, David Howard Thornton, Antonella Rose, Samantha Scaffidi 
Director: Damien Leone

 

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