The opening scene of Terrifier 3 will go down as one of the best in holiday horror

After two years, the Terrifier film series has returned with a third entry, following the notorious villain Art the Clown as he commits more murders. Not only is Art a serial killer but he's also known for his particularly gruesome kills, including torture and mutilation. These movies are enough to gross out even some of the most hardcore horror fans, but their refusal to back down from gnarly violence and awesome practical effects has gained a dedicated cult following.

Terrifier 3 is definitely the best of the franchise so far; the script, camerawork, and performances all see a big improvement, plus the holiday theme is a great touch. There's just something about holiday horror that makes the fall and winter months all the more fun, and now we officially have a new movie to watch every December. We got Eli Roth's Thanksgiving in 2023, and now, Terrifier 3 is the Christmas horror movie to enjoy. Especially that opening scene.

Terrifier 3 opening scene explained

The third installment begins on a high note, featuring the best sequence of the whole movie. We follow a suburban family who's trying to get some sleep around the holiday season, though the young daughter is too distracted by a noise she hears from outside. She goes to her parents' room and tells them that someone is walking on the roof, but of course, they don't believe her. Her mother walks her back to her room and tells her to go back to sleep. The daughter tries to find comfort in her brother, who appears to be slightly older than her, but he tells her to leave him alone as he tries to sleep.

The daughter continues to hear what sounds like footsteps on the roof, while her mother goes to the front door and notices it's slightly open. Frustrated, she closes it and tells her husband in bed that he left the door unlocked again. Seeming like a common occurrence, it's not exactly a reason to panic — though you can tell she's at least a little bit creeped out. As the daughter hears noise downstairs, she leaves her room and watches from the top step of the stairs as Art, dressed in a Santa Claus costume, walks around the Christmas tree. Initially only seeing him from the back, she believes it must be Santa. But once she gets a glimpse of his face, she realizes something bad is happening.

Art ends up getting upstairs and his first kill is the son, though all of this is off-camera. We then watch as he enters the parents' room and repeatedly hits the father with an axe as he sleeps. The noise wakes up the mother, who is horrified at what she's seeing. She runs downstairs but Art follows her and kills her, chopping off her arm and hitting her head with his axe right down the middle of her face. This is one of the more brutal kills of the movie, though there's worse to come. We also see some of the son's limbs which Art chopped off.

Yes, Art kills kids in Terrifier 3

When Art goes into the kitchen he hears a noise and opens up a cabinet to find the daughter hiding inside. While the scene ends here, we can assume he kills her, too. Though Terrifier 3 kills off multiple kids, we don't actually see the violence, which is a good thing. Insinuating a child has died is one thing, but to actually see the graphic kill would probably be a bit too much.

While speaking to Total Film, director Damien Leone and Art actor David Howard Thornton discussed the decision to kill off children in Terrifier 3, explaining they wanted to stay true to the character and what they realistically believed he would do. Thornton added: "I actually have a background in teaching and so I love kids. But at the same time, these are horror films."

The opening scene makes up for a small percentage of Terrifier 3's runtime, but it certainly makes an impression. It's the most suspenseful sequence of the movie and feels more cinematic than the franchise's previous opening scenes. We've got a modern-day holiday horror classic with Terrifier 3, and this opening scene takes the series up a big notch.

While you're queuing up Black Christmas and Silent Night, Deadly Night this winter, be sure to add Terrifier 3 to your watch list, too. I undoubtedly will be.