FANTASTIC FEST: ‘Terrifier 3’ Pushes Way Past The Limit

Terrifier 3 is the zenith of what the series shephard Damien Leone has worked towards—a film that throttles so over the line into bad taste it becomes something utterly enthralling. The Terrifier movies are nearly impossible to get a consensus on. Part of the horror community can’t stand them. Another cinema faction holds them in high regard. Some only like the first film’s simple, practical gore showcase, while others are more drawn to the ambitious stylings of Terrifier 2. Regardless, it’s clear that Leone started a conversation that has led to high anticipation for the series’ third entry. Leone represents something of a modern grindhouse maestro who has turned cranking out low-budget and low-brow shockfests into an art (no pun intended).

Five years have passed since the events of Terrifier 2. After the trauma she endured at the hands of serial killer Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) has been released from a psychiatric care facility. She’s estranged from her brother and fellow survivor Jonathan (Elliot Fullam), trying her best to move on with her life. As Christmas approaches, Sienna is getting a very special present: the return of Art the Clown. But in Terrifier 3, his mangled victim, Victoria Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi returning from the first film), is an accomplice, axe and all.

There are two types of Terrifier watchers: those who care about the running lore and those who don’t. The latter might be a bit miffed with Terrifier 3, as it goes through great pains to expand the saga of Art the Clown. Painstaking detail is attended to questions other franchises would ignore, such as “Who’s that weird clown child who followed Art in the second movie?” and “How does Art resurrect in between films?” Yet, many more questions are still raised. As a fan, it’s exciting to see the story move forward, although the many threads left open, ostensibly for the newly announced Terrifer 4, make Terrifer 3 feel like a “Part One.”

Regardless, David Howard Thornton and Lauren LaVera are better than ever. Thornton fascinates with his ability to make Art a funny, vaudeville-style mime, constantly doing bits. Yet he also sells the extremely gruesome violence and the ability of Art’s jovial nature to leave his eyes, revealing a demon of a man underneath. Lauren LaVera continues to make a case for herself as the defining final girl of this era. She unleashes new levels of ferocity in a final confrontation that will inspire some great fan-made posters. She’s the secret sauce to these movies that elevates them above the first film’s base thrills.

The most impressive of the bunch might be Samantha Scaffidi. Playing a very different incarnation of the Victoria we met back in 2016, this new Victoria feels like pure evil incarnate. Pounds of sickening make-up can’t mask the disconcerting body language Scaffidi brings to the role. We finally have a performance to match the hellish nature of her character’s look. The same can’t be said for Elliot Fullman as Jonathan, or their newly introduced cousin Gabbie (Antonella Rose), who are underserved by a script busy with its other elements. Namely: the best kills in the biz.

Terrifier 3 is extremely hard to watch, in the best way possible. George Steuber‘s cinematography captures a scuzzy video nasty/film grain feel. At the same time, domestic locations turn family commiseration over the holidays into canvases of blood, limbs, and everything in between. You are not prepared for how rough these murder set-pieces are. Faces peel completely off. A use of a chainsaw that puts Leatherface to shame. Mangled genitalia. Body cavities invaded by animals. It’s a lot, to say the least.

Yet, it’s hard to deny just how great Terrifier 3 looks. The practical effects here are unmatched. Art and Victoria deconstruct a body, revealing all kinds of nasty bits one never even knew existed. Furthermore, just as he listened to criticisms of the first film’s lack of a plot for the second film, Leone seems to have listened to the criticism of his films’ female victims getting the worst of it. This time around, Art is an equal opportunity offender, killing both men and women indiscriminately. However, it’s easy to see discourse amassing over Art’s victimizing children, and perhaps rightfully so.

But that’s the magic of what makes Terrifer 3 work. In an era where we’ve seen just about everything in horror, it can still shock. These films have captured the zeitgeist, and Terrifier 3 represents the furthest a modern horror movie has gone in a while. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up to the viewer’s particular taste, but it’s undoubtedly gutsy. If the Terrifier project’s goal is to build a totally singular, boundary-annihilating experience that will rattle even the most seasoned gorehounds, Terrifier 3 might be Damien Leone’s masterpiece.

Terrifier 3 played as part of Fantastic Fest 2024 and releases on October 11, 2024 in theaters.