Fantastic Fest 2024 review: Terrifier 3 brings creeps, kills, and Christmas fear

To kick off my trip to Fantastic Fest, I attended the premiere of the long-awaited third entry in the Terrifier franchise. I'm pleased to say that in this franchise's immense success, with each film adding to its budget and reaching new audiences, Terrifier 3 retains the intense indie grindhouse gore fans of the franchise love. However, that should hardly come as a surprise to any fan, as director Damien Leone has been adamant about his ultraviolence, and this film may just take the cake for the most brutal in the franchise.

Terrifier 3 takes place five years after the events of Terrifier 2, with Sienna (Lauren LeVera) and her brother Jonathan (Elliot Fullam) trying to carry on with life after their brutal encounter with Art The Clown (David Howard Thornton). The film is once again written and directed by Damien Leone who has helmed the franchise since Art's first appearance in All Hallows Eve.

However, while the first two Terrifier films take place on Halloween night, Leone shifts gears and sets the murderous clown's killing spree during the Christmas season. The film also shares the same producing team and production crew as the previous installments, keeping the sequel seamless in style.

Transitioning from Halloween night to the Christmas season opens up a lot of doors for the character creatively, and Leone and co. break down each of them with a bloody axe in hand. From tormenting kids as a murderous mall Santa to making bloody snow angels, Art steals the Christmas spirit better than The Grinch himself. The film also uses a lot of biblical imagery to expand the lore set up in Terrifier 2; this direction also feels relevant, given the biblical ties to the holiday. While I'm sure this will spark some controversy amongst certain audiences (not that the franchise is new to controversy), I felt that the biblical elements of the film heightened the story well.

Thornton returns to his silent killer clown personal without missing a beat, delivering a brutal and often darkly comedic performance in the vein of an "evil Mr. Bean" (Thornton's words, not mine). His performance as Art takes him from slasher to full-on super villain, inventing new and creative ways to massacre the random innocents who happen to cross his path or those he chooses to seek out personally. While many viewers struggled to watch the infamous "bedroom scene" in Terrifier 2, I can think of multiple kill scenes in Terrifier 3 that rival it. Needless to say, audiences are not ready.

Lauren LeVera's return to her character feels the most emotionally in-depth, with the actress having done more than her fair share of prep for the character, going so far as to reach out to trauma recovery clinics for insight on playing the traumatized Sienna Shaw. Her scenes were emotionally captivating and beyond fierce. If you thought she was good in Terrifier 2, she's electric in Terrifier 3. The film also welcomes back the return of Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi), the woman who was violently mutilated in Terrifier and corrupted to madness. Scaffidi delivers a disturbing performance to say the least, every ounce of unhinged chaos shines through her physical acting even with all the impressive makeup covering her.

The film's violence takes the franchise to new levels of brutality, just when you think Leone and his team can't go any further… they do. The film makes its point clear from the opening scene: They're not messing around. Thornton and LeVera's dynamic elevates the final girl vs. slasher villain archetype to epic levels, culminating in a hellish bloodbath. When all is said and done, just as Art the Clown is a modern-day slasher icon, Sienna Shaw is a true modern-day final girl. 

Gritty and gory kills aside, I had issues with the film's pacing. The second act feels dragged before suddenly sling-shotting into the latter half of a third act, taking things from 0-100, even by Terrifier standards. The ending felt absurdly rushed, so much so that I can't help but wonder if scenes were removed from the final edit and they did the best they could to try and keep the third act intact. While we've been confirmed for a fourth installment, the ending of the movie felt like this was Terrifer 3, part one.

Overall, Terrifier 3 delivers on the guts and glory fans of the franchise have come to expect from the third installment. While its grand finale left me wanting more, the film's explosive climax couldn't feel more vile and intense. The performances don't miss a beat and the brutality is off the charts. With severed limbs and blasphemous imagery abound, Terrifier 3 leaves some of the most desensitized fans' jaws on the floor.

Are you excited for Terrifier 3? Let us know in the comments and be sure to share this article to spread the word, and to stay tuned for more Fantastic Fest coverage.

Terrifier 3 is creeping down chimney's and into theaters October 11th, 2024.