Watched in the cinema (164th visit in 2024)

Schocktober 2024 #30

Art the Clown has had a stellar career: It started with appearances in short films and a horror anthology, followed by his first feature film for home cinema with "Terrifier" and finally even went straight to the cinema with "Terrifier 2". The latter triggered a little hype among horror fans and ensured that the psychopathic killer clown was suddenly on everyone's lips. The worldwide box office takings of just under 16 million dollars may seem paltry compared to other cinema hits, but considering the minimal budget of just 250,000 dollars, it is a remarkable success. So it's no wonder that director Damien Leone was given the green light by the studio to make another sequel, this time with a budget of just under 2 million dollars. And lo and behold: "Terrifier 3" has already grossed more on its opening weekend with a result of 18.3 million dollars (in the USA alone) than its predecessor did in its entire run worldwide. With over 50 million dollars, it is now the most successful unrated film of all time. So from a commercial point of view, it did everything right.

As a reminder: "Terrifier" and especially "Terrifier 2" are ultra-brutal slashers for a hardcore audience that can handle excessive gore and wants to see exactly that. Accordingly, it should come as no surprise what awaits in "Terrifier 3". And that the makers would try in one way or another to shock their audience anew. Once again, people fall victim to the clown (David Howard Thornton) and his assistant Vicky (Samantha Scaffidi) and are executed in the worst possible way. The practical effects are also the film's great strength here, as is the ingenuity with which the kills are carried out. Sometimes Art resorts to liquid nitrogen, then again to the chainsaw or axe to ensure plenty of terror fun. Wonderfully nasty and not for the faint-hearted. Art is a horror character with cult potential.

This time, "Terrifier 3" is almost like a Christmas film, as Art makes the rounds dressed as Santa Clause for the festive season. There is something amusing about the fact that all the typical Christmas kitsch is taken ad absurdum, and the film has no shortage of pitch-black humour if you can get into it. Because the film is still evil through and through, and this time it doesn't even stop at children. Although this is not depicted as explicitly in the film as it is with adult victims, it is still thematically relevant and is guaranteed to offend some viewers. Whatever you think about it, it's a logical continuation of the series. Art is a sadist from hell who cares about nothing and nobody. Why should he suddenly show restraint here? If you have a problem with that on the big screen, then "Terrifier 3" is nothing for you. And it probably wasn't before either.
With a running time of 140 minutes, the second part was incomprehensibly long. Especially for the fact that it had hardly anything to say in terms of content. At 125 minutes, "Terrifier 3" is also a (too) long film, but at least it's a little shorter. The story remains thin and the characters still have room for improvement. Leone would do well to leave the writing to someone else and concentrate purely on a (tighter) realisation. But as it is, he drags the whole thing out with plenty of narrative diversions and surreal elements to unnecessarily inflate "Terrifier 3". And this is by no means the end of the story, as the door for a fourth instalment has already been opened at the end. Incidentally, this has already been officially confirmed, which is hardly surprising given the success story so far. By then at the latest, however, a breath of fresh air away from the kills would be very welcome.