Terrifier (2016) Dread Central/Horror RT: 85 minutes No MPAA rating (extremely graphic bloody violence and gore, sexual references, nudity, language) Director: Damien Leone Screenplay: Damien Leone Music: Paul Wiley Cinematography: George Steuber Release date: March 15, 2018 (US, limited) Cast: Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, David Howard Thornton, Catherine Corcoran, Pooya Mohseni, Matt McAllister, Michael Leavy, Katie Maguire, Gino Cafarelli, Erick Zamora, Cory Duvall, Jason Leavy, Steven Della Salla. Body Count: 9
Rating: ***
I don’t know why I put off watching the horror movie Terrifier for so long. I guess it’s because I didn’t think it would live up to the hype it’s been getting from fans of the genre. I finally broke down and watched it today and all I can say is HOLY CRAP!!! Don’t worry, this is a positive exclamation. It’s not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is gory as hell. I’d say it’s approximately waist deep in blood. Plus, it doesn’t appear to be CGI gore. It looks real (i.e. practical effects) to me. Needless to say, it makes this gorehound very happy.
Written and directed by Damien Leone (All Hallows’ Eve), Terrifier centers on the murderous exploits of Art the Clown (Thornton), a sadistic killer clown who never utters so much as a sound. He’s like a mime in that he employs broad, comedic gestures when pursuing or torturing his victims. He is one sick MF! His hunting ground this Halloween night is a derelict building where he traps two drunken teenage girls, Tara (Kanell) and Dawn (Corcoran), trying to get home after a party. They first spot Art on the street near their car while they argue about who’s sober enough to drive. He follows them to a nearby pizzeria where Dawn takes a selfie with him despite the fact he looks deranged and acts strangely. Soon after, the owner ejects the clown for smearing fecal matter all over the rest room.
The girls return to the car to find one of the tires slashed. Tara calls her sister Victoria (Scaffidi) for a ride. While waiting for her, Tara needs to pee. She convinces pest control guy Mike (McAllister) to let her into the building to use the bathroom. Of course, he lets her. Who can say no to a pretty girl? It never once occurs to her that she might never leave. Sure enough, she soon finds herself being hunted by Art. So do a few other victims-to-be. The end result is one of the bloodiest messes I’ve seen in a long time.
Terrifier is a blend of slasher flick and torture porn. It exists solely to feed the collective bloodlust of the target audience. It succeeds in spades on that count. The body count might not exceed single digits, but Leone makes the kill scenes count by taking the violence to extremes not taken in mainstream horrors. They’re both messy and creative. The gore effects by Alana Rose are disturbingly and disgustingly realistic. The piece de resistance has to be when Art hangs a girl by her ankles and cuts her in half lengthwise with a hacksaw. The blood flows freely. Her guts hit the ground with a nice splat. Now that’s what I call a cool kill scene! It’s not the only great one either. In another scene, Art uses a female victim’s scalp and skin (her breasts!) as a disguise in what has to be a nod to splatter classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Maniac and The Silence of the Lambs. Other highlights include a man’s head being stomped to a bloody pulp (by clown shoes, no less!), a woman’s eyes being gouged out and two decapitations. One of the heads is turned into a jack-o’-lantern.
Art the Clown is a terrifying creation thanks to Rose’s superb makeup design. He looks like an evil harlequin. Clad in black and white, he has this horrifying grin bound to unsettle even the most ardent horror aficionado. This clown almost makes Pennywise look like Bozo. Thornton is positively disquieting in the role. As someone with a pre-existing fear of clowns (they’re f***ing creepy!), I was completely creeped out by Art. The way he gleefully dances around while mutilating his victims is reason enough for me to continue my active avoidance of circuses.
Made for just $35K, Terrifier is every bit a low-budget movie with its amateurish acting and production values. The dialogue is pretty bad too. HOWEVER, I did like Kanell. She’s like a cross between Neve Campbell and Danielle Harris, two of the greatest scream queens EVER! Terrifier also skimps on character development. I’m not even sure you can call them characters. They’re more like lambs lined up for the slaughter. One of the victims doesn’t even have a name; she’s referred to in the credits as “Cat Lady” even though I didn’t see a single feline in the entire picture. They are plenty of rats though. It is an abandoned building after all. Most of the action takes place there. It’s a good setting for this tale of terror. It’s dark, dirty and dangerous not to mention ugly. Plus, it probably didn’t cost the makers too much to shoot there.
Well, I didn’t expect Terrifier to be Citizen Kane and it’s NOT! It is a good horror movie in its own right. It delivers where it counts. It has plenty of splatter and a terrifying killer clown. The girls are hot and everybody is an idiot. That’s exactly as it should be in a slasher flick. The only thing missing is gratuitous nudity (i.e. BOOBS!) and sex. Maybe they’ll have some in the upcoming sequel.
