By Bob Garver
Here’s a movie that certainly surpassed expectations. The low-budget “Terrifier” franchise is not usually one that makes big bucks. The first film from 2016 made less than $1 million. The second, in the glorious year for horror that was 2022, was lucky to pass $10 million. Now comes a third entry that not only made more than the other two movies combined in its opening weekend with $18 million, it took the #1 spot at the domestic box office.
It’s not hard to see what happened here: “Terrifier 3” was sent out to capitalize on the evil clown momentum started last weekend by “Joker: Folie à Deux.” It wasn’t supposed to beat the huge blockbuster, just ride its coattails to a decent, maybe second-place showing. But audiences kicked that giant letdown to the curb (all the way to #3, behind the third weekend of “The Wild Robot”) and decided that they wanted a movie that does evil clowns right. Well, maybe “right” is the wrong word, but the villainous Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) is closer to what I expect from an evil clown than the mopey Arthur Fleck.
The new film sees the previously-killed Art resurrected via literal rebirth courtesy of his disciple, Final Girl of the first movie Vic (Samantha Scaffidi). The two slip into a suicide-induced hibernation for five years, with their awakening coinciding with the release from a mental hospital of Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera), the Final Girl of the second movie. All poor Sienna wants to do is live a peaceful life with her uncle (Bryce Johnson), aunt (Margaret Anne Florence), and cousin (Antonella Rose), as well as keep in healthy contact with her brother Jonathan (Elliot Fullam), away at college. But she and Art are destined to keep fighting until one slays the other for good, so peacefulness is out the window.
The film actually spends quite a bit of time on Sienna and her mental health, and I have mixed feelings on this aspect. On one hand, it’s admirable that the film wants to have some substance related to its protagonist to prove that this series is about more than a clown and his creative kills. On the other hand, it maybe overcorrects and gives Sienna too much healthy time before things inevitably fall apart. It’s a perfectly fine performance by LaVera, but she’s not the one people are here to see.
Indeed it is Art the Clown and his joyful streak of terror that are selling the tickets. And oh does this movie deliver on the gore it promises and more. Art has never met a weapon he doesn’t love or a person he’s not eager to kill. He even breaks the unwritten slasher rule of not using guns or explosives - as long as people can die from it, he’ll use it. Unique to this movie is that it takes place around Christmas, so he dons a Santa suit and pulls weapons out of a sack of “toys.” He’s particularly fond of a tank of liquid nitrogen. Because it isn’t enough that he has to outdo The Joker, he also has to make a better Mr. Freeze.
“Terrifier 3” is strictly for people that already know they like slasher movies. It takes a sick sense of humor to appreciate a movie like this, and frankly it also requires knowledge of the first two movies. I recommend the “Kill Count” videos on the “Dead Meat” YouTube channel as pre-film tutorials, and even those may prove to be too much for some people (including my mom… long story). My favorite moment at my screening was when the audience sat in a stunned silence after a scene of staggering violence, and someone broke said silence with a well-timed obscenity. I appreciate the plucky underdog charm of these movies to a degree, but I’m not ready to say that they actually count as good movies.
Grade: C
“Terrifier 3” is not rated by the MPAA, likely because it is too violent to qualify for an R rating. Its running time is 125 minutes.
Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@nyu.edu.
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