After years of hearing all the hype about this new horror movie villain, Art the Clown, especially after the huge uptick of popularity of "Terrifier 2" (clocking in at a whopping 138 minutes), I decided to do sort of a deep dive into the character. The creator, Damien Leone, tracks it back to his 2008 short film "The 9th Circle". It's about 11 minutes long, and I watched that first. Then, he started shopping the character around for a feature film and did some version of "Terrifier" years later...then mashed it all up into a sort of anthology film called "All Hallow's Eve" (2013). Following that, he got a bigger budget to do a full-on Art the Clown showcase in "Terrifier" (2016). I guess it took a little while to catch fire, because the sequel came out in 2022. But that was when it exploded. It's everywhere at horror cons, horror podcasts, enthusiasts, bloody disgusting, you name it.

But is it worth it?

The character does look aesthetically pretty badass. Unlike Pennywise, Art the Clown is mute, and is more of a butcher than a...space alien incarnate...actually, it isn't really well known what he is (maybe "Terrifier 2" expounds on his lore, I haven't watched that yet).

So I'll rate the 3 movies I watched:

"The 9th Circle"

A good intro to the character. It takes place in a dingy train station where a random girl is waiting, quietly reading a book. She's somewhat accosted by a drunk couple in costume, placing this I guess on or near Halloween. She is then greeted by Art the Clown, who creeps her out, then grabs her, and drugs her. She is then in some kind of dungeon-like space, with a few other women, and it's pretty evident there's some kind of sacrifice going on. There are demons, gore, etc. It's a short film, so it's not long on story or character. But it's really effective in its purpose and atmosphere. This guy was onto something.

3 out of 4.

"All Hallow's Eve"

It's Halloween night, and a babysitter is watching 2 kids as some kind of favor. It's getting late, and she wants to put the kids to bed. But the boy wants to eat his candy, and as his bag is dumped out, an unmarked VHS tape falls out. Intrigued and egged on by the kids, she puts it in (first afraid it's porn or snuff), and the video is basically..."The 9th Circle". The whole film, with some added scenes. So I guess I didn't need to go through the trouble of watching it to begin with, but oh well. It's good. She ejects the film after the end, and sends the kids to bed. Then she continues to watch, featuring 2 more stories: the next involves a sort of alien invasion (starting to have echoes of "V/H/S 2")...probably the weakest part of the movie. This woman is home alone in a rural area, and hears something "land", and an alien winds up chasing her. It has some interesting moments, but it's pretty predictable and the alien looks kind of laughable. Almost like a robot vacuum cleaner. The next segment is a lot better, probably the strongest part of the whole movie. A girl stops at a desolate gas station off the highway, lost, trying to get to NY. The gas attendant, working by himself, is kicking out...Art the Clown. He's eventually killed, then Art the Clown goes after the girl. It's very well done, and intense. After that, the babysitter finds herself face to face with Art the Clown looking back at her at the TV...so it seems. It's a decent indie low budget movie, I'd recommend a viewing during this season. It's on Tubi.

3 out of 4

"Terrifier"

Now comes the main course, the first feature film revolving around Art. And it's disappointing. It has a promising beginning, a sort of stinger opening (reprising the actress who played the babysitter from "All Hallow's Eve"). But once we get into the main story, there's no real central character, and there's a ton...a ton...of gore. I'll give it that it's very well done. It certainly has a realistic feal, which is pretty disturbing. One guy gets decapitated on screen, and it looks pretty convincing. A woman is sawed in half from the crotch (she's upside-down), entrails pouring out. It's bloody and graphic, and the effects are too on point to consider this campy. This was the same problem I had with the "Evil Dead" remake. It pulls no punches, and the blood spatter is never comedically over the top. That makes it just hard to watch, like torture porn movies of the early-to-mid aughts. Plus, there's no twist or any levels to the movie. There is a call back at the end that's interesting...but the movie is so grotesque, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I'm all for gore and blood and stuff, but there has to be another element to enjoy. And there's not much else to glean except the audacity of the film to go the lengths it does to dare you to keep watching. Art the Clown is certainly an effective centerpiece. He gleefully disembowels and bludgeons, and...even shoots people to death. He's maniacal. But that's about it.

2 out of 4

I will give "Terrifier 2" a try, as the 3rd movie is about to be released soon. I've heard part 2 is a lot better than 1...so there's that.

RE: Smilies. There's a 10 smilie limit, so i couldn't put them in.

got around to watching "terrifier 2" (available on amazon prime). it is significantly better than the first one. i was a bit hesitant because of the bloated run-time, but it actually layers itself well enough to justify it. plus, full disclosure, the movie is really only about 128 minutes long total. there is a lengthy mid-credit scene (that's actually worth watching, unlike about 90% of Marvel's). but the pace is well done...in fact, this is a showcase for damien leone's range.

here, he finally creates central characters that we care about. a brother and sister, jonathan and sienna. there's a connection between art the clown and those two, which is revealed a bit into the film. the film starts after the events of the first one, and art is infiltrating sienna's dreams inexplicably. in fact, he seems to exist in subconscious and conscious planes. she literally runs into him at a halloween shop, after a fire destroys her costume.

but there's an added character--a little girl that appears to be "with" art. she is a manifestation of an actual murder victim of his, but she is a bit of a sidekick for him.

sienna has her group of friends, wanting to "sneak out" to go to a club for halloween (telling her mom she's going to a party). jonathan is a bit of a troublemaker, but is also misunderstood. i liked the characters, and was invested.

there's still a ton of gore, but there is more humor in this and a bit of self-awareness. there are some goofy "dream" scenes that add to the entertainment. the gore doesn't come off as cynical and nihilistic as the first one.

it's no masterpiece, but it's definitely worth the time. the 3rd movie is apparently going to be a christmas-themed horror. i guess that's the logical next step, since halloween has become a bit stagnant in this franchise.

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Yo dude I gave terrifier a go last night based on this thread. I think it was terrifier. It's fucking gory as hell. The bifurcated broad yeah?

Brutally gory. Pretty solid horror flick tho. Thanks.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

yes, that was "terrifier". the gore was definitely worth the price of admission, i just thought it lacked a good focal character. "terrifier 2" fixes that, and still has a ton of gore that felt more worthy. and it has some batshit craziness that's also entertaining.

"terrifier 3" has done very well through its first weekend. i read an article that bashed "joker 2" kind of cleverly: "art the clown had a good weekend, as opposed to the other clown named art".

i don't know if i'll have the chance to see it in the theater, but hopefully it comes to streaming soon.

Haven't seen these but am intrigued. Read a quick blurb of how this movie is so scary it messes up the rating system.

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Elections have consequences.

I've never found slasher films to be super scary.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Ever seen Bone Tomahawk? Really good movie ruined by one 30 second scene.

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Wattabout Kodak Black?

"terrifier 3" is a mixed bag, but i recommend if you've been invested in the series. i wouldn't recommend anyone walking in cold, without knowing much about it. the first segment is pretty rough. though if you've ever endured "a serbian film", i don't think anything will shock you.

not that this is shock value stuff. it's definitely got its roots in torture porn, as i mentioned about the 1st one. but the return of sienna and jonathan, and their extended family, grounds this a little more.

there's also a lot more sick humor involved. i think my favorite involves a dig on true crime podcast "influencers". that death is a grapefruit served up and a home run.

some of the deaths are kinda painful to watch, though, and that's been a gripe of mine of the gorefrest stuff. it's one thing when it's just random idiots or people purposely set up to hate or want to see get theirs...be as cruel as you want. that's the point. but when it's people you sympathize with or grow to like, i just don't understand the angle. it's not uncomfortable or shocking to see them get completely butchered--it's just a downer.

adding the christmas backdrop doesn't land as well as previous christmas horror films like "silent night, deadly night", "krampus", or "gremlins". it has a presence, and has one really great mall santa sequence (watch out, kids). there's also an amusing bar scene with clint howard (always nice to see him) in a little cameo. but just when you're getting cozy with it, it just goes back to the regular art the clown hack show. and, the climax has so much going on, it could take place anytime really.

they bring back the maniac victim from previous films, no clown girl from the last movie this time. it's really disturbing to see that woman's face throughout the movie. i never get used to it enough to be desensitized by it.

overall, it's definitely solid. lauren levera is just badass, and beautiful. the casting is a little odd, because she's clearly an adult and her aunt and uncle look like they're basically her age. it doesn't seem like they imply that her mom and aunt were that much age difference either.

i'm pretty sure DS would dig it, since he liked the first one.

for me it's just below 2.

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