Terrifier (2017) Review
Terrifier (2017) Review
Terrifier is the story of the maniacal Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), who terrorizes three young women on Halloween, butchering everyone who stands in his way. In grand Halloween tradition, we see the night he came home in all its gory glory, in a place where nobody floats and everyone dies. Art really is the clown who will haunt your nightmares.
Art the Clown first appeared in 2008 short The 9th Circle, played by Mike Giannelli, terrorizing a young woman sat alone at a train station. Two years later Art’s sinister presence popped up in the short film, also entitled Terrifier, this time at a gas station where he commits a murder. Jump forward again another couple of years, and writer/director Damien Leone revisits his malevolent creation for anthology film All Hallow’s Eve. And now finally Leone has afforded the homicidal Art his own feature film, with a different actor playing the role, and it’s an absolute delight!
Around the half-an-hour mark Terrifier looks dangerously close to running out of juice but fortunately it finds its feet again and keeps delivering the gory goods with relish to spare. It boasts some truly spectacular and violent splatter – so rare in today’s ‘play-it-safe’ entertainment landscape. There’s one moment in particular that stands out as one of the most disturbing, whilst also absurdly comical, that I have seen in a long while – you’ll know it when you see it. Terrifier is a horror film that isn’t afraid to be horrific and it’s all the more welcome because of it. Writer/director Damien Leone has potential to spare and I look forward to seeing what he brings our way next.
TRAILER
