TERRIFIER 3
Theaters

With Terrifier 3, writer and director Damien Leone takes Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) fully into loopily insane, Evil Dead 2 anything-goes territory while still channeling his inner William Lustig or Lucio Fulci, where nothing is off limits, little makes sense, and anyone on the screen - no matter their age, gender, or level of innocence - is fair game to meet the most sickening demise possible. Once again, he crafts a nastily confident blizzard of abhorrently violent nonsense that fans are guaranteed to go gonzo over, even as they work overtime to keep from up-chucking into their collectible Art the Clown popcorn bucket.

Personally, after a rough opening segment that I wasn't sure I'd be able to sit through, I found this third chapter in the supernatural killer clown's story to be far less exhausting than its predecessor, 2022's surprise cult hit, Terrifier 2. Also, even at a couple minutes over two hours, this sequel doesn't feel nearly as drawn out or as padded as the last one. Even though it scrutinizes more of the mythology connecting Art and heroine Sienna (Lauren LaVera) as eternal adversaries destined to do battle, the plot is actually fairly straightforward and focused. I appreciated that.

Be that as it may, the existence (and continued success) of the Terrifier series impresses me more than any of the three features (or four, if you count Art's first appearance in the 2013 horror anthology All Hallows' Eve) that make up the series so far. While I "enjoyed" this one the most, that doesn't mean much: I sat through the whole thing with my guts twisted in knots, my brow covered in sweat, and the hair on my arms standing on end, as if they'd received an electric shock. While I'm certain that is what Leone was shooting for, I can't say suffering through all of that was a heck of a lot of fun.

Still, Leone keeps getting better behind the camera with each successive outing. This is his most visually appealing effort yet. A climactic fight sequence in a contained small suburban living room (featuring everything from a chainsaw to a sword to a victim's fresh intestines utilized as a garrote) is phenomenally well staged. Another bit in a college shower is an equal-opportunity corker that eviscerates with ball-busting abandon. Leone also has become even more confident at balancing comedy, action, suspense, and outright terror, a single scene traipsing through a litany of emotional permutations with astonishing clarity.

I think that's what makes these films, at least for me, virtually unreviewable. Especially Terrifier 2 and now Terrifier 3 are incredibly well-made slice-and-dice shockers. The performances keep improving with each entry (I think LaVera has the potential to be a bona fide star), and the practical makeup and gore effects are simply out of this world. But the unrelenting cruelty doesn't do it for me. After every one of these, I feel pummeled to the point I can barely breathe, and my entire body has an icky sensation of being covered in such overwhelming filth that I won-der if I'll be able to clean the muck off of or if it will instead be there forever.

There's precious little in the way of an actual plot. For those who do require a synopsis: after a brief flashback to what transpired at the end of the previous film, things pick back up five years later during the Christmas holiday. Sienna has left the psychiatric clinic to stay with her aunt Jessica (Margaret Anne Florence), her husband Greg (Bryce Johnson), and their bubbly daughter Gabbie (Antonella Rose). Reawakened by a pair of bumbling demolition contractors, Art the Clown and his now undead sidekick Victoria Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi, returning to the series in full force after being left a deformed, monstrous mess at the end of Terrifier) slowly make their way to the young woman's location, brutally murdering with jolly enthusiasm everyone and anyone they encounter. Elliott Fullam also returns as Sienna's younger brother Jonathan, now in college and unsuccessfully trying to put his encounter with Art behind him.

I could give a litany of trigger warnings for practically everything that happens in the buildup to Art and Sienna's inevitable reunion. The cold open involving a loving family of four will be especially trying for some viewers. I also would hope people understand what they've signed up to tolerate when they purchase their tickets. Still, the body count is both exceptionally high and sickeningly on the younger side of the spectrum, so there may be those who feel this particular turn of events is a bridge too far, even for this unapologetically pitiless series.

But, as with Leone's two previous Art the Clown adventures (especially Terrifier 2), that's what makes Terrifier 3 more of an audaciously repugnant test of endurance than anything even moderately substantive. Interested parties already know what to expect. For everyone else? Nothing to see here. Move along, move along. This is not the holiday-themed horror film you are looking for.