Yahoo Movies Terrifier 3 is the most offensive and shocking Terrifier yet
'Tis the season to be disgusted as Art the Clown is back with another brutal killing spree in Terrifier 3 – and this time, he's doing it dressed as Santa and has his own murderous 'elf' in the form of Terrifier victim Vicky.
It might seem weird to have a festive horror in October, but it absolutely feels right to reunite with Art in Halloween month. The first sequel was a surprise box-office hit, boosted by reports about how gory it was, and the third movie has already had reports of walkouts at its UK premiere.
That might seem like a PR stunt, but believe us when we say the cold open to Terrifier 3 is genuinely shocking. You think you know what you're getting into three movies in, but you still might be surprised at how depraved the opening kills are.
What's important though is that after Art does what he does in graphic, extensive detail, he does clean up the plate of cookies he's eaten. He might be a killer, but he's not a monster.
It's details like this that have always meant, despite how gruesome things get, the Terrifier movies aren't too horrible to watch. Sure, the sequel definitely pushed the limits of that with the extended torture of Allie, but typically writer-director Damien Leone has known how to balance the gore with laughs.
David Howard Thornton is excellent again as Art, saying more with his facial expressions than a killer one-liner ever could. A sequence when Art meets a mall Santa in a bar is hilarious before it turns dark, with Art trying out his new method of killing involving liquid nitrogen.
With Vicky back and in thrall to Art (due to lore involving a demon that it's best not to think too much about), there's a fun, twisted-couple subplot to Terrifier 3. As with the other two movies, when Art is the focus the threequel is at its strongest. It's when the focus switches to Terrifier 2 survivor Sienna that proceedings sometimes drag.
The plot of Terrifier 3 is tighter and more focused than the overlong Terrifier 2. It's a classic slasher sequel setup, picking up five years later as Sienna attempts to put her life back together before Art comes back into the picture seeking revenge.
The problem is that it still takes some time for these two plotlines to come together in the outrageous finale, featuring a blasphemous use of the crown of thorns, death by rats and intestines used as tinsel. It's absolutely worth the wait and Lauren LaVera is superb when Sienna and Art finally trade blows, it's just sometimes a slog getting there.
Leone is definitely heading in the right direction of mixing the lore in with the gore. It's a marked improvement on Terrifier 2, even if you're still left with a lot of questions. Perhaps they'll be answered in the already-confirmed fourth movie.
Some fans will just be here for another two hours of Art carnage, and they won't be disappointed. Practically every supporting character is there to be slaughtered by Art and/or Vicky, with Leone continuing to showcase an impressive array of kills drenched in blood and boosted by terrific squelchy practical effects.
Perhaps the most surprising element though is that arguably Terrifier 3's most shocking and offensive moment is its least bloody. There's a sequence in a shopping mall that ends in a way which, depending on your taste, will leave you applauding the audacity or purely shocked that Leone did that.
If it's not already clear, Terrifier 3 is not for the faint-hearted. It feels weird to say of a movie that has sodomy by chainsaw, numerous amputations, scalpings and more, but it's perhaps not as hard to watch as Terrifier 2. Equally, it could just be that we're used to it by now, which we should probably talk to somebody about.
Either way, Terrifier 3 is the strongest outing for Art the Clown yet and possibly the most offensive, which, for a Terrifier movie, is a seal of approval. Merry bloody Christmas.
Terrifier 3 is out now in cinemas.
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