‘Terrifier 3’ Review: Oh What Sadistic Fun It Is to Have With A Demonic Killer Clown

In 2022, Damien Leone’s crowdfunded sequel, Terrifier 2, took the world by storm, grossing $15M worldwide in its limited theatrical release, now, the next chapter in the grotesque franchise, Terrifier 3 has taken the series to new heights of success, after it was #1 at the domestic box office this weekend. Continue to find our Terrifier 3 review.

The Terrifier franchise has had an incredibly interesting inception, with Art the Clown first appearing in Leone’s short films, The Ninth Circle, and Terrifier, both included in the horror anthology film, All Hallow’s Eve. Eventually, in 2016, Leone made a feature-length film following his soon-to-be slasher icon, Terrifier. Made for between $35,000-$55,000 the film boasted horrifically depicted kills and fairly little plot. It grew a cult following, while most who saw it critiqued it for its misogynistic feel.

Then, after a very successful crowd-funding campaign, Leone got the funds he needed to make a killer sequel, and he did! Terrifier 2 was a massive success in 2022, becoming one of the most talked about horror films of the year, and a smash hit at the box office, grossing $15M worldwide on a budget of $250,000, what was meant to be a one weekend only theatrical release, became a months-long residence in multiplexes around the world. 

Now, with a budget of $2M, Leone’s iconic Clown has returned to defeat the lame other clown at the box office, with Terrifier 3. The film directly follows the previous installment, making the franchise feel like a continuous saga, we follow Sienna Shaw (Lauren Levara) five years after the events of Terrifier 2, as she is in and out of mental hospitals due to the trauma Art (David Howard Thornton) inflicted on her family. She decides to take a leave from the facility and visit her Aunt Jessica (Margaret Anne Florence), Uncle Greg (Bryce Johnson), and cousin Gabbie (Antonella Rose) for Christmas break, as Art and his new sidekick, a victim of the Clown, Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi) cause chaos during the days leading up to Sienna’s little brother, Jonathan’s (Elliott Fullam) return from College. 

The previous installment had a mostly goofy story that was used as a vehicle for Art to dispatch the zany cast of characters one by one, this time around, Leone went for a more serious approach as we see how much damage Art’s carnage does to those who survived. While it is an interesting direction to take the franchise, it’s a pretty confusing choice when these scenes of horrific acts being done have comedic moments infused with them, one moment you could be laughing at Art pointing and making fun of one of his victims, the next you will feel pretty disturbed as somebody sees their demolished relative and seeing them realize that a part of their family is gone. 

Speaking of the sequences with Art giving almost every victim a Mortal Kombat-like fatality, the practical effects have never looked better, as once again, Leone gives audiences the most disgustingly brutal kills of the year. There were plenty of moments where my eyes were just glued to the screen as I watched a Clown do things to the human body that I didn’t ever think I’d see on a big screen. The sound design mixed with the tearing of flesh and ripping limbs off is a thing to behold, this isn’t your stereotypical Blumhouse fare with offscreen deaths, this is a franchise that doesn’t care about you or your feelings and will relentlessly dispatch all of its characters in increasingly brutal fashion, the shower sequence in particular is an iconic moment for horror as it takes a stereotypical genre trope and dials it up to eleven, creating a fun, and horrifying scene.

While the story wasn’t as engaging as the previous entry, the acting from Lauren Levara is a saving grace as she elevates derivative material, creating a distressing performance as the audience wants their favorite recent final girl to give Art his just desserts, and while we don’t get that for the majority of the film, the third act is one to behold as it shatters all expectations and leaves off on a haunting cliffhanger that will have moviegoers clamoring to see their favorite killer clown do even more depraved acts. David Howard Thornton once again proves he was born to play Art as he slices through countless victims with maniacal glee, chewing up every scene he is in, as he switches from being hilarious to an unrelenting monster who will stop at nothing to destroy you and everything you love. 

I didn’t enjoy this entry as much as Terrifier 2, but Terrifier 3 is an interesting and brutal installment of one of the most disgusting horror franchises ever, the kills have never been better, and neither have the performances, this will go down as a holiday classic for fans of the genre, as it fuses the comforting spirit of Christmas with nothing but hatred and destruction. 

Terrifier 3 was written, directed, and edited by Damien Leone, starring Lauren Levara, David Howard Thornton, Elliott Fullam, Antonella Rose, Samantha Scaffidi, Margaret Anne Florence, and Bryce Johnson. The film was distributed by Cineverse and was released on October 11, 2024, almost a month after its premiere at Fantastic Fest 2024.

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