Oh to be part of the zeitgeist. I was thinking the other day that I really think Terrifier's Art the Clown is one of the best horror movie monsters of this century. He is played to perfection and manages to be both creepy and funny Ever since I saw Terrifier I have been hooked on this demonic nightmare, having gone back to see 2013's Art infused anthology horror All Hallows Eve, as well as picking up Terrifier 2 on Blu-ray. Terrifier 3 is once again written and directed by Damien Leone, and I admire his refusal to give up his twisted vision in lieu of a bigger budget, preferring to finance his movies independently rather than accept funds from a big studio (several of which showed interest after the run-away success of the second movie). As much as I enjoyed that second movie, I did feel it was overlong, especially the third act that really started to drag. I had heard the third film was back to a more manageable length, but this one was still over two hours long, though at least it didn't feel like it. Spoilers for the second film to follow.
The film jumps around in time a bit with it initially going back to the end of Terrifier 2 (after the unrelated prologue) to show how Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) managed to come back to full power, and then leaping forward to five years later. Final girl Sienna (Lauren LaVera) has spent the past half decade in and out of mental institutes, suffering not only from PTSD, but also a more supernatural form of the condition due to her harrowing encounter with the Miles County Killer. She frequently hallucinates as well as has terrifying nightmares. In the lead up to Christmas she leaves the institute and goes to stay at her aunt (Jessica played by Margaret Anne Florence) and uncle's (Eddie played by Bradley Stryker) house. Their young daughter Gabbie (Antonella Rose - Fear the Walking Dead TV series) hero worships Sienna though is unaware of the details of her tragic past. Sienna's brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam) meanwhile is now living in dorms at a college having came out more unscathed from his own encounter with the clown.
Elsewhere, Art and his new assistant Victoria Heyes - the original final girl survivor now turned insane (Samantha Scaffidi), are awakened from their supernatural hibernation at a condemned house by some workmen. This results in Art going on another mindless rampage, this time dressed as Santa. Whether by design or coincidence he discovers the whereabouts of Sienna and Jonathan and sets out to get his revenge.
In the UK premiere of Terrifier 3, nine people walked out of the screening before the prologue had even finished! I expected the reason for this was due to the intense levels of gore and violence, though it was for a slightly different reason. The unrelated prologue is almost like a short film all of its own as it shares not many ties with the rest of the movie. Rather than accounts of people walking out being hyperbole, I myself witnessed three people walking out of the film at around the halfway mark! The film does not draw the line when it comes to children being killed, I think wisely these kills are often implied rather than shown, though you see the aftermath. Not having children of my own I thought this made for a fun and twisted change, though leaving the cinema I overheard a man stating to his girlfriend that he thought it was wrong for children to be included as victims.
This film did not disappoint in terms of the gore and inventiveness and maliciousness of the kills. There was a memorable scene in a shower room involving a chainsaw, a nasty kill where a victim has a large plastic tube hammered into their mouth before rats are poured into the tube, and no end of people being hacked up into pieces. The blend between comedy and horror is as razor thin as ever, the sheer horror of Art is perfection, he has an intensely unsettling look to him, helped by him being mute and constantly doing exaggerated motions, such as pretending to stifle a laugh as he attacks people. His kills frequently blend in humour that had the audience laughing, me included. The most amusing part for me was when Art picks up a severed leg of a victim he had just cut up, he holds the foot to his nose and then does an over the top recoil when he sniffs it, replacing a victims hacked off nose with a carrot decoration from a snowman was also amusing. The effects seemed to be mostly practical ones, they always looked fantastic, bodies cut into pieces in ever cruel and sadistic ways that never failed to look great.
I'm glad the film didn't feel as long but I did feel there were some pacing issues. Art turns up in locations adjacent to the central cast seemingly randomly, the biggest culprit when he turns up at Jonathan's frat house where all he mainly does on screen is listen in to a conversation that happens to be relevant to him. Talking of Jonathan, he felt underused, sure he wasn't meant to be the lead but you don't get so much of an impression of him. I hated how him and another character were treated as well, so much happens off screen that it seemed to me like an entire scene was missing. I get the reasoning but it still struck me as an odd decision. Some of the new cast were decent, especially the smaller parts featuring characters who only appear so that Art can kill them. Gabbie was actually my favourite new character, I loved her interactions with Sienna. Sienna herself was great, I enjoyed the PTSD moments that had her unsure if she was hallucinating or not, which in turns lead to the audience unsure if what was happening was really occurring or imagined. More so than than the other two films, this really felt like it was setting itself up for a sequel, with several plot threads being unresolved when the credits roll. The story again wasn't the strongest, but had more aim than the second, and I liked the little bits of lore leaked out, even if there wasn't as much as I had wished for.
Having been up since 05:00, I was super tired when I went to the 20:30 screening at the cinema. This did impact on my enjoyment as my eyes were really heavy. Still, it was a genuine delight finally getting to see Art on the big screen. I never enjoy the Terrifier films as much as I want to, they are not perfect. With Art though, you have a powerhouse of a movie maniac, this still seems the role that Thornton was born to play. The special effects especially when it comes to kills were as delightful as always, and I would lie if I said I was getting bored of the franchise.
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