When moviegoers walk out of Damien Leone’s Terrifier movies, it indicates an aversion to imagery and, even deeper, a refusal to risk into the unknown. All (or most) horror narratives—in literature, film, television, and art in general—strive to serve this purpose. It’s why I refused to see the Saw movies and the Nightmare on Elm Street films for years; I never wanted to know why random people are tortured or why young people’s dreams are flooded with evil’s presence. Leone’s Terrifier 3 is just that, though. It’s art, and rhetorically, this slasher is pure excellence.
Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) and Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) bring their A-game in this epic rematch of a sequel. The film plays out like many grand fights on film: Marty McFly versus the tests of time, Neo versus Smith, Rey versus Kylo Ren, Marvel superheroes versus Thanos, the Core Four versus the Kirsch family, etc. However, don’t count on Terrifier 3 to be the finale in a planned trilogy; a fourth feature film has entered its development stage as of three weeks ago. Terrifer 3 has just taken the lead among my favorite horror films of the year, even greater than Longlegs, and here’s why.
Putting Together Terrifier 3
The elements comprising this third Terrifier installment are masterful pieces of this and that. The Christmas music is harmonious with the aesthetic and visual aspects, with “Joy to the World” playing as Art eats cookies and washes a glass plate in respect of a family. Musical composer Paul Wiley’s score blends holiday and horror well, such as Sienna lying in bed getting cathartic with her diary, and it’s undoubtedly beautiful to hear. His upbeat score when Art performs an ungodly act with a rodent is baffling. In another moment, Wiley mimics the theme from John Carpenter’s Halloween. It’s indescribable due to the circumstances it is found in, although the uncanniness offers another layer to those circumstances.
Foley sound effects editors Paul Hacker and Charles Maynes are the first to contribute to the disquiet and unease of Art preying on his victims. Their sound work of blood splatters and the impact of blunt instruments are worthwhile down to the specific victim in mind. Either the cinematographers capture the kills on camera, Leone edits them out to strike a unique narrative chord or a kill is not seen at all, and viewers are left to their imagination. These are smart choices, taking into account that young people, even elementary school-aged children, can die in this movie.
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Hell
Conversely, one split diopter shot effectively exhibits how Jonathan Shaw (Elliott Fullam) privately deals with the situation, and the scene is not too shabby. Director of Photography George Steuber captures characters in picture-perfect frames, including Sienna watching a sentient Virgin Mary (Juliana Lamia) statue standing alongside an otherworldly figure crafting armor. Moreover, Steuber’s close-ups of open, bleeding flesh are powerful shots. This is especially the case if the film aims to get a rise out of its audience.
I cannot overstate that the blood and gore makeup is a sight for sore eyes. Just when the audience thinks, “Oh, Leone and his team cannot simply illustrate a worse-looking victim, right?” they underestimate the production crew’s capabilities. A jaw is ripped out, body parts are dismembered, a head is cut open like an impulsive Amazon purchase, Christmas presents are opened in a busy shopping mall, a woman swallows, metal grinds against a buttcrack, but more often of them all, faces will never be the same again.
Overall, Terrifier 3 is a visual improvement of its predecessors. Production designer Olga Turka’s set pieces are creative means to present where characters may possibly die. The intense lighting sequence of Sienna’s tug-of-war with life is captivating, and I am curious to know how the filmmaker conceived that idea in his screenplay. I have never experienced chills as nerve-wracking as when Art does home invasions; honestly, he should be on the naughty list for that alone.
Purposefully Persuasive for the Pulses
With the cinematic elements aside, it’s important to highlight the rhetorical side of it all. In terms of pathos, the film has its extremely emotional moments and even moments where feelings are felt. Sienna Shaw’s pain is physical, but more so psychological. Think of Melissa Barrera’s Samantha “Sam” Carpenter in last spring’s Scream VI and how serial killings were pinned on her. Likewise, the aftermath of Terrifier 2 weighs heaviest on Sienna. Her role in this sequel could easily have revolved around her hiding from the world like Clear Rivers at the beginning of Final Destination 2… However, the screenwriter has something different in mind for the character.
A Logical Slasher
Regarding logos, it makes sense to certain fans for Leone to tell this version of the story, i.e. the theatrical cut. Clearly, he discovered the criticisms against the prior film’s runtime and resolved that issue here. Some scenes are cut in areas to shy away from on-screen kills. If you’re someone like me or YouTuber Dead Meat, then you can see why it might be unfortunate to dismiss depicting every death and leave them to the imagination. The upside is the body count is higher, and nobody dies without a purpose… Well, except for those in the opening scene. The off-screen kills are done with a sense of elegance and at times add to the shock factor.
Leone’s arrangement of the flashbacks, the asides, and the primary narrative never overstays its welcome like in Terrifier 2. The flashbacks make themselves known, and at the same time, it’s difficult to distinguish fantasy from reality, especially with the Shaw siblings prescribed medicine. The style of language—such as the camera’s focus on a subway train advertisement asserting, “Discover Something New,” or how home inspectors go about determining whether to demolish an abandoned house or a mall Santa’s (Daniel Roebuck) philosophy of being Santa—hint at the type of identity this horror film possesses. The filmmaker understands horror tropes, and he uses his direction to take on a more original approach to slashers.
A Subtextual Slasher
Terrifier 3 has allusions to psychological horror and slasher horror that many genre fans all know and love. Art gets to wield an axe and work his magic à la Jack Torrance in The Shining; a chainsaw as a reference to Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchises; and obviously, Black Christmas with the time setting in mind. Next to them is a momentary scene harkening back to Hooper’s other infamous film, Poltergeist. The filmmaker encapsulates his love for the genre by showing the classics, even if they are in black and white.
It isn’t until around the end of the second act that we are reminded why Christmastime isn’t merely a festive season that celebrates Santa Claus. Leone smoothly transitions from a focus on folklore to a focus on religion, done almost as if to present the human struggle to have characters forgive themselves for their past misfortunes. There’s an image of a chalice with a sign of the crucifix on it—I interpret this as Christ’s blood flowing in the Holy Grail, a symbol of healing or immortality. Considering this horror film features a killer clown who hasn’t yet died and a pair of siblings profoundly affected by him, there is no reason to count out cleansing as a key theme.
Christ-like imagery is also present in the final scenes, with a crown of thorns worn to express martyrdom and ridicule. Sienna is treated as a savior-type, as opposed to her angelic appearance in the second film. Leone explores what it means to stand for one’s beliefs despite the world’s opposition to them.
An Ideal Time for Horror
As for the kairos (timing), Leone is a truly calculated screenwriter. Since the previous film occurred during Halloween—and this third film’s synopsis says it takes place around Christmas—, I thought the time jump would be a month-long. In actuality, that isn’t the case; instead, the screenwriter allows his sibling protagonists to age with the given time jump.
With Terrifier and Terrifier 2 both being set around Halloween—and, in turn, being spun off from All Hallows’ Eve, which also takes place around Halloween—the third film is a nice change of pace. Watching all three movies side-by-side right before seeing Terrifier 3 was a wise decision. It allows me to understand where the conception of Art derives from and what All Hallows’ Eve conveys as the source material.
Inspiration in the Terrifier Franchise’s Future
The 2013 movie plays out a lot like the V/H/S films; a main story occurs and characters watch short films, or “segments”, via VHS tape. Its main story, or “frame narrative”, centers on a babysitter and the two siblings she watches over. The VHS features “The 9th Circle”, about a woman who is kidnapped and serves as an incubator for Satan’s seed; a middle segment involving a woman moving into a new home with her husband—a painter existing off-screen; and “Terrifier”, a short centered on a woman whose gas tank is low and is somehow stranded in the middle of nowhere.
By comparison, the Terrifier feature films are not all that different. Leone has been lucky with his filmmaking, working backward at adapting elements of All Hallows’ Eve. Terrifier centers on two women with a flat tire who are stranded in the middle of nowhere; their lives are put at risk when Art the Clown enters the picture. Terrifier 2 centers on two siblings and their single mother, their artist father figure having died by apparent suicide.
The horror filmmaker’s third film then draws out the Shaw siblings’ suffering, introduces younger cousin Gabbie (Antonella Rose) and her help with fighting inner and external demons, and further spotlights Sienna’s relationship with her father, Michael Shaw (Jason Patric). It shows how Leone aims to follow this pattern of remaking All Hallows’ Eve across a series of feature films. I believe his set-up is one of the most clever actions a filmmaker has done with their work.
Performances and Character Developments
This time around, Lauren LaVera’s performance as Sienna Shaw is out of this world. She is a woman who has left high school and attempts to move into adulthood. Sadly, doing so comes with its consequences and outcomes. In many ways, Sienna is to Sam Carpenter as Jonathan is to Tara Carpenter, yet how the older sibling “copes” and the younger sibling tries to move on from things produces different results.
Sienna is seen to have a new family dynamic with Gabbie. This relationship isn’t exactly as fleshed out as when we see Sienna with Jonathan. Nonetheless, considering family is important for Sienna, one cannot help but empathize with her constant experiences with loss. Sienna and Gabbie click as if sisters and Rose’s character is depicted as pure of heart and soul.
LaVera has her fine moments, shining in all of them. She portrays Sienna’s misery with utmost brilliance, almost as if channeling out a darker side to herself believably. The panic attacks, the psychotic breaks, and her cries of bargaining, everything is fantastical. Unlike Sam Carpenter, Sienna confronts evil alone, and I couldn’t help but feel for her troublesome efforts. I will admit it got so intense that I had no other option than to type in all capital letters whilst taking notes during the final scene, where Sienna unwraps her Christmas gift, an indication that she is loved and is capable of love.
The Villains of Terrifier 3
Scaffidi’s Vicky Heyes is a good Harley Quinn-esque horror antagonist. When she playfully screams in the Miles County psychiatric hospital for help, her delivery packs a hard punch. The character copes with her new look and never blames Art for having scarred her, but of course, she is a grown adult who can make her own choices. Not to mention, I can only assume she has a victim mentality. Heyes takes from Art to have fun with her monstrosity, and a single insult to a younger character had taken me aback a bit.
More so, Thornton’s performance as Art the Clown is shockingly hilarious on occasion. He taunts a woman after killing her loved one, he stretches his arms and legs after sitting for a while, and it’s as dark comedy as dark comedy can be. Thornton also has one or two good albeit innocuous jump scares involving an instrument that feels rather delightful to see. I can tell the actor continues to have fun with his role when he uses a pool of blood to do one of the most Christmas-like acts ever.
Final Thoughts on Terrifier 3
Your face did all the work.
Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera)
Terrifier 3 is surely a lovable thrilling slasher horror flick, and the franchise continues to improve with time. As time progresses, Damien Leone evolves as a storyteller, and he never lets gruesome imagery get in the way of communicating a good message. To say I am excited for the fourth entry of this series is an understatement; I am confident in the direction, the screenwriting, and the inventive kills, and I need to see what happens from this point forward.
Terrifier 3 is now playing in theaters.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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