TERRIFIER 3 Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Damien Leone
Stars: Lauren La Vera, David Howard Thornton, Antonella Rose, Samantha Scaffidi, Elliott Fullam, Mason Mecartea, Alexa Blair Robertson, Margaret Anne Florence, Bryce Johnson, Tom Savini, Daniel Roebuck, Clint Howard, Jason Patric.
I must confess that I haven’t seen the first two films in the Terrifier series. But I was drawn to check out the third film in the slasher franchise out of curiosity due to news reports from the US about people fainting, vomiting and fleeing from the cinema due to the intense level of graphic blood and gore, violence and brutal slayings. And there is certainly plenty of that. Terrifier 3 is not for the squeamish or those with delicate constitutions. And since his first appearance in 2016 the main character Art the Clown has become one of those iconic seemingly indestructible villains that populate contemporary slasher films, characters like Freddy Kreuger or Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers, although he is far more sadistic and vicious, and inventive in the methods he uses to kill his victims.
The film is set five years after the events of Terrifier 2. Sienna Shaw (Lauren La Vera) is still traumatised having survived her encounter with Art the killer clown (David Howard Thornton) during the Halloween massacre. She is released from the facility where she has been receiving treatment to help her recover and plans to spend Christmas with her aunt and uncle (Margaret Anne Florence and Bryce Johnson) and their young daughter Gabbie (Antonella Rose, from tv series Fear The Walking Dead, etc). But Sienna still experiences nightmares and hallucinations.
She also struggles to reconnect with her younger brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam), who has enrolled in college and is trying to move on with his life. Suspecting that Art is still alive Sienna visits Jonathan to warn him. There she meets his roommate Cole (Mason Mecartea, from Hidden Blessings, etc) and Cole’s girlfriend Mia (Alexa Blair Robertson), who hosts a true crime podcast specialising in serial killers. Mia tries to pressure Sienna into becoming a guest on her program, but she rejects her offer.
Meanwhile Art, who was decapitated in the previous film, has returned to life. He is accompanied by the possessed Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi, hidden under layers of gruesome prosthetic makeup), whom he encountered in an abandoned asylum, where they have spent the past couple of years resting. The asylum is earmarked for demolitions, and when the experts arrive they awaken Art and Victoria, who set out on a killing spree. The pair work their way towards Miles County where Sienna lives with her extended family, brutally killing lots of people along the way.
Art dresses as Santa Claus after meeting with an impersonator in a bar. He uses some inventive and nasty methods to kill his victims, including wielding a chainsaw to cut up Cole and Mia who are having sex in a shower. He also uses an axe to chop off limbs and decapitate victims; and he even uses liquid nitrogen to freeze a couple of victims and then uses a hammer to break their bodies.
Writer/director Damien Leone is familiar with the tone of the series having worked on the previous two instalments and he deliberately ups the ante here. He delivers plenty of gore here, with lots of severed limbs, spilled intestines and buckets of blood. And Leone uses practical effects where possible, which amplifies the gory effects. Yes, the film truly earns its R rating and is definitely not for the squeamish. Some elements of the film though don’t really make a lot of sense, but with the screen liberally splashed in blood the audience doesn’t really get much time to think about these problems until the final credits have rolled.
Leone works closely with regular cinematographer George Steuber to give the material the look and texture of those vintage horror films from the 80s. Leone has also cast many familiar horror veterans in small cameos, including make-up and special effects artist Tom Savini, Daniel Roebuck, Clint Howard, and Jason Patric (from The Lost Boys, etc).
The film leaves the way open for a fourth film in the series. Apparently a fourth film is already in preproduction; not surprisingly as Terrifier 3 has topped the box office in the US for a couple of weeks. As far as Christmas movies go, Terrifier 3 is a far cry from the wholesome family type of entertainment one usually expects at this time of year and is more in the vein of slasher films like Black Christmas or Violent Night.
★★★
