Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Momo and Okarun share a close moment in Dandadan

    Momo And Okarun: The Gold Standard For Shonen Romance

    07/03/2025
    Ironheart Episodes 4 6 But Why Tho 1

    ‘Ironheart’ Explained: Explore MCU’s Bold New Chapter

    07/01/2025
    Buck in 9-1-1

    ‘9-1-1’ Has To Let Buck Say Bisexual

    06/29/2025
    Nintendo Welcome Tour promotional image of the maraca mini-game

    The One “Game” That Justifies The Nintendo Switch 2 Purchase

    06/25/2025
    Destiel Confession in Supernatural - Castiel (Misha Collins) and Dean (Jensen Ackles)

    The Destiel Confession: The Lasting Importance Of Supernatural’s Greatest Ship

    06/22/2025
  • Squid Game
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
  • Summer Game Fest
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » FANTASTIC FEST: ‘Terrifier 3’ Pushes Way Past The Limit

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

James Preston PooleBy James Preston Poole09/20/20245 Mins ReadUpdated:10/28/2024
Terrifier 3
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

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.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

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.”

Terrifier 3

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.

Terrifier 3

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.

Terrifier 3
  • 8/10
    Rating - 8/10
8/10

TL;DR

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.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Twilight Out Of Focus’ Episode 12 — “A Red Thread”
Next Article FANTASTIC FEST: ‘Never Let Go’ Gets By On Atmosphere
James Preston Poole

Related Posts

The Old Guard 2
5.5

REVIEW: ‘The Old Guard 2’ Is Distracted And Half-Baked

07/02/2025
Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey in Jurassic World: Rebirth
5.5

REVIEW: ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ Is Best When Nobody Is Talking

06/30/2025
MEGAN 2.0 promotional image
7.0

REVIEW: ‘M3GAN 2.0’ Puts Action First

06/29/2025
F1 (2025) promotional key art
8.0

REVIEW: ‘F1’ Is A High-Octane Blockbuster

06/24/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Promotional image form Netflix
9.0

REVIEW: ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Brings Beautiful Animation And An Even Better Message

06/20/2025
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams in 28 Years Later
8.5

REVIEW: ’28 Years Later’ Is How Franchises Should Return

06/18/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Taecyeon and Seohyun in The First Night With The Duke Episodes 7-8
7.5
TV

REVIEW: ‘The First Night With The Duke’ Episodes 7-8

By Sarah Musnicky07/03/2025

The First Night With The Duke Episodes 7-8 spends welcome time in pre-domestic bliss before new developments stir up trouble.

The Terminal List: Dark Wolf trailer First Look Image From Prime Video News

Prime Video Unleashes Teaser for Prequel Series The Terminal List: Dark Wolf

By Kate Sánchez07/04/2025

The first Terminal List: Dark Wolf trailer was released today by Prime Video. The series…

Together (2025) still from Sundance
8.0
Film

REVIEW: Have A Grossly Good Time ‘Together’

By Kate Sánchez01/27/2025Updated:07/04/2025

Dave Franco and Alison Brie’s Together (2025) is disgustingly funny, genuinely ugly, and just a good time at the movies.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here