On Sept. 19, horror fans began to fill up movie theaters on opening day to watch the first screenings of Terrifier 3. This movie features the known villain; Art the Clown, who wears a black and white clown suit as he terrorizes kids and families throughout the movie. Throughout the makings of each of the three movies, all have now been known to have corresponding plots, meaning viewers would need to watch all three in order. Art the Clown purpose is to wreak havoc and torture many throughout towns.
Beginning with Terrifer 1, which introduced the infamous villain, the movie is based on the interview of a sole survivor, Victoria Heyes. Throughout the movie, viewers learn, she and her friends were driven insane by the terrors of Art the Clown. As the movie goes on she reappears each time, getting targeted and inevitably possessed by Art the Clown in the end. I found this movie to be boring at times since the scare factor was not intense and that’s what many look for in scary movies.
Different characters were announced such as Michael Shaw, an artist who was able to envision and then draw Art the Clown and his victims. Additionally he was able to draw his daughter; Sienna Shaw, as the angel warrior who he manifested to defeat Art the Clown. Later the audience comes to find out this drawing comes true as she defeated Art the Clown at the end of Terrifer 2 by beheading the clown.
Between Terrifier 1 and 2, the second one was much more enjoyable because the first movie set out the base for the series of movies and focused more on establishing characters such as Art the Clown. It focused on establishing the setting of the movie so it was not as interesting. In contrast, the second one included more violent scenes and pieced the plot together. Another reason is that they thought they defeated Art the Clown so it created a sense of shock when the third movie was made.
After Sienna and her brother Jonathan Shaw were able to survive Art the Clown’s massacre in the second movie they try to rebuild their lives as the holiday season approaches. In Terrifer 3 they believe they are safe, but accidents around their city occur and Sienna believes that Art the clown has returned. However, no one believed her and claimed she was crazy. He then reappears dressed up as a character that everyone loves, Santa Claus.
The plot is that Art the Clown once again terrorizes Miles County trying to reach Sienna and Jonathan. The movie comes to an end when Sienna has a gift and as she opens it a sword emerges which she uses to defeat the possessed Victoria Heyes. Unfortunately, Art the Clown was able to escape, alive and untouched. Later on, it was discovered that Jonathan Shaw was killed off screen by Art the Clown before the defense of Victoria Heyes.
The storylines of the first two movies were predictable and seemed to have a repetitive plot. Timelines or scenes seemed very similar so audience members knew what to expect. The violence in all the movies was strong but comparing them to Terrifer 3, the gore level was more extreme in previous movies. For that reason, I do believe Terrifer 3 was the best movie made in that franchise as I appeal to gore as the scare factor. According to watcher reviews on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) this movie was the goriest they have watched that had a sense of humor. Many reviews were left saying “I need a hug” and “I came out of the theaters a changed man”.
Some cons that come to mind when referring to Terrifer 3 is the fact that Art the Clown is not known to be immortal, but he never truly is defeated. Sienna and Jonthan discover the only way to defeat him and when they do he still does not vanish. Therefore a concern arises, since there is already a talk about a Terrifier 4 taking place, wondering if it would be a predictable storyline and end to the series. However, it is enjoyable to watch the gore factor and it is enticing to a group of audience; it can ruin the experience of watching a different movie.
In addition, the biggest controversy that this movie has brought was in France; where this movie was banned to people under the age 18. According to French distributors ESC Éditions, Shadowz Films and Factories Films, from the Independent, the France’s Classification Committee has enforced the ban on this movie soon after its release date. The last movie to be banned in France was Saw III in 2003 for its gory scenes. This is the same thing that is happening with Terrifer 3. This movie has reportedly made people “pass out” in theaters and most people in France could not make it past the first scene.
This is also reported to be true by Signature Entertainment, the film’s UK distributor as people left early because of the gorey scenes. People reported and were seen throwing up during and after the movie because of the scenes that were called “bloody disgusting” showing the true gruesome levels this movie contains throughout.
Despite the negative reactions, I recommend this movie as I enjoy the aspects it includes. However, if you are a person who does not like scary movies or has a weak stomach when it comes to gore I would not recommend this movie to you. It gives you the two best emotions while watching a horror movie which is the humor factor and the horror factor. The plot was exceptional because it was not confusing and it stayed on the theme of the other two movies which included the same characters.
