Terrifier
Terrifier reinforces my belief that all clowns are evil! Especially ones called Art the Clown. This movie is brutal, mean, and good bloody fun. Though there seems to be a divide on whether some people think this movie is good or not. Despite the low budget and not the greatest acting, this is a movie that actually surprised me and scared me to some extent.
Photo Credit: Dark Age Cinema
Released: Mar 15, 2018
Runtime: 82 mins
Director: Damien Leone
Writer: Damien Leone
Actors: Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, David Howard Thornton
PLOT
On Halloween night, a sadistic murderer known as Art the Clown, tortures and terrorizes Tara and several other people in an abandoned building.
MY THOUGHTS
There are ten, bloody and most are gory. It’s hard to pick a favorite when there are a lot. I did like what Art does to the pizza place owner. Kind of made him into a jackolantern. But I think Dawn’s (Catherine Corcoran) death is the gruesomest. She’s hung upside down and Art saws her in half (from the pubic area down through her head). And it’s not quick. It’s a slow process with her body jerking around. I think Tara’s death is the basic one. Shot? Really. Though it was a surprise. I didn’t expect that.
I have to comment on the practical effects. I think they did a really good job with the practical gore. I’m a fan of good practical effects over CGI almost every time. So Terrifier is a nice surprise. Damien Leone not only directed and wrote Terrifier but he also did the practical effects. I’m very impressed with his practical effects.
Now, one of the negatives for this movie is that the acting wasn’t the greatest, but I don’t think it detracted from the story. Of course, David Howard Thornton as Art is the star of the show. Without any actual lines, he still managed to convey evil and crazy pretty easily.
I do feel bad for Jenna Kanell who plays Tara. I think she did a decent job. I just didn’t like how she was dispatched. All that fighting and she just gets shot in the face a few times? I would have hoped for a better death. But that’s just my opinion.
We start Terrifier during an interview with a young woman that has a disfigured face. Soon, she attacks and kills the interviewer, then laughing crazily. Next we see two young women, Tara and Dawn, who appear to be on their way to their car to go home after a Halloween party. They’ve both been drinking, so Tara suggests they get some food to sober up. She sees a creepy clown, Art, nearby. They quickly leave and go to a pizza restaurant.
Soon, Art shows up and is being very creepy towards Tara. Staring, and just overall being weird. Dawn, that typical drunk friend, goes over to Art and sits on his lap. She takes a selfie with him and sits back down. She’s not concerned. They soon leave and realize they have a flat tire and half to wait for Tara’s sister to come and get them.
Of course, Tara needs to go to the bathroom so she ends up going to an empty building where an exterminator lets her in. Art shows up and takes Dawn. Eventually Tara runs into Art and he takes her as well. This is when he really starts in on the torture. (Though I did like the head/jackolantern of the pizza owner).
We get several more victims to include the crazy homeless woman who has a baby doll that she thinks is her real baby, Mike the exterminator's boss or coworker who shows up, the coroner, and finally Tara’s sister Victoria.
Now, up until the ending, we just think Art as just an evil murderer. But in the end it implies that Art is something more. Something supernatural. I’m not sure how I feel about it. Not that he’s supernatural, but that we don’t see any of this potential throughout the movie. It’s just thrown at us in the end. If we had clues I would appreciate it more I guess. I mean, at least we get more movies of Art without the worry of figuring out how he survives each death.
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I wanted to take a quick break to let you know I found these great deals on Amazon for Terrifier merchandise. I’ve applied to Amazon’s affiliate program and if I can get three purchases I will be accepted into the program. This will be of tremendous help with starting my small business.
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Overall, Terrifier is a great slasher that I will be adding to my Halloween “must-see” viewing. If you like slashers, gore, and bloody movies, watch Terrifier. But go into it knowing that it is dark, mean, and it won’t have a happy ending. Well, there is a happy ending if you want to see more of Art. (Supposedly there’s a Terrifier 2 being made so that’s good.)
And now for your Forever Final Girl Exclusive…Did you know?:
This is a movie based off the short film "Terrifier" from 2011.
The ambulance that drives past Dawn as she listens to the radio broadcast in the car was unplanned. That was a real ambulance that drove by.
David Howard Thornton, who portrays Art the Clown, has previous mime experience, which he utilizes in his performance.
Jenna Kanell insisted on remaining tied up in between takes of the scene so that she would feel psychologically as if she were tied up when filming.
Catherine Corcoran (Dawn) was filming "Chuck" and another horror movie during the making of this film, while Jenna Kanell (Tara) was also filming "The Bye Bye Man". The production had the difficult task of working around their shooting schedules for these other projects in order to film their scenes together.
In All Hallow's Eve, it was made clear throughout the film that Art the Clown was supernatural and not just a human in a clown suit. It is not clear in this film until the end that Art has some supernatural presence.
At the beginning of the film in Monica's dressing room there is a sign which reads 'The End is Just a New Beginning'. This foreshadows the ending reveal that this first scene in fact takes place after all of the other events depicted in the film, and that the unnamed deformed girl being interviewed is the final girl, Victoria.
Check out my other reviews here: Forever Final Girl
Let’s get into the rankings:
Kills/Blood/Gore: 5/5
Sex/Nudity: 1.5/5
Scare factor: 4/5
Enjoyment factor: 5/5
My Rank: 3.8/5
IMDB: 5.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: critics: 6/10 audience: 5.4/10
Letterboxd: 2.7/5