Art the Clown unleashes blood soaked carnage in Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3, a goretastic sequel that far exceeds expectations. As well as fully fleshing out the franchise’s heroine with a terrific turn from Lauren LaVera as Sienna Shaw. 

 

LaVera fully comes into her own as Sienna, showcasing her severe PTSD from the previous encounters with Art. She continuously takes a ruthless beating, psychologically and physically,  yet is able to get right back up - a certified badass. Sienna’s connection with young Gabbie (Antonella Rose) appears genuine and sweet, as she is a surprise role model to her cousin. Sienna’s sanity is in jeopardy as the remainder of her family is seemingly within Art’s deadly grasp this holiday season — if only they believed her. 

 

David Howard Thornton’s Art the Clown is a horror icon and now he’s a holiday icon. The Christmas setting really enhances the experience, adding an extra element of horrific charm to his antics. Art’s brutality and wicked sense of humor may start to run dry come the fourth entry, but here his insanity is a welcome antidote to the tame horror we’ve generally received in recent years. Absent in this sequel is the Little Pale Girl who vanished at the end of the second, replaced by the first Terrifier’s victim Victoria Hayes as Art’s demonic confidant. Victoria doesn’t quite have the comedic appeal of the Little Pale Girl, but her disturbing behavior cranks up Art’s murderous partnership to an eleven. 

 

For those curious of just how far Leone is willing to take his creation, it all depends on your tolerance of gratuitous violence. For many I can see plenty of kills within that will easily turn a stomach “upside down” and as a parent I could only imagine the caution going forward having your child interact with a mall Santa. 

 

The effects as can be expected are phenomenally crafted. Leone and Phil Falcone pride themselves on practical effects and here there’s an extra team at work to make their sadistic vision come to light. Art has been previously known to be meticulous with his kills, savoring every second of his victim’s excruciating demise. This third entry is no different as he has some mischievous and stomach-churning murders. Such as taking an iconic kill from a previous entry and swapping genders for one of the film’s more graphic kills, which’ll be sure to cause a disturbing sense of Déjà vu. 

 

With Terrifier, there was a cat and mouse game of survival with no clear main character, apart from the clown himself. With the sequel, we gain access to some heightened characterization and some lore, but it’s far too ambitious. Now with Terrifier 3, we have a winning lead and a fine-tuned narrative, but the film also retains its unanswered questions from the second. 

 

Terrifier has never been a perfect series and that’s no different here. With the already announced Terrifier 4 taking priority space in my brain, it's clear this film had an end goal to leave the viewer wanting more with its conclusion. That is the case with how Terrifier 3 ends and that’s not exactly the quality to have here, as it makes the third act considerably underwhelming despite its mercilessness. 

Terrifier 3 dials up the insanity of the last film, delivering the best directed Terrifier to date. While simultaneously pulling back on the fantasy elements that made the previous entry bloated, the third act adds more existential questions to the established lore than it manages to answer. Axe-splittingly funny in a vicious way and relentlessly grotesque, Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3 is a jolly addition to the growing Art the Clown canon.