Director: Damien Leone
Cast: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, Samantha Scaffidi
Rating: (R18)
★★★★
REVIEWED BY AMASIO JUTEL
Terrifier 3 (Reading) combines ’70s-style Giallo practical horror with Harpo Marx-ian slapstick acting expression that leaves one’s skin crawling and funny bone tickled. The film understands the inexplicable human impulse to witness the atrocities of horror while retaining a comically indulgent amount of humour through its brilliant antagonist, Art the Clown.
For the horror sickos out there who enjoy this stuff, you won’t find a more cinematically appetising kill sequence than in a Terrifier film — like imagining what it would feel like to shove a toothpick under your toenail and kick a door. The film’s magic is its ability to mesmerise you in the hilarity of the ordeal, staring at the screen, shovelling popcorn by the handful with a beaming smile on your face while your eyes desperately beg you to look away.
Beyond the transgressive horror, Leone’s cinematic chops have only improved as the franchise has grown; cleaner editing, innovative camerawork, and comedic writing complement the rapidly improving performances of Thornton as Art.
The Terrifier series is one of the most important in the contemporary horror landscape, countering the "de-scarification" of horror (in films such as M3GAN and Imaginary, which might be scary but have no blood) and made for a fraction of the cost.
Terrifier 3 is deliberately low-brow (and high-brow, in a way), disgusting trash, with a captivating B-movie aesthetic and a blood-red colour palette to match its Christmasy subject matter. The film’s comedic timing is impeccable, the practical effects incredible, and the cinematic eye irresistible.
As stylised in the opening credits, these are Damien Leone's Terrifier films, and the world should be watching where they go next.
