By Mason McNamee,
Staff Writer.
Terrifier 3 finally came out on Oct. 11. It is the second sequel in the Terrifier series and had a $2 million budget. Following the success of Terrifier 2, Damien Leone wrote and directed the third film in just two years. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and has made $28.6 million so far, becoming the highest-grossing film of the franchise after only three days. The growing horror series has gained a devoted fanbase in recent years, but were the fans pleased?
This slasher series is centered around Art the Clown, a sadistic and violent killer. He is portrayed by David Thornton. Art the Clown’s silent and twisted methods of murder have earned him a popular place among both past and modern horror icons. He is known for his black and white clown suit and sheer brutality. Art is set apart from other slasher villains due to his dark sense of humor and using his murders as a form of performance art. His killing methods are both creepily inventive and horrifying.
The second movie gave a lot of leeway to how Art could be something more than a psychotic human killer. After receiving the decapitated head from the possessed Victoria Heyes, Art the Clown lays dormant in an abandoned home. Five years later, Art is stumbled upon by construction workers and proceeds to wake up.
He then goes on another killing spree, murdering a family during Christmas and dressing up as Santa Claus at a local shopping mall, killing a group of shoppers with explosives and other means of violence. The Miles County Killer is seen by his decapitator, the previous survivor, Sienna Shaw. Art goes on yet another killing spree and enjoys murdering nearly all of Sienna’s friends. “The movie capitalized off of gore and gave no cinematic presence whatsoever. The plot was thin and the excessive gore scenes dragged out the movie and gave it that two-hour mark,” said senior Greeshma Shrestha.
One of the key aspects of the films is their commitment to practical horror and gore. Leone has stuck to over-the-top bloodshed to keep the fans in love with the series, but it has sadly only become that. Shrestha said, “I disliked Terrifier 3. As a horror movie enthusiast, it was a washed sell-out cash grab of the first movie. It was just gore and not even in a good slasher film way.”
While this sequel uses less CGI than other modern slasher films, the worst part about the movie is the fact that there isn’t any story to it; it’s purely gore and shock that makes fans enjoy seeing the film on some level.
