After a wild night of Halloween partying, two young women become the latest targets of a sick clown’s gruesome killing spree.  

Judging a Book by its Cover

-Pretty much every killer clown movie has the killer on the cover, but Art is appropriately terrifying and for a majority of people, this is all that’s needed to judge whether they’re going to watch the movie or not.

-Mmm look at those teeth, needs a crossover with The Dentist

Coulrophobes rejoice, here’s another nightmare for you!

Directed by Damien Leone (All Hallow’s Eve, Terrifier 2)

Starring Jenna Kannel, Samantha Scaffadi and David Howard Thornton

It’s late on Halloween night and Tara and Dawn are walking to the car although they’re both too drunk to drive and wind up doing the proper thing and calling for a ride home instead.  Tara calls her sister, Victoria, to come get them.  They decide to grab a bite to eat while they wait and notice a man dressed as a creepy clown carrying a garbage bag.  Although he simply stares at them from afar, they deem him harmless and move on to get some pizza.

This is what mall Santa’s look like under the beard

After ordering, the girls notice that the clown has followed them and he comes inside to stare some more before performing like a mime which wins Dawn over enough to want to get a selfie with him.  Tara, on the other hand, is pretty terrified (haha!) of this black and white painted clown who doesn’t make a sound. As they leave the pizza parlour, Art takes out the employees before following the girls out into the street and then chases them into an apartment building, which is mostly empty for fumigation, but those who are around become more fodder for Art as he sets his sights on Tara.

She’s so happy, if she were happier there’d be two of her

One of the biggest criticisms levied against Terrifier is there is such a lack of a story, it’s just chase scene after chase scene and kill after kill. Despite the graphic nature of the kills, the scenes in between can be kind of boring. Now, that said, the film’s tension can reach heights that some cannot handle and if you have a weak stomach, you likely won’t make it all the way through as the effects are very good and very gooey. Art is pissed off. There’s a scene around the halfway point where a woman is hung upside down, mostly nude, and then cut in half with a rusty hacksaw which will certainly make some tap out.

TL;DR

Story: 3 – Honestly, the film is pretty lacking any significant story, most of the movie takes place over the course of just a few hours in a couple of buildings with a few people being stalked by a killer clown.

Blood: 9 – As basic as the plot is, the movie makes up for it in many gory displays, including the signature scene where a woman is bifurcated vertically with a hacksaw.

Nudity: 8 – Lots of points to actress Catherine Corcoran for showing off the goods, but it’s during the hacksaw scene so it’s not very sexy.

Overall: 7 – Pretty by-the-numbers slasher that’s brought up quite a bit by the sheer amount of gore and the performance of Art the Clown’s actor, David Howard Thorton.

Trivia

-David Howard Thorton’s mime experience helped him win the part of Art the Clown.

-Creator Damien Leone wanted to make Art as much the opposite of Pennywise as he could get so Art is bald, only wears black and white, uses weapons, and doesn’t talk.

-A radio commercial for the “Craven Halloween Store” is an homage to the late Wes Craven.