Conventional wisdom might suggest that it takes a guy dressed as a bat to properly defeat the Joker. But last weekend, indie distributor Cineverse fought fire with fire, or one scary clown against another, with Terrifire 3 knocking the poorly received Joker sequel from its top spot at the box office. I let it happen. (For that matter, former Batman Michael Keaton also beat Joker: A Folie à Deux in Beetlejuice’s sixth weekend.) For those who don’t have a lot of room inside, the Terrifier is perfect. A domestic slasher movie series that began in earnest with a business card with practical effects that was barely released. The first Terrifier feature film was shown in a small number of theaters in 2018. (A short version appeared in the early anthology film The Eve of the Treasures). ) A much more elaborate but lower budget sequel was produced in 2022. The third film, which only cost $2 million to make, surpassed its predecessor in just one week and took the number one spot. It’s shaping up to be one of the biggest horror movies of the year.
The new entry continues the adventures of Ah, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton). Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) is a silent killer who wears black-and-white face paint and a clown costume and goes through a variety of intensely gruesome, sometimes stomach-pantomiming scenes. A swirling murder case. The movie isn’t very clear about this, but Art is a serial killer for most of the first film, and is then resurrected by a demonic entity, making him nearly impossible to kill in the sequel. Not everyone has many opportunities to try. A typical Art the Clown encounter involves him annoying and annoying people who think he’s just a weirdo in a costume, before pulling a weapon out of a garbage bag and starting murdering people. or otherwise disrupt. Sometimes it’s literally depicted as torture (some of the “killings” are fast-paced, like action or dance sequences), other times it’s very brief (sometimes he Sometimes they just shoot people).
In any case, the Terrifier movie is not a tense suspense movie. Rather, they sell people out in a spectacle that derives from their sometimes comical willingness to rip flesh, not only hinting at but showing all the terrible damage that art can do, and sometimes leaving audiences in disbelief. It will make you laugh like never before. The sequels, in particular, are consciously designed to evoke 80s nostalgia, using their low budgets to increasingly resemble a retro feel, even though they’re set in modern times. This isn’t the type of horror movie that typically found mainstream success. Terrifire 3 was the first unrated film to top the North American box office and could have easily earned an NC-17 from the MPAA. It may also be the most harrowing movie ever to be widely released.
The last series to consistently fill so many buckets with blood was the so-called “torture porn” of Saw, which was recently revived with its 10th hit. (The 11th film is coming.) Aside from the elaborate torture gimmicks, the Terrifier movies are full of nested storylines, crazy twists, and a litany of melodramatic characters and backstories. It doesn’t have much in common with the Saw movies, including . The movie twists time to figure out how to incorporate its most famous character, the Jigsaw Killer, played by Tobin Bell. (Technically, he died long ago in Saw III, and no supernatural elements are introduced to bring him back, just elaborate flashbacks.) Writer/director Damian Leone incorporates some lore into the Terrifire films, but it’s more vague than complex. The second and third films introduce Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) as the final girl, whose deceased father bequeathed her a sword that can harm malicious clowns. .
Ravella brings a lot of conviction to Sienna, and she’s certainly an easy heroine to root for, no matter how “fun” Art’s depraved antics are. (At my screening, the audience applauded the ending of several murders and even cheered when Sienna finally fought back.) But Terrifier 2’s ’80s fantasy perspective doesn’t necessarily reflect the series’ It’s not a standard. The third entry brings back Sienna and her sword, but it’s more of a Christmas-themed slasher movie. Yes, when Art dresses up as Santa Claus, a bunch of kids get killed. The fact that only the severed body part is visible, rather than the actual mutilation, actually means that Leone is exercising self-control.
So is it just a boundary-pushing of bad taste that took this series from Tubi’s deep cult following to a mainstream hit? That must be part of it. That’s the appeal of seeing something move past the gatekeepers of studio films. This weekend’s horror sequel Smile 2 has some really bad gore of its own. What’s more, the recently canceled Chucky TV series has moments that rival many R-rated movies. But these traits feel pre-approved on some level. The Terrifier series gives you the opportunity to watch slasher icons unfold before your eyes. Most of the aforementioned giants of the genre have been around for literally decades. This means that many horror fans come to them primarily for their familiar reputation in iconography, streaming services, cable marathons, merchandising, etc…almost everything but fresh horror comes It will be shown in theaters around the world, especially considering Freddy and Jason haven’t appeared in a new movie in over a decade. Art is certainly the first real horror icon of the 2020s, the Corona era.
David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown in Terrifier 3. Photo: Signature
The pandemic seems to have changed the way people watch movies. Some audiences are happy to more or less retire from movies and wait a few weeks to watch new releases at home, often leaving only the biggest series at the pinnacle of their art. (All of the top 10 grossing movies in North America so far in 2024 are sequels of some kind.) Terrifier 3 is, of course, a sequel, and two more are in the works. Streaming is always ready for your next production. Flop. However, difficult release schedules such as the coronavirus, strikes, and corporate alerts have opened up some opportunities beyond the remaining five major studios. Terrifier 3’s victory feels like it was seeded last December, when no less than half a dozen films from outside the major studios were in the top 10 at the box office in the weekend before Christmas. These numbers haven’t been seen for as long as the studio has been like this. It may be integrated, but it may be longer. Titles include The Boy and the Heron, Godzilla Minus One, a Beyoncé concert film, a Broadway production, and a mini-major Lionsgate traditional film.
Many of these were events aimed at specific demographics. Isn’t it time for horror movies to gain similar attention as a niche audience that can rally to a seemingly large number, thanks to services like Shudder and Screambox (the latter was home to Terrifier 2 after its theatrical release)? Streaming horror movies is exploding, and the wide release of Terrifier 3 invites certain geeks to leave their homes and enter a strange world. , the sometimes bewildering world of seeing the transgressions of art with the crowd. He’s a pop star and Godzilla rolled into one terrifying package, and while you can experience all of that stuff right at home, it’s not the ideal place. The clown guise may seem to be poking fun at both perhaps harmless children’s entertainment and an over-exploited stereotypical fear. But to a certain extent, the clowning of art’s sick mode is sincere. It’s outdated, unsophisticated, and designed to attract crowds.
