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Warning: this article contains spoilers for Terrifier 3In a year filled with plenty of horror movies, Terrifier 3 has once again managed to bring the franchise to the forefront of the conversation, smashing box office records and further cementing the Terrifier series as a modern horror classic. While there have been plenty of cookie-cutter and generic horror movies over the years, the franchise continues to test the limits of what a horror movie can be, and the gruesome deaths and bloody scenes contained within each Terrifier movie prove that the series is going to continue trying to up the ante.
The Terrifier franchise, and especially Terrifier 3, are not afraid to push boundaries when it comes to the horror genre, showing moments of absolutely brutal, shocking murder. However, even with all of its blood, gore, and violence, there is one horror rule that the franchise has yet to break. The rule in question is to never show the murder of children, which has been a staple in the horror genre since its inception.
Why Art The Clown Will Never Kill Children On Screen
The Films Still Leave Some Things To The Imagination
The Terrifier series has stuck to this unofficial rule so far, and it seems that it is one line the films are unwilling to cross. The rule of never killing children on screen is one that dates back to the horror genre's roots. As the years have progressed and the genre has evolved, many things that would have been considered taboo years ago are now commonplace for horror films. This rule in particular, however, has remained a staple of the genre, and even the Terrifier films, with their gruesome and horrific depictions of death and violence that make even Art the Clown's actor sick, have adhered to it.
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Whether the Terrifier movies will eventually cross that line is a valid question, but according to the director of the Terrifier movies, Damien Leone, the movies will not be pushing that specific boundary anytime soon. In an interview with Variety, when asked about the death of children in the film, Leone said "It’s like you’re trying to shock the audience so much it just becomes desperate. I think it’s my job as an artist to try and walk that line in a more interesting way, in a more responsible way."
Terrifier 3 Still Uses This Horror Taboo In A Gruesome, Controversial Way
Even If It Doesn't Show Anything, The Implication Is Enough
While it's true that Terrifier 3 didn't go down this road, it's worth noting that it came close, even going as far as to make it seem like it would. In the opening scene for Terrifier 3, Art the Clown enters into a family's home dressed as Santa Claus before brutally killing the entire family with an ax, including two children. While this may sound like it immediately breaks the taboo, it doesn't actually show the children's murders, just their parents. Art the Clown killing the young boy isn't shown, only heard, while the camera cuts to the title before the young girl is killed by Art.
Hearing the thuds of the ax as Art the Clown kills the young boy, even without seeing anything, sends chills down the spine
Opening the film in this way is already controversial, even without directly showing the killings. Killing children offscreen is certainly not unheard of in a horror movie, but the death still feels brutal in Terrifier 3. Hearing the thuds of the ax as Art the Clown kills the young boy, even without seeing anything, sends chills down the spine, and waiting for the moment when Art finds and kills the young girl is all the more chilling when the audience doesn't know whether the movie is going to fully commit to breaking the taboo.
Terrifier 4 Faces A Big Challenge Raising The Bar With Art The Clown
The Franchise Has To Continue To Surprise And Shock
The Terrifier franchise now seems to represent the cutting edge of the horror genre, showing scenes that will go down in infamy as the more gruesome and horrifying moments in mainstream horror. However, earning that distinction now comes with other problems, namely in how the franchise is going to continue its reputation as this boundary-pushing series when it has already crossed so many lines in its three films. Terrifier 3 is already causing walkouts due to its violence and gore, and upping the ante from there seems like an extremely difficult task.
Terrifier | $416,322 | 60% |
Terrifier 2 | $15,740,003 | 86% |
Terrifier 3 | $55,831,933 | 77% |
With a fourth Terrifier movie definitely on the way, the question now becomes how the creators will prevent the franchise from stagnating. Horror films need to constantly raise the bar and show something new, and with how far the Terrifier franchise has already gone, there seem to be few worlds left to conquer. Terrifier 4 is set up as some sort of climactic journey into Hell, but if the film isn't able to surpass Terrifier 3's gore and brutality, then it will feel like a letdown, regardless of how well done the specific moments in the film are.
Terrifier 3 follows Sienna and her brother as they attempt to move past the traumatic events of Art the Clown's Halloween massacre. As they embrace the Christmas season, Art reemerges, intent on turning their holiday into a nightmare, continuing his reign of terror.
Director Damien Leone
Distributor(s) Cineverse
Cast Lauren LaVera , David Howard Thornton , Antonella Rose , Elliott Fullam , Samantha Scaffidi , Margaret Anne Florence , Bryce Johnson , Alexa Blair Robertson , Mason Mecartea , Krsy Fox , Luciana VanDette , Clint Howard , Bradley Stryker , Daniel Roebuck , Chris Jericho , Tom Savini , Jason Patric , Alex Ross , Kailey Hyman , Kellen Raffaelo , Lisa Marie Falcone , Stephen Cofield Jr. , Corrine Kelly , Joe Falcone , Peter Mitchell , Marie Maser , Jon Abrahams
English (US) ·