Dog’s Movie House: “Terrifier 3 Continues The Gory Legend Of Art The Clown!”

“Terrifier 3” takes place five years after the events of the previous film where when find final girl Sienna (a very good Laurn LaVera) being released from an institution after surviving the attentions of Art The Clown in “Terrifier 2.” She moves in with older sister Jessica (Margaret Ann Florence) and attempts to move on with her life. Her younger brother Jonathan (Elliot Fullam) is coping by immersing himself in college, but that doesn’t provide much of an escape as most of the student body is fascinated with Art and Jonathan’s experiences with the creepy serial killer. Included in this interested group is Jonathan’s roommate’s girlfriend Mia (Alexa Blair Robertson) who is constantly bugging Jonathan to be on her true crime podcast.

About this time we see Art ressurrected from his catotonic state just in time to make his way back to Miles County just in time for. . .you guessed it. . .Christmas! That’s right folks! Art is doing his best Jack Skellington impression and attempts to make Christmas his very own, slashing and hacking his way through victims in the guise of a sadistic Santa Claus. It’s up to Sienna and her friends to once again try to stop Art’s latest reign of terror.

Leone seems to be growing as a filmmaker without sacraficing any of the cinematic anarchy that has become his calling card with these films. These aren’t mindless slashers; the Terrifier films are genuinely interested in telling a story, but it’s clear that Leone has a unique and somewhat grotesque sensibility when it comes staging horrific cinematic violence. Although Leone’s talent at his craft has grown, do not get the impression that “Terrifier 3” is a gentler, more compassionate horror tale. It’s definitely not.

LaVera makes for a tough and resourceful Final Girl, but this show belongs almost entirely to David Howard Thorton as Art. The homocidal clown has a horrifying apperance with the white makeup, the rictus grin set off by black greasepaint, and expressive eyes that dance with joy when Art decides to perform one of his impromptu massacres. But Thorton manages to imbue so much emotion, be it amusement, perplexity, or rage, with just his eyes, mouth and pantomime that he makes Art so much more than a ghastly serial killer. There are dark laughs to be had here as well as squeals of terror, sometimes within the same scene. Art will never be a sympathetic character, but in Thorton’s hands he will always be a fascinating one. It’s like Charlie Chaplin and Michael Myers had a child, with Pennywise as the demented uncle.

The other MVP’s of “Terrifier 3” are the makeup and effects crew, using the latest and most realistic practical effects to render some of the most brutal kills ever brought to the big screen. There are buckets of blood spilled here and done so in a way that will make all but the most hardened gorehounds wince at least once. The chainsaw scene alone will go down as an all time slasher “classic.” Most horror films have a tendancy to cut away at key moments of a kill and let the audience’s imagination fill in the gaps. “Terrifier 3” doesn’t believe in that jive: everything is up front and right in your face. If you have a weak stomach you need to avoic this film like the plague.

Those of you with a stronger constitution will find a lot to enjoy about “Terrifier 3” including the inevitability of a “Terrifier 4” on the horizon. To me, “Terrifier 3” isn’t really all that scary as excessive cinematic bloodletting doesn’t really trip my horror switch, but it is a well-made piece of cinema that will become a Halloween classic alongside the likes of “Halloween” “A Nightmare On Elm Street,” and “Friday The 13th.” It’s basically a gorehound’s paradise. Make of that what you will. 3 Out Of 5 On Kendog’s Barkometer! So Sayeth The Kendog!

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