Official Review
Terrifier 3 echoes Terrifier 2 in good and bad ways. It delivers shockingly brutal death scenes (awesome) but gets lost in an increasingly convoluted plot (meh). Lauren LaVera returns as beloved Final Girl Sienna Shaw, the "Chosen One" fated to defeat Art. Haunted by the previous film's horrors and fixated on killing her face-painted foe, Sienna's journey is presented with a "just go with it" approach. She repays her kind Uncle Greg (Bryce Johnson), Aunt Jessica (Margaret Anne Florence), and adoring cousin Gaby (Antonella Rose) by inadvertently bringing Art to their home – because what's a bloodbath without innocent victims?
Then there's Terrifier survivor Victoria "Vicky" Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi), who birthed Art's severed head in the Terrifier 2 credits. Terrifier 3 treats Art and Vicky like Chuck and Tiffany in Bride of Chucky – it's as much their sequel as Sienna's. Leone jumps between Art and Vicky's twisted possessor-possessed bond and Sienna's crumbling mental state, letting Art shine in all his vaudevillian, Charlie Chaplin-meets-Jack the Ripper glory. But, as in Terrifier 2, the scattered storytelling and bloated two-hour runtime do him no favors. This time, Leone pads the film by exploring Virgin Mary symbolism and stigmata, flashbacks to Sienna's comic-artist dad, Art's Christmas obsession, sleazy true-crime podcast hosts, Vicky's thrall to the clown who devoured her face in the first Terrifier – and so on and so forth.
The visual effects in Terrifier 3 are undeniably impressive. Art, fueled by holiday cheer, shatters frozen bodies and decorates with entrails. Leone revisits familiar gore – chainsaws, skinning, jaw removal, and genital mutilation – but keeps it fresh and boundary-pushing. Art's expanded toolkit creates a festive feast of disgust, using every bit of flesh. There's no doubt: Art remains a top-tier killer.
Thornton's portrayal of Art as Santa is his best Terrifier performance yet, adding dark humor. He's wildly expressive when Art meets a mall Santa (Daniel Roebuck) in a bar, charming enough to score drinks. Thornton's facial range wins over grumpy drunks with bulging eyes and excited pointing at decorations. He clearly enjoys imagining Art's take on Santa's joy and hiding evil behind rosy cheeks. From menacing scowls to silent laughs and wacky moves, Thornton is pure entertainment.
But how much credit does Terrifier 3 deserve for setting Art apart from other horror villains – and how much does its story detract? Leone's attempt at an ultimate good-vs-evil battle lacks coherence. The plot jumps around, with Art taking hostages or skipping over off-screen deaths. Even with two hours, Leone struggles to develop Art, Vicky, Sienna, and her nerdy brother Jonathan (Elliot Fullam). While big swings are taken, we're left with a highlight reel of amazing gore sandwiched between attempts at thoughtful storytelling that often miss the mark.
Verdict
Damien Leone's gritty, low-budget series hits the mark again with its third chapter's brutal kills. Sadly, like its predecessor, it's overlong, disjointed, and feels more like a jumble of ideas lacking cohesion. Terrifier 3 scores with its shocking practical gore effects that make viewers squirm – I'll be talking about several Terrifier 3 deaths for a while. (The same can't be said for Lauren LaVera's Sienna Shaw's new savior storyline.) It seems Leone's rushing to keep up with his franchise's sudden fame by throwing plot ideas at us, hoping something sticks, but the outcome is predictably messy. Art's back for another night of carnage, but everything else – like plot and logical flow – takes a disappointing backseat.
