AlthoughTerrifier 2substantially improved uponTerrifier’s reception,Terrifier 3will have a hard time replicating this success thanks to numerous factors. 2016’sTerrifierwas not a mainstream breakout hit for director Damian Leone. Earning 57% onRottenTomatoes, the intensely dark, brutal slasher earned around $400,000 upon release according toBoxOfficeMojo. However, the 2022 sequel to Leone’s killer clown horror was another story.Terrifier’s modest success resulted in an Indiegogo campaign that fundedTerrifier 2which, alongside the support ofBloodyDisgusting, brought the sequel’s budget up to $250,000.Terrifier 2went on to earn over $15 million.
Terrifier 3 Looks Like It Delivers On The Scariest Movie Yet Promise
Terrifier 3 promises to be the scariest movie in the slasher series, bringing back the suspense and tension from Art the Clown’s earlier outings.
WhileTerrifier 2’s endingleft the door open for another installment, its reception made a sequel inevitable.Terrifier 2was a bonafide sleeper hit, earning an incredible sum despite its limited release and even winning over critics. SinceTerrifier 2’s success was so unprecedented, many mainstream publications neglected to even review Leone’s sequel. As a result,Terrifier 2earned a superb 86%RottenTomatoesrating. Although2024’s upcomingTerrifier 3will want to build on this success, viewers expecting a repeat performance should note that the slasher’s predecessor benefited from a few unique circumstances.
Terrifier 3 Won’t Have Terrifier 2’s Sleeper Hit Status
Terrifier 2 Was A Surprise Success Upon Release
Many ofTerrifier 2’s positive reviews highlighted the indie movie’s underdog origins and its low budget, since these elements make its unlikely success all the more impressive. However,Terrifier 3won’t share these qualities.Terrifier 3’s bigger budgetmeans that audience expectations will grow in proportion, which may hurt the movie’s reception. While 1999’s seminal found footage classicThe Blair Witch Projectwas a critical hit, its sequelsBook of ShadowsandBlair Witchwere both critically dismissed.Terrifier 3may suffer a similar fate thanks to hype backlash.
Terrifier 3can simply act as a bigger, bloodier, more ambitious extension of the first two movies in the series.
In fairness to the killer clown franchise,Terrifierdoesn’t share one issue theBlair Witchseries faced. While that franchise had to either replicate the first movie’s format or give up on its found footage style,Terrifier 3can simply act as a bigger, bloodier, more ambitious extension of the first two movies in the series.Terrifier 2made Art the Clown’s lore more complicated and spent more time introducing its victims, but the movie retainedTerrifier’s basic setup. BothTerrifiermovies follow Art on a vicious killing spree and a Final Girl in her attempts to stop him.
Terrifier 3 Arrives Burdened With Audience Expectations
Terrifier 3 Is Expected To Tie The Trilogy Together
Admittedly,Terrifier 3’s story can’t be as loose as the diffuse plot ofTerrifier 2thanks to its status as the trilogy’s closing chapter. WhereasTerrifier 2was free to experiment,Terrifier 3will be burdened with audience expectations. Viewers expect boundary-pushing gore, but also some more clarification on the link between Art and Sienna’s father and potentially even an explanation of Art’s supernatural powers.Terrifier 3’s endinghas to tie the franchise together, whereas the first two movies in the series were content to simply chronicle the killer’s gruesome antics. This loose structure facilitated many memorable chases and murders.
This isn’t necessarily a problem, but it does mean the filmmakers will need to focus on character and plot more than ever. To its credit,Terrifier 2established clearer links between Art and its lead characters thanTerrifier, where Art’s choice of victims was seemingly rooted in random chance. The original movie saw Art indiscriminately slaughter everyone he came across, including the movie’s apparent Final Girl.In contrast,Terrifier 2set up Lauren LaVera’s Sienna as its heroine and built a clear connection between her and Art, making her fate more compelling. However,Terrifier 3will need to do more.
Terrifier 2’s Success Puts A Mainstream Spotlight On Terrifier 3
Many Mainstream Outlets Didn’t Even Review Terrier 2
To impress mainstream critics,Terrifier 3will need to introduce more believable characters, clearer stakes, and a more cohesive storyline than its predecessors. While most major publications ignoredArt the Clown’s moviesuntil 2022, the wide release and massive marketing campaign forTerrifier 3ensures that all eyes will be on the killer clown when his third outing hits cinemas. The backlash to the highly hyped series could hurtTerrifier 3’s reception, but there is also a bigger problem. Namely, a lot of major mainstream outlets who didn’t even review the first two movies will be spotlighting this sequel.
Variety’s largely negative write-up of the sequel could potentially set the tone for mainstream critical reactions.
RogerEbert.com,The New York Times,Empire Magazine,The AVClub, and many other mainstream movie magazines never even reviewedTerrifier 2, andVariety’s largely negative write-up of the sequel could potentially set the tone for their reactions. Thanks to the franchise’s boundary-pushing content and its self-conscious disregard for acting and storytelling, theTerrifiermovies were never likely to find much purchase with critics.Terrifier 2’s incredibleRottenTomatoesrating may have been shaped by the movie’s success among established horror fans and reviewers, rather than mainstream critics. One review ofTerrifier 2provides some evidence for this theory.
Variety Bemoaned Terrifier 2’s Features Not Its Bugs
In his thoughtfulVarietyreview ofTerrifier 2, Owen Gleiberman questioned the purpose of the franchise’s extreme, graphic carnage. Gleiberman situatedTerrifier 2in the tradition of Herschel Gordon Lewis’ early splatter films and the “Scuzzy” grindhouse milieu of the ‘70s, but criticized the validity of gory shock value for its own sake. Per the critic, “Terrifier 2 puts sadism front and center” without even the pretence of providing more than this. While this is a valid observation, it points out a feature of the movies, not a bug.Terrifier 2, and its predecessor, are conscious exercises in depravity.
Terrifier 2’s 86%RottenTomatoesrating represented a 29% jump up fromTerrifier’s 57% rating.
AlthoughTerrifier 3might be 2024’s scariest movie, it is unlikely that mainstream critics will give Art the Clown his flowers any time soon. No matter how accomplished David Howard Thornton’s performance as the villain is or how much Leone’s directorial skill has improved since the last outing, it is the nature of theTerrifierfranchise’s specific contours that put off many reviewers. Simply put, a lot of critics can’t stomach the thought of recommendig any of theTerrifiermovies, regardless of their technical merit, soTerrifier 3managing to replicateTerrifier 2’s success seems vanishingly unlikely.
