Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without family, fruit cake, drunken Aunt Sally and a visit from Art the clown. Well, that’s the premise of the third film in the Terrifier series anyway. Sienna and her brother are back for the third entry in the popular horror series as they struggle to piece together their lives after their last interaction with Art left Sienna in a mental institution and Jonathan heavily medicated and trying to get through his first year of college. When Sienna goes to her Aunt’s house for the holidays, Art returns to cause some Christmas-infused chaos and some truly chilling kills that look spectacular on the big screen.
This third film has a modern Hollywood sheen and production value miles ahead of the previous two films. The practical effects, such as litres of blood and body effects, all still feel authentic to the franchise.
Art the Clown isn’t alone in this sequel, his partner in crime Victoria Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi) team up and both are hibernating in an abandoned house till a wrecking crew awakes them. The two go on a rampage, upping the kills from the previous films and infusing them with some holiday cheer. Sienna is granted a temporary release from her mental health facility for the holidays with her Aunt, it’s clear that her heavy medication and PTSD is blurring the lines of reality. While she is convinced that Art is still alive and is coming to get her, the rest of her family don’t believe her until it’s too late and the usual chaos and terror ensue.
Shifting the time of year to Christmas allows for a different aesthetic this time around. Having Art physically dressed as Santa Claus (and a hilarious origin story of how he gets the suit) is a spectacular exploration of this character and his childlike qualities, and how quickly that can switch to the murderous killer. All of the planned kills are Christmas-themed with intestines being used as tinsel decorations on a Christmas tree and many other surprises that I won’t spoil for you here. The cold open sequence is one of the most shocking I have ever seen and sets a great tone for the rest of the story.
Scaffidi is a fantastic counterpart to Thornton’s Art. The pair play off each other perfectly and their characters seem to get off on each other’s kills and take sheer delight in watching the other creatively rip apart a body (one scene in particular involving a shard from a broken mirror will shock you!) The pair use a whole arsenal of things like nitrogen, chainsaws, rats and bombs wrapped up as presents that keep each kill feeling fresh and inventive.
Terrifier 3 continues the all-out crazy and thrilling kills that only Art the Clown can deliver. There has been some debate about the introduction of the supernatural elements in the second film, and if they help or hinder the films, the great news here is while this film does hint at it, it fully embraces the spirit of Christmas and relishes in making it as bloody as possible. With reports of audiences passing out, vomiting and needing to leave after the opening shot, Terrifier 3 will delight its fan base with one of the best horror films made in recent years.
Thanks to Monster Fest, Terrifier 3 is in cinemas now.
