CONTENT WARNING: “Terrifier 3” features extremely graphic gore. Viewers who are easily frightened, disgusted, or disturbed should not watch.

“Terrifier” shocked audiences in 2016. “Terrifier 2” did the same in 2022. And now “Terrifier 3” follows in their footsteps, delivering yet another horrifying and vile experience.

For those unaware, the “Terrifier” franchise is a series of intense horror films with a highlight on gore and violence. The series antagonist, Art the Clown, is described as pure evil embodied in the form of a demonic clown. The franchise aims to solidify Art the Clown as a horror icon along the ranks of Micheal Myers, Jason Voorhes, and Freddy Krueger. Art the Clown is 42-year-old director Damien Leone’s entire career. Art first appeared in Leone’s feature debut, The “9th Circle” (2008), then in the 2011 anthology film “All Hallows Eve”, which launched right into the “Terrifier” franchise. Leone’s only film without Art was “Frankenstein” vs “The Mummy” (2015), a digital-only release.

“Terrifier 3” centers around Sienna Shaw, who survived the last Terrifier. She is mysteriously connected to Art, so he terrorizes her and her family. There isn’t much else to the plot, as it focuses more on gore and scares than the actual story. These priorities cause the plot, editing, script and acting to be as gruesome as the kills.

The first film’s budget was a lowly $35,000; the second film was over seven times that, with $250,000; and the third film has the largest of the franchise, with $2 million. The first film feels like an iMovie made by a psychotic teenager, but it’s effective. Most of its budget was poured into gore, and that is very clear, with little to no plot and a warehouse as its only location. The second one follows a similar path but with a much larger budget. The extra 215,000 dollars added 19 more kills, 53 more minutes, actual characters, and multiple locations. Then, the third film adds even more story, attempts at character development, and raises the overall production value by a large margin.

Usually, giving promising directors larger budgets results in more nuanced and high-quality films. Not in this case. Leone displays an inability to create anything substantial, and he seems like a one-trick pony, with the trick being “scary clown gruesomely kills innocent person, rinse, repeat.” The film attempts to add more lore and backstory to Art but falls flat on its face. It feels convoluted, messy, unoriginal and boring. The attempted character development feels like the story a five-year-old would give their action figure. Even with the large budget, the film has about as much skill as a first-year film student’s first assignment. The editing is full of cheesy transitions, the acting is horrific, the dialogue feels AI-generated, and the cinematography and sound design feel like they’re using a template like every other crappy horror movie in the past decade. It’s a mess. Lauren LeVera tries her best in the starring role, but unfortunately, her best isn’t very good. The supporting cast was somehow even worse and so unremarkable it’s not worth the discussion.

The film’s brightest spot is David Howard Thornton’s performance as Art the Clown. He gives Art a delightfully cruel amount of personality. His performance can be even comedic at times, a wonderfully stark comparison to the brutality of the rest of the film. 12-year-old actor Antonella Rose, as Sienna’s younger cousin, Gabbie, also delivers a solid performance.

Even with the many problems in this film, it achieves its goal: to be as gory and shocking as possible. The problem is that this goal doesn’t make for a very good movie. There are 22 kills in this movie, and each one is gorier than the next. The film isn’t tense or suspenseful; its horror is in what it shows us rather than what we don’t know. It shows us every grisly little detail of every gruesome slaughter. The only skill that goes into this category of horror filmmaking is the incredible practical effects. The makeup artist team of Kyle Roberts, John Cagilone Jr. and Jason Baker provide disgustingly realistic effects.

The film’s other claim to fame is its Christmas setting. The film is set around the holiday season, allowing many creative Christmas scenes and plot points. For most of the film, Art is dressed as Santa, which allows some horrifying scenes to twist classic Christmas tropes. Although creative, the film doesn’t use it to its full potential and leaves plenty of missed opportunities. Leone scatters confusing Christian imagery throughout the movie, seemingly trying to represent some actual cinematic theme or intelligence, but this achieves nothing, leaving the viewer even more confused by the movie’s plot.

“Terrifier 3” has a couple of highs and plenty of lows. Its incredible gore and excellent David Howard Thornton performance are more than overshadowed by its pathetic script, acting, plot and lousy filmmaking. Unless you’re looking to throw up your lunch, the average movie viewer should avoid this film.