Ranking the Terrifier Franchise
What's he going to do, hack me up into pieces?
For years, horror fans, the most passionate and dedicated genre fanbase, had to become literary scholars and pseudo-psychologists as "elevated horror" took over the genre and deprived audiences of any real kills, scares, blood, or guts. The days of Michael, Freddy, Jason, and the rest seemed behind us - until writer/director/special effects artist Damien Leone invented Art the Clown and seemed to single-handedly resurrect the iconic killer character slasher with his Terrifier films.
Terrifier 3 hits theaters today and since I saw it last night, let's use this opportunity to review this latest entry and discuss the franchise as a whole.
3. Terrifier 3 (2024)
Five years after surviving Art the Clown's Halloween massacre, Sienna and Jonathan are still struggling to rebuild their shattered lives. As the holiday season approaches, they try to embrace the Christmas spirit and leave the horrors of the past behind. But just when they think they're safe, Art returns, determined to turn their holiday cheer into a new nightmare. The festive season quickly unravels as Art unleashes his twisted brand of terror, proving that no holiday is safe.
I was totally into the opening scene of Terrifier 3, a night before the night before the night before Christmas-set, footsteps-on-the-roof home invasion sequence where Art the Clown, dressed as Santa Claus, terrorizes a nuclear family. I love Christmas horror, both the yuletide and suspenseful vibes were on point, and I loved the anticipation...until...the scene...just...dragged on...forever. Halfway through, all I could think was, "They really should've tightened this up."
Little did I know I would be saying that the entire movie.
I needed another Terrifier movie with pacing problems like I needed another hole in my head, and this third strike has really shown that it's the Achilles' heel of the franchise. The first two movies got passes in that regard for various reasons (keep reading!), but it was an insurmountable issue with this entry. Art still does what Art always does, gruesomely murdering people with axes, chainsaws, guns, bombs and more, and while Leone's effects work is always top-notch, I don't think anything is as memorable as the best stuff in the other movies. Folks have pointed to the shower scene as this movie's premier setpiece (and it was the scene that finally made a mother in my screening take her seven-year-old boy home - I know), but I've seen them do better. This was supposed to be the next level up and it simply wasn't.
And in between kills, my opening night audience was...bored. Not even sit on your phone, talk at full volume bored - like stare off into space, dead silent, comatose bored. I know this is my ranking and not theirs, but this is an opening night crowd, it's the people who were the most excited to see this. That should say something.
2. Terrifier (2018)
A deaf woman is stalked by a psychotic killer in her secluded home.
After a few proof-of-concept shorts, Leone finally got to make the full-length Terrifier in 2018, the first full-narrative story featuring Art the Clown.
Well, calling it a narrative might be a bit generous, as Leone himself has even admitted that the non-killer characters are pretty lackluster. The whole thing is just an excuse to showcase his special effects talent, of which he is one of the best working today. There's a scene with a hacksaw that single-handedly put both the movie and Leone himself on the map, a brutal and mean-spirited kill that split people down the middle (hacky, unoriginal joke alert!) and was a litmus test for audiences and their eventual Terrifier fandom or avoidance.
And while the characters are pretty much just there to be done away with (the movie is kinda just a kill count sizzle reel made for no more than $50,000), I like the filler setpieces, largely because David Howard Thornton is fantastic as Art. His performance only gets sharper and scarier as the franchise goes on, and he and Leone have created a horror icon the likes of which haven't been seen since the Jigsaw Killer. This first film, with its mix of spooky iconography and slasher extremities, found the cult audience it needed - leading to a franchise that wouldn't exist with these humble beginnings.
1. Terrifier 2 (2022)
After being resurrected by a sinister entity, Art the Clown returns to Miles County where he must hunt down and destroy teenage Sienna and her younger brother Jonathan on Halloween. As the body count rises, the siblings fight to stay alive while uncovering the true nature of Art's evil intent.
And as that cult audience grew and grew, the demand for a Terrifier follow-up was loud and enthusiastic. Fans wanted Art and his kooky kills in a movie that was just better. Leone delivered, using his bigger budget (for movie money, it was still just a measly $250,000 - which makes it all the more impressive) to make a 138-minute movie full of every idea he's ever had and one that, yes, has some pacing issues.
Terrifier 2 is, to date, Leone's best, a film that improves upon every aspect of the original. It's a huge home run swing that's addicted to practical effects gore and committed to mythology, world-building, and supernaturality. New franchise addition Lauren LaVera establishes herself as a final girl for the modern-day, the humor is so hateful and hideous, and the, uh, bedroom kill scene is truly the number one most disgusting thing I've ever seen in a motion picture - and I couldn't look away.
It's a film that traverses both dreams and nightmares, the closest a Halloween all-nighter epic will ever come to War and Peace. It's a mess and a masterpiece and a messy masterpiece. If the latest film is any indication, it might also be the best Terrifier movie we ever get.
Credit: Each plot synopsis comes from Letterboxd via TMDb.
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