Terrifier 3 review: Art the Clown embarks on his most disturbing and depraved adventure yet

Terrifier 3 is the third installment in the ongoing series about Art the Clown, and this time he’s delivering murder and mayhem during Christmas, making this the most messed up film in the franchise thus far.

The antics of Art the Clown are an acquired taste. The character sliced a woman in two in Terrifier 1. Then pulled a bloody brain out of a head and a beating heart from a chest in Terrifier 2.

Meaning Art’s movies aren’t for the faint-hearted, or those of a nervous disposition. But that’s the point. Writer-director Damian Leone has made the Terrifier movies independently, and very much on his own terms, so he can go as graphic and gruesome as the ratings board will allow.

In response, horror hounds have lapped his output up, with the first film a modest hit, and the second movie a bona fide blockbuster. That successful run is likely to continue here, as Terrifier 3 delivers kills as violent as they are imaginative, all while taking the franchise in a more supernatural direction.

Christmas Evil

Terrifier 3 starts as it means to go on, via a pre-credits sequence that’s sick, twisted, and utterly hilarious – which kicks off with a family tucked up in bed on Christmas Eve.

A kid hears footsteps on the roof, and tells her Mom, who pretends it’s Santa, and promises to leave cookies and milk out for his elves. Which is all very adorable.

Cineverse

But of course, it isn’t Santa, but rather Art, dressed in a grubby Santa suit; his sack filled with weapons rather than toys. Including an axe that he uses to butcher the family in nasty Terrifier ways. Before eating the cookies, drinking the milk, and cleaning the plate before he leaves.

It’s horrible stuff – as awful as it is blackly comic – and sets the scene for the festive fun that follows.

What is Terrifier 3 about?

The film also begins with a pair of time jumps. That first family massacre plays out in the present, before the movie shifts five years into the past, to catch up with Art and Vicky at the end of the last movie.

This flashback explains how and where they’ve been since, which is where the movie leans into the supernatural even more than the previous installments. Though some of the mythology is under-explained, making the Terrifier rules a little confusing at times.

We quickly return to the present, however, with the debased duo bringing murder and mayhem to the here and now. And it’s a pretty different world that the clown re-enters, where “art” is now imitating life, as he’s now “the most famous serial killer since Jack the Ripper.”

Meaning he now has groupies who love him. Podcasters who podcast about him. And fans who dress up as him, which Art is none-too-pleased about when meeting one of these poor pretenders.

Moving on from Art the Clown

Those are the villains of the piece, but for the hero, life has been rough. Thanks to hallucinations featuring her former tormentor, Terrifier 2’s Sienna (Lauren LaVera) has been a frequent visitor to psychiatric facilities.

But she’s now ready to move on with her life, beginning with a stay at her sister’s house for the festive season. Though the hallucinations return. While through her own flashbacks, Sienna’s father – played by Jason Patric – sheds some light on her backstory. Though again it’s still not quite enough to make sense of her clear connection to the clown.

During this time Sienna also tries to reconnect with brother Jonathan, who in turn is at college and trying to move on with his life. Though while the scenes they share are a little stilted, you do truly get a sense of the pain and suffering that the siblings have shared.

And it turns out, moving in is difficult when a demon clown and his psychotic sidekick are thirsty for your blood. Which sets the scene for a suitably sick festive showdown between good, and true evil.

Ciniverse Corp.

Black Christmas

Leone clearly loves Christmas – and especially bloody Christmas movies – with Terrifier paying tribute to the greats, including Black Christmas and Die Hard, as well as The Shining via an obvious homage that nevertheless works in context.

He also has fun with the tropes and traditions of the season. Art impersonates a mall Santa, decorates a tree with human intestines, makes snow angels in blood, and even gets his own Christmas song.

Religion also plays into proceedings, via some stigmata action, a spot of death and resurrection, and Art impersonating Jesus on the cross. It’s all very sacrilegious, as befits a Terrifier movie.

A shower scene to rival Psycho

But while comedy is integral to the Terrifier movies, it’s the kills that keep people coming back for more, and on that front, Terrifier 3 exceeds expectations.

Highlights include the initial home invasion, Chris Jericho’s character finally meeting his end, and a truly effed-up explosion that has to be seen to be believed.

But the murder that’ll have most people talking – and hardcore fans of the franchise loving – takes place in a bathroom where two young lovers are taking a shower.

Art arrives on the scene, and what follows is the most extreme Terrifier kill yet; a prolonged double murder that features a throwback to the best kill in the first movie, while at the same time topping everything that’s come before. Meaning Psycho be-warned, there’s a new shower scene in town.

Bloody Disgusting/Unsplash

Is Terrifier 3 good?

Terrifer 3 delivers the goods, and then some. With a bigger budget at his disposal – and therefore a broader canvas – Damien Leone has crafted a slasher for the ages, one that will cement Art’s place alongside the likes of Freddy, Michael, and Jason.

The supernatural stuff is the movie’s weakest material, with the mythology a bit too vague. While by keeping Art’s own story indeterminate, he’s a somewhat elusive villain to get your head around.

But actor David Howard Thornton imbues him with such personality, such humor, and such malevolence that those frustrations can be cast aside, in favor of reveling in his depravity.

He’s well-matched by Lauren LaVera as a truly kick-ass heroine, and their hysterical climactic showdown is one for the ages; a sequence that will have you grabbing for the barf-bag, but one that also helps turn Terrifier 3 into a Christmas horror classic.

Terrifier 3 score: 4/5

Terrifier 3 is the best Terrifer movie yet, and one that turns murder into an Art-form.

Terrifier 3 premiered at Fantastic Fest, and hits screens worldwide on October 11, 2024. For more Art the Clown action, check out our interviews with the cast, where we find out why the best kill is in Terrifier 3, while here’s why people working on the movie can’t watch it.