Terrifier 3

Ohhhh fuck you!!

I'm too committed now, as much as I was hoping we could shed the sequels beyond #3 I guess Terrifier 4 here we come! I hope they call it The Final Chapter like with Friday The 13th. Alright so, shit where do I even start? Well it's 5 years after the last movie set during the most un-wonderful time of the year with Sienna getting out of a mental hospital and visiting some extended family for the holidays while Jonathan is attending college, but guess who's coming to Christmas dinner? I'll be up front, despite my opening remark I very much liked this film. It has the same quality of filmmaking in all departments as Terrifier 2 but since we follow our leads from before and given how much I loved that movie it's super easy to get invested. Lauren is acting her damn heart out in this movie, thankfully metaphorically than literally, dealing with the abundance of psychosis following such events and having to wrestle with some massive PTSD once her and Art cross paths again. Elliott is in a diminished role but we still get to see that Jonathan has been coping a lot better and get to see him in the college life. But what we lose with Jonathan we gain with new character and light of my life Gabs played by Antonella Rose, who is so cute and is such a respite for poor Sienna that you get attached quick. They do a proper good job expanding on the previously established characters and weaving in the new ones to form a solid plot. Of course Art is still up to terrorizing on a much bigger scale it would seem, with David having more vignettes to clown around in (Slapping my knee folks!) and I gotta admit I appreciate a horror film that holds zero reservations. This movie flat out says, man fuck them kids! They're not getting away unscathed here by a longshot, and I'm just like daaaamn! Is it so morbid though that you can't enjoy it? No you certainly can, from technicals to plot to that accursed cliffhanger. I was livid in that theater when credits rolled, obviously no spoilers, but considering the fact I was that emotional about it means two things, that I'm all in on these characters and that I need retribution because my feels were messed with! Have fun waiting two to four years for that conclusion said Terrifier 3 to me, which I shall reply with: day one you bastard! Now the big question at the moment is do I like it better than the second and I can say no buuuut it's still pretty good and gets a big thumbs up from me. It's kind of a testament to this series that I literally just stepped into it and I'm this dedicated, so clearly there is something there and I'm happy I got to experience this trilogy. 3.5 stars, 8/10!

Terrifier 2

Now we're talking.

Consider me not only a big fan of Terrifier 2, but count it as one of the rare few sequels that are better than the original, and just for good measure goes on my favorites list of modern horror post 2010! I'm honestly pumped for the third movie now and got plenty of questions from the end of this. So we pick up a year since the first movie where we follow siblings Sienna and Jonathan who are our new targets for Art, and when I saw the over 2 hour runtime I was slightly skeptical because of the progression of the first movie but nary a minute is wasted in any shape. This is a finely crafted movie with multiple improvements over the first though even I'll say the first movie was decent and a pivotal stepping stone. The writing is tighter, I loved the characters, the effects are even bloodier and more gross, the quality of the sets and direction are great, and it's surprisingly a movie that gets you in the Halloween spirit. It's almost Trick r' Treat levels with the abundance of costumes, decorations, traditions of creating or buying costumes, the giving of candy, and Halloween parties. It's soaked as much in blood as the spirit of the season. And yeah those effects put the first to shame, showcasing the superiority of practical gore effects that made me flat out go "Eww." many a time but I'm thrilled to announce there's more appeal to this movie than just the stellar effects. I'll admit I did like the characters from the first movie and actually didn't feel the writing was all that bad either, but the characters in this from major to minor I love to the moon and back! Sienna played by Lauren Lavera had my heart pretty much from the word go or rather should I say the creation of her costume and pictures of dragons on her bedroom wall, the girl is 5 feet of badass and is very relatable and extremely likeable, seeing her interact with her friends and her family makes you care and I wanted to see everybody make it out alive but that wouldn't make for a grand slasher film I know. Elliott Fullam as Jonathan had my respect from the get go too, seeing album art of King Diamond and Slayer adorn his bedroom was the right way to get me to like him and that faith was not misplaced, showing an intelligent boy on the cusp of puberty who is deemed a problem by everyone except his sister lending an underdog tone to him. Plus the whole dynamic of siblings against the evil while the parents are none the wiser was a great callback that I missed in cinema. David is on better form than even the last one as Art The Clown, still getting me to laugh loudly while still being a palpable threat with not an ounce of malice missing! It gives way more supernatural edges to his character which thusly makes me want to know more. Plus the score flat out shmacks, couldn't be more my type of vibe! Also I just damn well want to clap at that aspect because way way too many times have I seen a horror movie where the killer is supernatural but nobody else is, and the fact that our protagonists got some magic shit of their own here is downright fucking awesome! The only other examples I can think of off the top of my head is Nightmare On Elm Street 3 and Friday The 13th Part VII, and that aspect made those movies more interesting. It's downright illogical to think otherwise, why should the villain be the only supernatural force? So brava, brava, bravissima! I don't know what the hell happened but this movie hit all the right buttons for me, wellll...okay there were two things I flat out hated but that's just personal taste and not a slight against the movie. 1. A friend of Sienna's said no candy for adults which that sentence alone wanted me to see her d-e-d, and 2. Art gives out candy in one scene but it's that horseshit one piece per person. What the actual hell Art?? Are you kidding me?!! NO! You will not find any of that rubbish at my household! Weird thing to bitch about but I was downright offended at that and you know I'm right in the end. Tangent over, back to the review. So yeah, I was all in on this movie as ot progressed and it didn't disappoint. It took 4 years for this to hit theaters but the wait was worth it, and again applause worthy situation for Damien Leone who made it all happen I mean it must feel like a dream come true at this point. Is it possible for the third to top this? It's a tall ass order I'll admit because I'm giving this 4 glowing stars, 9/10! Easiest recommendation in a while from me. I can fully understand why there's a fanbase now and I can't wait to talk about the next one with you so stay tuned.

Terrifier

So this is the clown I keep seeing.

Art The Clown has been on my radar for only about a year or two, so I attribute that to the fact that the fanbase has only grew and grew since 2018 when this movie came out. Big congrats to Damien Leone of course who created the character and who's helmed the director chair of all 3 movies, and considering this was a super low budget independent horror movie it's all the more impressive. At an estimated budget of $35,000 this is a movie that proves you don't need multi-millions to craft gruesome practical effects or garner a large fanbase. It's the epitome of dirt simple storyline with two friends out and about on Halloween night that get stalked by this wonderfully deranged serial killer dressed as a clown, with more fresh meat for the grinder being introduced as the movie goes on. Now I am aware Art has been around since before even this movie with two shorts films under his belt but I decided just to focus on the trilogy here with the new movie coming out. It's a decent flick, I wasn't expecting groundbreaking material but more a humble beginning for a horror franchise and that's exactly what I got. The independent film style is apparent but I've seen my fair share of lowbudget horror movies and honestly I'm a fair bit impressed with all that they did with 35,000 bucks! Multiple sets, admittedly some are reused but they work just fine with the story. The effects though not lifelike still got visceral reactions from me and are just nasty at times! The acting is actually pretty decent with big time love going to David Howard Thornton and Pooya Mohseni who for my money were grand, but everybody commits and the dialogue isn't too shoddy either. It does make me rather look forward to jumping into the second movie to see if much changes since I have no concept of the production, but I sense it will go bigger and better. There was a point at roughly the halfway mark where I was wondering where the story would go, they kinda pull a Hitchcock on us and I know people will give this movie flak for how the plot progresses and some of the actions by the characters but this is a slasher film at it's beating heart, and you kinda have to accept it. But it can still be good and entertaining even if it does do the tropes. I could roll with the plot, I got grossed out at some of the kills, hell Art could somehow make me laugh now and then, and I'm happy the indie horror genre gets some attention. I give it 2.5 stars, 6.5/10, with hopes for the future.