In 2022, Damien Leone’s Terrifier 2 hit theaters in a big, bad way. Not only did it generate festival chatter, but a splatter flick about a killer clown had a major theatrical run and was THE movie that people were talking about that Halloween. Which was exciting. It’s always thrilling when a little indie horror flick makes it big and brings in new audiences. And this one in particular, given the gore factor, was something that mainstream cinemagoers didn’t often get an opportunity to experience.
With that level of success, it was no surprise when Terrifier 3 was announced. And this time, Art the Clown is back to fuck up your Christmas!
The film takes place five years after the last installment. Sienna (Lauren LaVera) has been undergoing psychiatric treatment to help her get over the trauma initiated by her last go-around with Art (David Howard Thornton). She leaves the treatment center in time to join her aunt, uncle, and tween cousin Gabby (Antonella Rose) for the holidays. She is doing fairly well, all things considered, but she is still haunted by the memories of the evil clown and what he did to her family and friends. She has vivid nightmares and waking hallucinations wherein she sees images and people from the past, but has no means of interacting with them or saving them.
Meanwhile, Art the Clown is back and this time, he’s bringing Vicki (Samantha Scaffidi) along for the ride. He gets up to all manner of holiday shenanigans around the edges of the story while Sienna is trying to get settled in with her family. The best is probably when he walks into a bar to find an off-duty Santa having a beer, and totally geeks out that he is actually in a room with the “real” Santa Claus. And then, of course, everyone in the bar winds up dead.
There is humor, blood, and a ton of carnage coming from every angle during these set pieces, as fans of the series have come to expect. And once again, the effects work is top notch. Gnarly, bloody, over the top in the best way possible. Leone consistently excels at delivering a film that is violent and bloody in a way that is borderline cartoonish, but not so crazy that it stops audiences from squirming. He revels in the space between the brutal and the absurd. Much like the prior films, the bonkers-crazy-gruesome makeup work is center stage and gorehounds will have a lot to feast their eyes upon.
While Terrifier 3 carries the story forward and gives us the next chapter in Sienna’s journey, the story for this one proves to be a bit weaker than its predecessor. The plot really boils down to stage setting to get Sienna in a place to face Art and Vicki in the finale, and while there are plenty of scenes of murder-clown-mayhem interspersed to keep fans excited, the story itself is rather thin. One of my frustrations with Terrifier 2 was the separation that seemed to exist between the Art scenes and the narrative that Sienna’s story was driving forward. The two sides of the film didn’t always integrate smoothly. That seems to be the chosen technique for the series, because it is back, and while it certainly doesn’t derail the film, it does slow it down.
Lauren LeVera once again proves to be a strong actress and an anchorpoint in this film. She plays Sienna with a strength and a confidence that brings the character to life. Though she doesn’t have quite as much to work with this time around, she still gives it her all and gives the audience a heroine that we can root for, as well as a strong adversary for Art. And speaking of Art, David Howard Thornton once again injects the appropriate mix of mime shenanigans and sinister brutality that audiences have come to expect from the nightmarish clown.
If you’re already a fan of the Terrifier series, this latest entry won’t be a waste of your time. There is enough going on that will please super fans, despite the weak script. If the earlier films weren’t really your thing, this one probably won’t be either. But either way, Art the Clown is back with a vengeance, and Christmas just got a little more bloody.
Movie Score: 3/5
Emily von Seele hails from Seattle, where it rains a lot, which gives her plenty of excuses to stay inside and watch movies. She has written for Bloody Disgusting, Daily Dead, the Women in Horror Annual and Grim Magazine, and is co-host of the Dead Ringers podcast. You can usually catch Emily on Twitter (@horrorellablog), where she has been known to gab excessively about movies and tweet adorable pics of her two cats - seriously, they are the cutest ever.
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