This Terrifier series is fascinating. The first movie kind of sucks, having nothing memorable narratively or cinematically, really, beyond introducing a memorable villain and having impressively grisly violence. It's a slasher movie not broken down to its bare essentials, but driven down further somehow. It's a bit of a nothing movie, without a plot and seemingly not caring.
Then the second came along, made the villain even more memorable, and had scenes of bloodshed that proved more shocking. It also had a pretty good story and character development (don't think that's a popular opinion, but I liked it), and introduced more of an intriguing series mythology, for lack of a better word.
Terrifier 3 takes all that stuff the second movie did well and I think does it even better. Terrifier 2 felt a bit overlong, at 138 minutes, with Terrifier 3's slightly shorter runtime helping the pacing immensely. I still feel surprisingly invested in this series, which is becoming something genuinely fantastical. They could eventually overdo that side of things, and they almost do here, but I really dig what these films have evolved into.
The violence is disgusting. It's at least as sadistic as the second, maybe more. Art the Clown is hilarious when he's not killing people but I hate him deeply. I love to hate him. Unironically one of the best villains of the last 10 years. He's Harpo Marx if Harpo was also a serial killer.
The final act elevated this film immensely. Chainsaws have never sounded louder. I was worried I'd have a panic attack and I felt queasy. I feel a bit shaken after the whole thing, now that it's over. The sadistic violence played a part, but I think I also cared. These characters have all suffered so much, and I was so invested in them winning. The final scenes had me squirming in my seat more so because I was invested, rather than the violence. I think that's impressive, or maybe I'm just easily entertained.
There are some scenes here that look too cheap, and the pacing isn't perfect. Occasional rough line deliveries and inconsistent acting here and there, too. It sort of ties the first movie and the second together in a way that felt a bit rough early on. But much of the second half had me feeling so jittery, and I have to celebrate a movie that gets to me like that. The last month or so has had some high-profile disappointments new release-wise, so I'm really happy Terrifier 3 was a film that exceeded my expectations. This is the best of the series so far.
