I came into this film very hyped up. I had this recommended to me, and I saw some posts about it. The thing is, I didn’t need any of that to want to see it because I watched the original Art The Clown and I saw All Hallow’s Eve 1 & 2. I was a superfan of his work.
Then I watched Terrifier, and I walked away feeling conflicted. First, let’s discuss the positives. Art looked menacing as always. I loved the mannerisms, the horn honking, showing his teeth at the right time, he was legitimately creepy and doesn’t get enough love when discussing evil clowns. Pennywise and Captain Spaulding get all the love, and they are amazing, but Art is easily in third place. You had your typical mix of smart girls, dumb hot drunk girl, crazy cat lady with a doll for a baby, and some dudes. The gore was really fun. I thought they did a really good job on it, by and large. Some of it was silly, but I feel that is sometimes the point. I loved a lot of the deaths. The sawing death was by far my favorite. Ladies, it will give you a new appreciation for that tiny cut you get when trimming your lady parts. It hit some cliches, but I like cliches in slashers, usually.
Here’s what I really didn’t like. Nothing pisses me off more in a horror film than when the protagonist gets to kill or maim or hurt the antagonist, and only hits them once or shoots them once. After all the hell that you have been through, fucking go to town on your assailant. This happened not once, but twice in the movie and I was yelling at my TV screen. Secondly, the final girl shouldn’t have been that particular role. Her sister would have been better suited for it. I did like how they ended it, but it was also potentially predictable. I still thought that was good. Why does Art have Jason Voorhees type powers though? I need that shit explained to me.
I took some notes and this paragraph will be filled with some specific spoilers, so there’s your alert. I loved the scene with Art buying Tara the ring, and also Dawn taking the selfie with Art. Everything with the crazy lady was gold. When Tara has to take such an urgent piss, why is there such a huge delay? Either you really had to go, or you’re a liar. Knowing that they had been drinking, she wasn’t going to be controlling her bladder that well. The reveal of ____ upside down and mostly nude was silly in that she wasn’t making shit for noise until he moved the sheet. That makes very little sense to me. Is Art a mute? The punishment he took would cause some kind of sound, even as a mute, so is it something entirely different than a mute? I’d like to know which girl’s tits was Art wearing around? I assume crazy lady’s. Art honking the horn and then driving to that music was delightful. Art is definitely not a human, and he has some kind of power that affects electricity. I want to know more.
With all of that said, this really had some pacing issues. At times, it dragged on, and it truly had a lot to do with a lack of dialogue after the first act. Some people may be into that. There’s the famous Twilight Zone episode with no dialogue until the end when we find out that the lady was a giant. Some people love that episode, I do not. Still, I know that I would rewatch this one. I really wanted it to be better. I would suggest that for a sequel, give more people for Art to kill who can chat with each other. That would really help, in my opinion.
Rating: 5.5 I want to give it higher but being bored at times doomed this for me in the rating department.
All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of:
Dark Age Cinema (production)
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