Terrifier 3
After decapitating Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) on Halloween night five years earlier, Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera, "Terrifier 2") has a terrible feeling of foreboding as Christmas approaches in "Terrifier 3."
Laura's Review: C+
With his third outing of the series, writer/director Damien Leone ("Terrifier," "Terrifier 2") ups the ante with a bigger budget and some bigger names, but the undeniable attraction of these films is the devilishly puckish mime who amuses himself with gruesome, gory mayhem. These movies aren't really scary, instead somewhat comical in the sickest way imaginable. This third effort, though, crosses a line by endangering children, one of Art's stunts in a shopping mall immediately raising copycat concerns. Otherwise be prepared for an axe massacre, shootings, frozen body parts shattered with a hammer, chainsaw mutilations, forced rat ingestion and even a sick twist on one of the Stations of the Cross. Obviously this movie is not made for the easily offended.
Leone, who reacted to criticism about the lack of narrative in his first, has spun a supernatural backstory that involves Sienna's late dad Michael (Jason Patric, "The Lost Boys"), who appears to have drawn Art well beforehand, having created an angel warrior character with a magic sword for his young daughter, one which the adult Sienna appears able to assume when she comes face to face with her demon. But while a flashback in this installment brings us up to date with that history, other elements of the series do not - the character of Victoria Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi, "Terrifier 2"), for example, is just introduced in a psychiatric ward along with Art's head (which she, a victim become 'reentry portal,' was last seen giving birth to in the previous film).
A prologue features a warm family Christmas setting, young Juliet (Luciana VanDette) arising in the middle of a snowy night to tell her mother Jennifer (Krsy Fox) someone's on their roof. No one believes her, mom spinning tales and setting out milk and cookies for Santa to allay Jules's fears, dad complaining about the need to rise in hours, brother Timmy telling her to go away. She'll hide when she sees 'Santa' taking an axe out of his bag and climbing the stairs towards the family's bedrooms. After opening credits declare 'Damian Leone's Terrifier 3,' we'll witness an unfortunate cop finding Art's headless body five years earlier, the policeman's noggin taken to navigate its way to Vicky, where Art reconnects with his own head, he and Vicky then taking the subway to the condemned house they will call home. Shocked seeing her mutilated visage in a mirror, Vicky climbs into a tub and slits her wrists. Art settles into an attic rocking chair, where he will be discovered covered in cobwebs five years later by the demolition team of Dennis (Jon Abrahams) and Jackson (Michael Genet), whose presence appears to reanimate both.
When we meet Sienna in this installment, she's being picked up from a psychiatric hospital by her uncle Greg (Bryce Johnson, "Willow Creek") to spend the holiday with her maternal aunt Jessica (Margaret Anne Florence) and adoring niece Gabbie (Antonella Rose, who bears an astonishing resemblance to "Exorcist" era Linda Blair). Sienna is on medication, yet disturbed by hallucinations, a murdered friend appearing at Jess's dinner table to accuse Sienna of her death. Meanwhile Sienna's younger brother Jonathan (Elliott Fulham, "Terrifier 2") is trying to move forward as a freshman in college, teasingly accepted by roommate Cole (Mason Mecartea) whose obnoxious girlfriend Mia (Alexa Blair) is desperate to have him on her true crime podcast Graven Image. He's also oddly reticent to spend time with his sister, puzzling behavior given her having put her life on the line for his.
In a bar, Eddie (Bradley Stryker, "Let Him Go") is serving off-duty Santa Charlie (Daniel Roebuck, "3 from Hell," "The Munsters") and his buddy Smokey (Clint Howard, "The Waterboy"). Art spies the scene from outside and enters, clearly desiring Charlie's Santa suit and when Sienna and Gabbie go Christmas shopping at the local mall, Sienna believes the disturbingly familiar Santa she sees is another hallucination.
The acting in these films is on about par for a mid-grade slasher, David Howard Thornton's theatrical flourishes and bizarre facial exaggerations the highlight. The film's editing is rudimentary, simply cutting back and forth from Art's exploits to Sienna's reintegration into family which can be jarring. The obvious effort in the production is with makeup and effects, outrageous amounts of gore presented realistically (watch for noted make-up effects artist Tom Savini as a witness interview on a local news broadcast), Art's visage becoming iconic.
The film's climax is over the top, everything Sienna has feared about endangering her family coming to pass, a Christmas tree bedecked with body parts (as if we didn't see that gag coming). Leone's half-baked supernatural aspect comes into play, depressingly setting up another sequel. Art the Clown is an inventive character, but what's next - the Easter Bunny?
Cineverse releases "Terrifier 3" in theaters on 10/11/24.
