Content Warning – This Review/Recap discusses Terrifier 3, an unrated horror movie that features extreme acts of violence towards people of all ages. While I will not go into too much detail, if the idea of children in violent horror movies, gore, chainsaws, or excessive blood is uncomfortable, please exit now.  

• Directed By: Damien Leone
• Written By: Damien Leone
• Starring: David Howard Thorton, Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam

Okay, I can admit when I’m wrong. I said I wasn’t going to review any Christmas horror movies, but Terrifier 3 hit streaming, so here we are. I missed my chance to see Art’s return in theaters, so bright and early on the first day of December, I settled in with the kind of big expectations that come from waiting two whole months for my favorite killer clown (demonic variety).  Could Terrifier 3, or any movie, live up to the hype generated at its release?

Top Grossing Unrated Movie

While all the Terrifier movies have been profitable, Terrifier 3 earned the title of Highest-Grossing Unrated Movie Ever. Capitalizing on the franchise’s legendary gore and special effects, stories of viewers passing out or becoming ill during the opening sequence only helped fuel interest in the film.  Terrifier 3 ended up making $63 million off a reported $2-million-dollar budget. Now, this does not mean that every indie horror film should lean into extremes. It’s not just the gore, but the combination of extreme gore and Art’s unique brand of playful madness that makes the Terrifier franchise so fun despite the violence.

Spoilers Ahead – What is Art?

If you’re not familiar with the franchise, the fandom’s love for Art might be hard to explain. He’s a silent, sadistic killer; previously human, currently demonic.  Thanks to David Howard Thorton’s portrayal , he’s also playful and fun, full of whimsy and joy and pride in his work. Watching him is a delight even when what he’s doing is so very terrible. Which it frequently is.  

I like to think of myself as a kind, empathetic person; I like small, cute animals, help people who need it, and donate to charities. I also really enjoy watching Art do bad things, even when he’s doing it to people who don’t deserve it.

Unlike many of the slashers I grew up on, many of these victims are truly undeserving. That makes it even more satisfying to see Final Girl Sienna get the upper hand in a series that has no guaranteed survivors.

I’m comfortable being judged for this one.  People are complex.  

Does Terrifier 3 Live Up to the Hype?

I think in a lot of ways Terrifier 3 was a better movie than advertised. So much of the focus has been on the kills and the gore and the controversy. Which to be fair, is great for marketing.  Horror movies have long been promoting their ability to disgust, terrify, and drive audiences to the lobby in droves. The Last House on the Left famously warned people that, to avoid fainting, keep repeating, “it’s only a movie”.  Before that, for Lon Chaney’s Phantom of the Opera in 1925, stories went around of people fainting in the audience when the titular character was unmasked. It’s a long-standing tradition.

The Problem With Controversy

The issue comes when marketers purposely create controversy to sell tickets, and I promise I’m going to get back to the review, but this is relevant.  The PR team for Terrifier advertised that movie-goers were walking out of Terrifier 3, vomiting or fainting, after just watching the opening sequence – it’s just that extreme you guys!

Or according to a thread on r/horror, corroborated by multiple posters on other movie threads, attendees were not informed what “holiday movie” they had been invited to watch. So, if you think you’re going into say, a lighthearted action romp starring Dwayne Johnson, and instead you get dismemberment and decapitations, yeah, you might not react well.  This not only reflects badly on the filmmakers and marketers – consent is a thing, people – it makes the movie look like ALL it offers is cheap gore

But it Worked, Right?

They didn’t need it, though.  First, it sets the opening sequence up to be disappointing.  A scene where Art, dressed like Santa, kills an entire family on Christmas Eve with an axe ended up being tamer than I expected. I was waiting for this big extreme showpiece; it didn’t come. I didn’t faint or vomit. When he did the dishes, I even chuckled, knowing that the horror wasn’t over yet.  It was a good opening, that upon rewatch, I quite enjoyed.

The second thing, and the part I really want to focus on, is the story and subtext that gets ignored in favor of the sensational. Again, this is reasonable as the gore is fantastic, the kills are creative, and the effects are top notch. They always have been.

What has consistently improved is the non-kill scene writing. The first movie is more of a series of set pieces than a cohesive narrative. Terrifier 2 overcorrects to an excessive-but-necessary step in evolving Art into a character with lore worth diving into. This third outing adds subtext and subtlety with its storytelling and characterization, even taking a dip into the meta with an Art cosplayer and its handling of characters obsessed with true crime.

Five Years Earlier

After the opening sequence, we jump back in the past to five years earlier when Sienna beheaded Art.  A nice flashback shows how Art’s body and his newborn head got back together, along with Victora, now possessed by the Little Pale Girl.  Once Art’s got his head on straight, the two of them escape the asylum and hole up in an abandoned house where they wait for five years. Before they do, there are some quiet moments here with Art that show a different side to the usually excessive clown. It’s impossible to know what he’s thinking or what his motivation is, and I hope we never truly find out. Small scenes, like Art touching his stash of weapons like he missed them, adds depth to the character.

Art ends up sitting patiently in a rocking chair while Victoria/LPG soaks in a bathtub of her own blood. They are very different demons.

Victoria/LPG is interesting here. She seems to hate the body she’s in and insults Victoria. We don’t get much in the way of her motivation either, so I really dig all the extra little glimpses into who she is and why she’s with Art.

Back to The Present

As they wait, Sienna has also been trying to heal. Five year later, her Uncle Greg is picking her up from a psychiatric facility. She’ll be living with Greg, Jessica, and Gabbie, a non-obnoxious kid in a horror movie.  Gabbie and Sienna are happy to be reunited, but Sienna is not as recovered as she wants people to think. She has nightmares and sees hallucinations of her dead friend Brooke, who blames her for her death. I got Jack from American Werewolf in London vibes from this scene, and I totally dug it.  

Art and Victoria’s rest is interrupted by construction workers who have come to work on the house. After killing the workers, they both do some crafts before Art heads out on the town.

What You Came to See

Art comes across a Santa in a bar, hitting on and being hit on by drunk chicks. This whole scene is probably what I would show people if they asked why I like Art.  At least until he pulls out the liquid nitrogen sprayer.  I knew that once he got going, no one was going to make it out alive, but Art’s glee at encountering Santa was contagious. I have to give a lot of the credit to David Howard Thorton, but also Damien Leone. This time around, he’s perfected his cuts, knowing how long to hold the scene, when to focus on Art, and when to show the kill, is a skill he’s perfected.

It’s especially relevant in Terrifier 3, a movie that does not shy away from child murder. No kids are directly killed on-screen in the same way that their adult and teen counterparts have been. The aftermath, however, is seen. It’s not lingered upon; that would change the tone of the movie, and despite the things that have happened and are yet to happen, this is a fun movie. Trust me.

What about Jonathan?

Jonathan is deep in denial, telling himself he can keep pushing past his trauma, despite all evidence to the contrary. He’s enrolled in college with the world’s bro-iest roommate, Cole, who is a douche to Jonathan but not maliciously; I think that’s just who he is. Cole is dating the most interesting subplot in the movie: Mia, the true crime buff.

Mia is everything bad about our fascination with real-world killers and crime. She hosts a crime podcast and is obsessed with getting Jonathan on it to talk about his experiences. After all, it could be “healing” for him to relive his pain for others to gawk at and speculate about. Later, Jonathan watches her show. Her co-host is spouting wild conspiracy theories about how Sienna is the real killer and how Johnathan is the only reason she’s not in jail.  

When Sienna and Jonathan’s meet-up is interrupted by Cole and Mia, Sienna gets to unload on the podcaster. She’s already rattled after seeing Art at the mall and thinking he’s a hallucination, and Mia pushes her over the edge.  She bluntly tells the idiot the depths of her trauma: the nightmares, visions, and more. Mia still has no concept that she’s that offensive. Even after Cole tells her that yeah, what she did WAS that bad, she romanticizes about their experiences, being that close to a killer. Unfortunately, Art, sneaking through the dorms, probably looking for Johnathan, overhears her and is more than happy to help her out.

The Shower Sequence

A lot of people talk about the rat thing as the most brutal kill. I’m going to give it to this entire shower sequence. Art used a chainsaw in an enclosed space and then makes a blood angel. All other arguments are irrelevant.

Okay, one more argument, thematically: he gives the true crime enthusiast what she wanted in a tragic horrific way. The rat thing is gross and over the top, but this kill is about trauma and how we respond to it in a way that the other one isn’t.

Mia is callus and self-involved; other people’s pain is about her. Her feelings, her reactions, her entertainment and ultimately, her profit.  There are too many people like Mia in the real world.  I do draw a distinct line between enjoying fictional deaths and reveling in true crime. Since Art is firmly in the land of fiction, I’ll enjoy this sequence.

Speeding to the End

Before we wrap up with our final showdown, Sienna dreams of angels and her father giving us more hints at bigger lore, but I want some solid payoff in Terrifier 4. Art and Victoria have found Sienna’s new family and are in the process of ruining it.  Greg is gone already and Jessica, well, you know, the rat thing.  They capture Sienna with the goal of LPG possessing her next.

There’s a double fake-out with a mangled head which was said to be Gabbie, but she’s revealed to be alive and a hostage.  Victoria/LPG then tells Sienna that it’s Johnathan, BUT you’re not gonna kill the second major character off-screen? I’m not sold.

Gabbie tells Sienna she wishes she could have opened her gift. Victora weirdy allows Sienna to open the gift. But Art smashes her hands first. At this point, Art is playing second fiddle to Victoria/LPG.  Sienna opens the box: it’s the sword from Terrifier 2. The one that can kill any demon.

Bad-Ass Sienna Is Back

With her sword, she’s able to fend off Art and kill Victoria. That has the side effect of opening a portal to Hell that swallows Gabbie. Afterwards, Sienna heals from her wounds and plans her next steps, while Art takes a bus.

And now a word about Lauren LaVera: I 100% believe her in this. This last scene is physical and she handles it so well. She’s easy to empathize with but is also credible as the sword-wielding angel-warrior.  The ending of this works, because I believe she can and will go to Hell and get Gabbie back. Maybe she’ll drag Jonathan into the light as well. He’s still alive; let me have this.

End Major Spoilers

Final Thoughts

Terrifier 3 is everything you heard it was and more. The story is better, the editing is improved, and the actors have grown into their characters. The look and feel of the movie is reminiscent of grindhouse without being too grimy. This is extreme horror. Not for those faint of heart or squeamish.

Terrifier 3 is available to watch on streaming.

Please enjoy this video of puppies, as all Terrifer 3 trailers are age restricted

Check out my other horror reviews:

• Thanksgiving
• The Final Wish
• Suitable Flesh