JULIA, I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT OF MY—
Bloody sounds. Ooey, gooey, blood spurty sounds. Cue audience members walking out in disgust. For good reason, I guess. At the same time, I don’t get it.
Art the Clown is back in this third installment of what can only be described as the new killer on the block. I’ll keep spoilers to a minimum, suffice it to say it would surely help to see the first two films before hop-scotching to the theater. After you see the first two, hopscotch as fast as you can.
Lauren LaVera returns as the most badass horror heroine you’ve seen in this century as Sienna Shaw, a survivor of Art’s heinous attacks. (When I say heinous I mean vomit-inducing). David Howard Thornton returns with even more mime characteristics as Art the Clown, but he brings a gruesome depth and humanity he hasn’t shown before. What other horror film killer relies on public transportation? As Sienna recovers from the events of “Terrifier 2,” Art and his disfigured cohort come back twofold. So the film asks one simple question: can Sienna save the world from Art the Clown before it’s too late?
Damien Leone has an odd and off-key visual style that separates him from the other splatter horror flicks that are saturated Shudder, The Asylum, Tubi, etc. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with those films, but a passion is certainly missing. Leone’s fingerprint of love is stamped on every frame, down to his fictional signature “D. Leoné” perfume Gabbie sniffs. The lighting is stark and strange, borderline (but not quite) giallo: spotlights over characters, bright reds, and greens as a backlight, the Argento classics. It’s a visual feast.
Speaking of feast, I’ll just say this about the gore: Leone is an up-and-coming Herschell-pioneering Wizard of Gore, with a nod/cameo from none other than Tom Savini. The effects are over the top and (since I’ve never actually chainsawed a dude down the middle) goofy to say the least, I still felt nauseous.
That was, of course, on my second viewing. This film isn’t groundbreaking when it comes to the story. But as of the writing of this review, it’s made over $55 million on a $2 million budget, and as a not-rated film, that’s groundbreaking in film history. Check this gorefest out. Or don’t. It’s honestly up to you. But this film made history, and that’s something that facts simply cannot deny.
Jacob Scheer