Terrifier 3 is truly madness for two [critique]

A psychopathic clown and his completely bent girlfriend cause carnage: the Joker and Harley Quinn can go and get dressed, the real agents of chaos are in Terrifier 3. Gore and fun to boot.

Like almost any film that happily turns on the hemoglobin tap, Terrify 3 is preceded by rumors of discomfort in the theaters, uncontrollable vomiting and outraged people who leave the screening after ten minutes. Worn scheme for promoting horror cinema? Maybe not only: the feature film was completely banned for those under 18 in our country (unpublished since Saw 3 in 2006), putting its distributor in a potentially delicate situation. But what are we talking about, exactly?

In 2016, American director Damien Leone made a name for himself in underground horror with the first Terrifyshot on a shoestring budget. The story of a mute and evil clown, Art, with an annoying tendency to turn into mush everyone who gets in his way. A peak of gory humor paying homage to 80's slashers, followed by a second part in 2023 which turned the knobs up to 11 and made this sadistic Marceau mime an immortal figure between Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger.

Terrify 3 swap Halloween decor for Christmas decor. Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and her little brother (Elliott Fullam), the last survivors, strive to leave the horrors of the past behind them. But Art the clown resurfaces and the end of year celebrations will take on a special flavor… Amputated arms, genitals cut in two, burns with liquid nitrogen, explosions of kids, brains in the open air, facial skin abruptly removed: generous in graphic perversity (the practical special effects are always impeccable), Leone signs a new grand-guignolesque farce which is never afraid to push the envelope a little too far.

Fans of dirty cinema will delight in the inventiveness of Art's executions (great performance by David Howard Thornton under the mask), a sort of evil toon with instruments of torture in place of Acme gadgets. Loaded with burlesque gags, Terrify 3 is also a real duo film, with the demonic girlfriend becoming one of the main characters here. A Joker/Harley Quinn relationship on amphetamines – very disturbing scene of masturbation with a piece of glass – which adds a lot to a somewhat shaky mythology. It is also in the characterization of its heroine, Sienna, that the inevitable Terrify 4 will have to make an effort. But can we really blame Damien Leone for being more interested in his brilliant pair of villains than in a final girl lambda?

Terrify 3by Damien Leone. In theaters October 9. With Lauren LaVera, David Howard Thornton, Jason Patric… Duration: 2h05.