Dread
Warning, this article contains spoilers for “Terrifier 3.”
As a horror franchise matures, the need for an expanding lore becomes inevitable. This is the only way to justify the recurring appearances of the central villain, spirit, or killer. Some franchises have an adequate amount of lore ingrained in their series and characters from the start, such as the Cenobites being summoned from Hell by the Lament Configuration or Charles Lee Ray practicing voodoo resurrection. However, others need to keep adding new layers to their characters to justify the ongoing battle between Good and Evil. This latter group usually includes most slasher franchises, like “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th,” which eventually either incorporate explicit supernatural elements or discard continuity and start afresh.
“Terrifier” films by Damien Leone interestingly fall between these two categories. In the first “Terrifier” movie, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) commits horrific murders that any average person could potentially commit. However, by the end of the film, there’s a clear supernatural element that triggers his resurrection. In “Terrifier 2,” Art is still essentially portrayed as a human without any supernatural powers. However, his apparent ability to attack Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) in her dreams, along with hints of Sienna’s father having a psychic (or other) connection to Art, paves the way for more supernatural mischief. Leone clarified some of these elements, such as Sienna’s resurrection and Victoria Heyes’ (Samantha Scaffidi) possession, in his commentary for “Terrifier 2.” However, it wasn’t until “Terrifier 3” that the franchise’s lore was explicitly presented in the films.
The most significant revelation in “Terrifier 3” is what has possessed Victoria, why Art seems to have become immortal, and Sienna’s preordained role in this metaphysical drama. These revelations shed light on Art’s role, not just in the film’s narrative but also in how the movies operate, cleverly reflecting how the “Terrifier” movies are viewed in reality.
Leone challenges a well-established slasher movie trope
Cineverse
The well-established trope of the slasher killer repeatedly resurrecting after seemingly being left for dead is not just old and overused, but it’s practically a part of the formula. John Carpenter’s “Halloween” from 1978 is the point where the subgenre came together, with Carpenter (along with co-writer Debra Hill) suggesting that perhaps the unknown forces of Pure Evil were behind Michael Myers’ invincibility. Consequently, most slasher films made after “Halloween” adopted this trope, sometimes going to great lengths to explain their killers’ resurrections, while at other times, this latent supernatural ability served as a default explanation.
Leone has intentionally structured the “Terrifier” movies to both comment on and build upon the history of slasher and horror films. In addition to various Easter eggs and homages, Leone uses the audience’s understanding of horror film rules (thanks to Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson) against them, subverting whatever he can at every turn. While Art’s resurrection at the end of “Terrifier” wasn’t a subversion in itself, the complete lack of explanation for why and how it happened was, creating an aura around the character that suggests he’s capable of anything. With “Terrifier 3,” Leone aimed to abandon the ambiguity surrounding Art’s abilities in favor of directly challenging this trope and providing it with a clear, lore-based reason. As the filmmaker recently told Screen Rant:
“It’s so different than anything that I’d seen in a slasher film before, and it was one of the things that excited me that I could really explore this supernatural aspect of the evil, and what brings your boogeyman back to life. Why do they suddenly become supernatural? I really wanted to explore that as if it was a character, instead of just glossing over and saying, ‘It’s just the trope. It’s what the boogeyman does.’ That’s become one of the most exciting things to me.”
Why Art the Clown cannot die, and what fuels his murderous deeds
Cineverse
As revealed in “Terrifier 3,” Art is the chosen servant of a Demon from Hell, an entity that initially appeared in “Terrifier 2” in the guise of the Little Pale Girl (Amelie McLain), whom only Art, Sienna, and Sienna’s brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam) could see. Upon taking Art’s head after he was decapitated by Sienna, the Demon/Little Pale Girl possessed Victoria, the sole survivor of the first film who’d been defaced by Art and was left broken and driven mad enough to commit murder herself. Through her possession, the Demon not only takes over Victoria’s body but makes her give birth to a living version of Art’s head, allowing the killer to be literally reassembled at the start of “Terrifier 3.” Later, when Art and the Demon have Sienna in their clutches, the Demon explains how Sienna is the chosen one (i.e. only one) who can defeat Art with the mystical sword given to her by her late father, and that before this can be allowed to happen, the Demon intends to have Art sew enough discord and pain in Sienna’s life to break her spirit enough for the Demon to possess her body.
Essentially, one of the tenets of the “Terrifier” series is its violence and extreme gore. Our own review of “Terrifier 3” mentions this extensively, and many reactions to the films on social media all revolve around the graphic depictions. So, Leone has taken one of the elements of his series and built a lore reason around it: Art isn’t just brutally violent without motive, as it’s in creating so much upsetting violence that will allow him and the Demon to break down the defenses of Good forever. It doesn’t negate Art’s randomness, either, as his choice of victim can still be anyone at any time, in any fashion. It’s just that now we know that randomness is the point, as opposed to being incidental. It’s a rather ingenious way for “Terrifier” to have its cake and eat it too: Art can be a creepy, mysterious killer while serving a mythic, supernatural agenda. It allows the films to continue to indulge in over-the-top kill setpieces (which “Terrifier 3” certainly does) while claiming that such sequences explicitly serve the larger narrative. And while Art can certainly be called a minion of sorts who follows the Demon in this movie, the ending of “Terrifier 3” seems to indicate that all bets are off. Sure, the Demon (wherever it may be) likely has the same agenda, but who knows what a rudderless Art and Sienna will get up to for “Terrifier 4.” As with all of the “Terrifier” films, the delight lies within the surprises to come.
“Terrifier 3” is now showing in theaters everywhere.
Credit: www.slashfilm.com
