Terrifier 3, released October 11th, 2024, is a horror film directed by Damien Leone. The movie is highly controversial due to its high amounts of gore and violence. Graphic violence isn’t new to horror films, but it is a lot more prevalent in the Terrifier movies than it is in other slasher films. Terrifier 3 caused a lot of discourse early on because the teaser trailer suggested that the antagonist would commit a violent act against a child. This was successful in getting publicity for the movie. The movie was filmed in anamorphic (2.39:1) lenses and it outgrossed Terrifier 2 in its opening weekend alone. It was also the first horror film to be rated “18” in France since Saw III.
This movie takes place over five years after Terrifier 2 and instead of being a Halloween movie like the last two, this film takes place during the Christmas season. Although this film takes place during the holidays, this is not the film to take the whole family to see. I have seen hundreds of horror movies and the gore usually has no effect on me but there were a few scenes in this film that I cringed at. If you’ve seen the other two Terrifier films then you probably think of “the hacksaw scene” and “the bedroom scene” when you think of the most brutal moments in the series. In my opinion, there are at least four scenes on the level of those scenes in this movie and at least two of them surpass the level of brutality of those scenes from the previous two films.
My favorite part of this movie is Lauren Lavera’s performance as Sienna. In the previous two Terrifier movies, my favorite part was David Howard Thornton’s performance as Art the Clown. While he gives another excellent performance here, Lauren Lavera takes a huge step and steals the show. Based on her performance here, she instantly moved up in my final girl ranking. I loved that she was both extremely tough but also vulnerable.
In Terrifier 3 Sienna experiences trauma from her encounter with Art the Clown five years prior. Lauren Lavera says that she did extensive research on survivor’s guilt and PTSD to help her prepare for this role. Lauren Lavera teaches kickboxing and prefers to do her own stunts. In this film, she does most of her own stunts except for two risky scenes in which her wonderful stunt double Jenna Hellmuth takes over.
Before watching this film I didn’t care for the character Victoria Hayes but in this one, I enjoyed Samantha Scaffidi’s performance. I do think she may be too much for some viewers but I thought her crazy mixed well with David Howard Thornton’s silliness.
I think Elliot Fullam improved a lot from the second movie. I was very mixed on his character in the second movie and although this didn’t make me love him I didn’t see the flaws that bothered me previously. Damien Leone and his team did an excellent job with this movie. In the last two, you could easily notice props during kill scenes (Especially during the costume shop scene) but in this movie, it’s a lot less noticeable. A lot of that is probably due to the budget being eight times larger.
This thing that makes Art the Clown so interesting to me is that he’s always silent. The way he commits these awful acts while laughing silently is extremely off-putting. He is very terrifying in this movie. No pun intended.
One question I’ve seen a lot online is if people need to watch the other movies in the series before this one. I honestly think you can get away with only watching the second one before this to enjoy it. Although you probably would benefit from watching the first one to see Victoria Hayes’ backstory as she’s not a huge part of the second movie but has a big role here.
I have seen Terrifier 3 twice now and I can confidently say that it is a step up from the second movie. I really loved the ending and it has me intrigued to see where Damien Leone is going to take these characters in the future. While this movie isn’t to everyone’s taste, this is my type of movie and it is my favorite movie that has released in 2024 I’ve seen so far. If you are a horror fan and don’t get queasy easily I recommend this film.
