Movie Review: Terrifier (2016)
Terrifier is a horror film written and directed by Damien Leone. Leone also wrote and directed All Hallow’s Eve (2013) which also features Art the Clown as the villain and Frankenstein vs. The Mummy (2017). Terrifier is a slasher and hearing that it had a lot of the same qualities that ’80s and ’90s slasher films drew upon, we had to check it out. It starts off pretty simple enough. Drunk girls in a pizza parlor on Halloween. Art the Clown follows them in after they had heckled him and he just sits there at a booth staring at them. This sets the tone for the rest of the film. From that point on, it is a pretty good romp that is definitely reminiscent of ’80s/’90s slashers.
Some of the writing in the story is kinda questionable at times when it comes to people and their reactions to Art. Aside from that, though, the film has some pretty good writing overall. The score for this film was awesome and helps maintain the tension, and the cinematography was also spot on. The practical effects are where Terrifier really shines, though.
Leone did the special effects for the film and has also been doing special effects for years on other projects. Being practical-effect driven, and the director is a good combination. The gore is fantastic, and kills in this film are all done masterfully. Art just keeps getting bloodier as the film rolls along, and it makes for great horror. Each kill is violent, brutal, and doesn’t disappoint. Art the Clown himself is a great villain. He’s kind of a clown version of Michael Myers, but with more character. So maybe a clown version of Michael Myers, with a bit of Freddy Krueger minus the talking. I say this because there are moments that are amusing, but Art the Clown is also relentless like you would see in Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. It’s a great melting pot of slasher influence here.
Overall, Terrifier is a truly remarkable horror film if you like slashers. It has everything you could hope for, and also a few surprises mixed in there to keep you on your toes. We would love to see more films from Leone and Art the Clown, as horror needs more characters to keep the slasher genre alive in times like these where Englund is getting too old to reprise the Freddy role, Chucky is being remade without Brad Dourif, and the Friday the 13th franchise is caught up in a bunch of legal bullshit. If the films to come are anything like Terrifier, we believe Art the Clown is one of the leaders of the next generation of slasher legends.
