Terrifier 3

Me and my wife both enjoy the terrifier movies. We finally had some time to watch the third tonight, it was not as good as I was hoping. I'll start with the positives. The first is this movies budget must've been the most by far, and it shows. It had some very creative horror scenes. The acting was great as well. I also enjoyed the run time, I thought that 2 hours was a good amount of time. Now for some negatives in my opinion. I thought that it was odd that terrifier didn't have the little girl in this movie and they decided to go with the other girl. I also personally don't like Christmas movies. The third act seemed very rushed. I may be in the minority here, but I feel as though the second movie was the best out of the three. This one had great shock value but the story was not up to par.

Too long, too disjointed, and more like a collection of random ideas strung together with duct tape. Sure, the practical gore effects are o.k. But beyond that? It's a hot mess. The plot is nonexistent, the messianic arc for Sienna Shaw feels forced, and continuity has taken a backseat to shock value. It's as if Leone's trying to ride the wave of the franchise's success by throwing every half-baked idea at the screen, hoping something sticks. Unfortunately, the only thing that sticks is the blood. Art delivers another night to dismember, but as far as coherent storytelling goes? Don't bother looking for it here. It's not horror, it's a lazy bloodbath that thinks shock value is a substitute for storytelling.

While the dialogue has never been top notch, and does 't have to be, especially the dialogues with Jonathan were beyond cringe this time around.

The movie delivered on the mindless slasher trope but I can't shake the feeling the extra budget went to marketing instead of actually trying to make a better movie.

The second movie had a scene that crossed a certain boundary and I was expecting the third installment to do at least the same, or more. It did add new things to Art's repertoire but it didn't have the same effect on me.

A lot more happened off screen that diminished the "in your face" attitude the first two movies had. And I'm not talking about a certain scene that went amiss towards the end, that was most likely the only bit of actual storytelling that took place and left the audience guessing.

No, probably budget cuts to.... Leave more money on the table for marketing.

Let's start this off by saying, I liked the first two. The first one was ROUGH, and showed off its low budget and humbleness. Second one was great, was striking that perfect balance of shock, gore, and comedy. Third one... Too much shock, for shock sake, and not as much comedy.

The major issue here is weirdly too much backstory and "LORE", they're trying to add rules and logic to everything, while also being cheeky fun. The lore is convoluted and confusing. You can't be like; eh don't think too much about it, and then dedicate a quarter of this film to the logic behind the Art Demon.

Then there's the "SHOCK VALUE" of this one which was more TEENAGE REBELLION than genuine shock. "Isn't it crazy the melted face lady is masturbating with a shard of glass?" "Am I pushing your buttons Christians with this ham-fisted blasphemous JESUS symbolism?" Eh, just lost the tastefulness and subtly. There was shock, in the other two, for sure, but it was never so juvenile and basic.

Everything else was fine, not great. The gore was way better, they remembered humans have layers inside of them, and you don't see as much hollow cavities with really floppy and rubbery shells like in the first two.

If you missed it in theaters, not that big of a deal.

Now that we've set the stage, Terrifier 3 makes history-not just for its exaggerated, gory kills or shocking gimmicks, but because it's actually enjoyable for me. Usually, bigger budgets don't mean better, but when passionate, talented filmmakers get involved and hire an editor who knows their craft, it makes all the difference. Good pacing can elevate even the goriest horror. Art the Clown is just as hilarious and terrifying as ever, but Victoria's wild performance stole the show-she's more terrifying than Art. Lauren LaVera, as Sienna, gives it her all, portraying raw PTSD. She might just be the most traumatized final girl ever. Shockingly, I'm now hyped for Terrifier 4.