Twisted bodies, chopped up feet, pools of red, and many dead. Terrifier has become a new staple in pop culture and in the slasher horror genre. The newest installment to this trilogy of killing sprees released on October 11th. The subsequently named Terrifier 3 already has millions shaking in their boots and checking for monsters under their beds.
The Terrifier series has found new stardom in pop culture thanks not only to its fun yet murderous mascot Art the Clown, but the stellar practical effects, great cinematography, and impressive acting, and many of the trilogy’s success can be attributed to the shock factor of many of the scenes where Art the Clown dismembers or kills the cast.
Not everything can be blood splatter and rainbows, the trilogies most criticized subject is the lack of a smooth plot and its controversies of misogyny and people passing out during screenings.
A couple scenes depicted women being killed in ‘distasteful’ ways by Art the Clown which raised eyebrows with viewers who felt shocked by the scenes depicting a naked woman being murdered and her body desecrated.
Another cause for concern with viewers was the viewing experience. On release there were accounts from movie goe-ers that people in the theater were passing out and vomiting. Many people were walking out and asking for refunds after watching portions of the movie that they could not handle. Many of this is still up for contention if these accounts are real or have merit to them but there is much footage online of people leaving the screenings of the film.
The issues film viewers had with the plot of the movies started with the very first movie. It was criticized for its lack of plot and the fact that the movie felt like it ran on and on with Art leaving a trail of bodies behind him. This was kind of changed in the second and third movie with a story and character building being done but to varying success and varying opinions from viewers. After asking two students who had seen the movie from start to finish this is what they had to say…
12th Grader Emily Leyva said that
“There isn’t much going on, it’s just Art the clown being goofy“.
In the interview Emily had claimed that they liked how it pushed the boundaries of horror movies compared to the jumpscare frenzy Hollywood is in right now and how…
“It was kind of a refresher reminding people how far horror movies can get.”
Another 12th Grader Desiree Delgadio stated,
“The gore was to the point where I was like god damn I dont know if I want to watch this…”
Desiree talked about how they did not like the plot “revolving around the gore” but it was indeed good for a scare. One thing that also surprised Desiree was the fact that Terrifier 3 takes place during christmas but released during Halloween season. Indeed a strange pick but a colorful backdrop to the horrors to ensue on screen.
The original Terrifier debuted in 2016 at the Telluride Horror Show Film Festival, to many peoples shock this movie had brought in a new level of gore that many horror movie watchers haven’t seen since the original Saw series. Blood and guts have always been a horror movie staple to shock viewers and bring out the true fear that lies within every movie-goer but, the Terrifier series is known for its extreme gore and grotesque kills. This leads many to be put off by the movies or even leave the movie theater since it is so stomach turning; With that said the movies prevailed, Terrifier making 300 thousand on a 35,000 dollar budget, Terrifier 2 making 1.8 million dollars on a 250,000 dollar budget, and now Terrifier 3 with a 2 million dollar budget making 50 million dollars globally at the time of writing.
Terrifier 3, though being the movie to earn the most money, only garnered lukewarm reviews by critics and fans. This was Echoed not only by critics behind the publications Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB but by students at Huntington Park High School.
Overall the big publication responses online are not always the true public sentiment. Horror movie enjoyers, readers, and those following this page should all go watch the movie and form their own opinions (Viewer Discretion Advised)
By Martin Saenz, Staff Writer