Splatterhouse fans rejoice: Terrifier 3 does not disappoint. It is bloody and bold and bloody and silly and bloody – did I mention it was bloody? As part of the Terrifier series, that much is to be expected. Is it bloodier than the others in this intentionally senseless franchise? It’s hard to say without a bloodometer – but I don’t think so.
The first Terrifier film (widely released in 2018) didn’t have much of a plot; the cheesy B-movie was mostly just a bunch of killing, as a way to show off director Damien Leone’s skill with practical effects. With a reportedly $35,000 budget, Leone staged several creatively hideous murders (most notably a girl being carved in half from top to bottom) committed by Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), that ended with one victim, Vicky (Samantha Scaffidi), hideously deformed. Her altered mental state leads to a TV interview that, in retrospect, the journalist ought to have conducted via video chat.
Terrifier 2, from 2022, had a higher budget (around $250,000) and much more of a plot – almost too much, giving it a nearly 2.5 hour runtime. Somehow, Art the Clown returned… and resumed his humorously mindless, murderous rampage. At least until he was met by a Final Girl: Sienna (Lauren LaVera), whose recently deceased father had secret, unexplained, clown-fighting knowledge – perhaps clown fu or jiu-jester. Whatever the case, the sword he created turns Sienna into the ultimate clownstopper.
Meanwhile, a young ‘un named Little Pale Girl (Amelie McLain) turned up dressed in a clown suit similar to Art’s. Or did she? She seemed to be invisible to everyone except Art, Sienna, and Sienna’s brother, Jonathan (Elliott Fullam). As with much in the series, no explanation for her is given, nor does she show up in Terrifier 3. (As far as we know…since she was invisible, after all.)
With Terrifier 3, the budget is now in the $2 million range, like a real movie. Correspondingly, the story is more complex and layered – ha ha, just kidding. It’s still gleeful grindhouse trash. Opening scene: the murder of a family. Then a flashback to five years prior, linking this film to the original. The first Terrifier had a mid-credits scene in which Vicky gave birth to the decapitated head of Art the Clown. You might remember how that process works from your highschool biology textbook.
Let me describe this flashback for your enjoyment. It goes something like this: The head of Art the Clown is eating the body of the nurse who discovered Vicky birthing him. We see the resulting “nurse food” traveling down an intestine linked to Vicky’s mouth, force-feeding her what I guess you’d call nurse niblets. Be sure to watch Terrifier 3 while enjoying a hearty snack.
Eventually, Vicky escapes with Art’s head, and they run to the abandoned building where Art’s head parted ways with his body. Vicky, in touch with her inner Auguste Rodin, re-sculpts a cohesive work of Art, then sits in a bath and gets in touch with her inner Sylvia Plath. That’s not the end of Vicky; she later joins Art for some bloody Jackson Pollock-like activity.
So that’s a fun flashback. But most of Terrifier 3 takes place in the present day, after Sienna is picked up from a psychiatric unit by her uncle. Orphaned in the previous movie, Sienna moves in with her aunt, uncle, and little cousin Gabbie (Antonella Rose). Her brother Jonathan is in college, with a roommate whose girlfriend is obsessed with the Miles County Clown massacre. She fangirls hard on Jonathan and Sienna when she meets them, trying to get them on her true-crime podcast.
Sienna suffers from debilitating panic attacks, seeing visions of her dead friends, and catching sight of Art the Clown around town. The story takes place during the holiday season, and it seems Art has the yuletide spirit. He spends a lot of time happily visiting with a Santa in a bar – before he kills him and takes his Santa suit. (Bonus: Clint Howard has a cameo here.) Sienna thinks she sees Art while shopping at the mall with Gabbie: a man in a Santa mask and complete Santa costume… with bloody gloves. When she later sees a news report of an explosion at the mall, she is convinced the culprit was Art the Clown. Of course it was. Soon, Santa Clown will be coming to Sienna Town.
The plot of Terrifier 3 is more cohesive than it was with Terrifier 2, though there are still messy points. Oblique references to demonic spirits vaguely hint as to why Art and Vicky keep coming back to life, but there’s no further development of this idea, so it doesn’t stick. I also felt the filmmakers didn’t think through the tale of Vicky. Did she stay, rotting, in that bathtub for five years as if waiting for Art to wake her up like the worst alarm clock of all time?
At least the plot with Sienna is more well-rounded than in the second film. The depiction of her long stay in a psych ward generates sympathy, as do her panic attacks and use of prescription meds. Sienna’s struggle feels authenic, and convincingly leads to the film’s third-act showdown – where realism and supernatural elements collide.
Not that plot or consistency matter much in a Terrifier movie. These films exist mainly for creatively intense, graphic, and gratuitous slaughter scenes. Unfortunately, many of Terrifier 3’s gratuitous scenes aren’t very original this time; they contain nothing we haven’t seen before. Oddly enough, there was almost no nudity in the film. Normally you get some carnality to go with the carnage. It’s as if the film’s bigger budget had somewhat Puritanical strings attached.
At least you know what you are getting with a Terrifier movie: gore. Of which there is plenty. Oh, and Art the Clown’s scampering, childlike joy. He just loves killing so much. It’s actually adorable.
