Terrifier

I didn't hold out much hope for this movie. Was expecting the usual bad acting and shoddy plot. However I was mildly surprised. If you like gore, a little bit of nudity and a killer clown that kind off pulls of crazy without saying a word then this could be for you. Don't expect a Spielberg plot though.

Better than the wonky cam, let's run through the woods movies.

Art the Clown started back in 2011 with a short movie by the same name, truth be told I didn't like it. The creator Damien Leone would keep Art around in his feature film All Hallows' Eve (2013) but as a small role.

Now here we are and Art has his own movie, but is it any good? Honestly, not really but it's better than his last solo outing.

It follows the standard slasher formula and sees a couple of girls on Halloween night come under attack from a psychotic clown.

So again this is generic stuff, it embraces all the usual tropes and though not predictable certainly has no surprises. It's also pretty ugly and oddly paced throughout.

What Terrifier does have however is sheer unadulterated brutality. This is gory nasty no holds barred merciless stuff, I was quite shocked actually. Considering the budget they make all of it look really good, so kudos to the sfx department.

I love clowns as antagonists but Art doesn't seem to tick enough boxes for me. He's less of a clown and more of a mime and doesn't seem to be an interesting enough character to carry his own film.

Passable stuff but by this time next week I'll have forgotten it.

The Good:

Impressively grisly visuals

Jenna Kanell

Unpredictable

The Bad:

Doesn't exactly flow

Poor cinematography

I was not keen on seein this as i haven't seen any of the director's previous films. (Cos the killer in this movie is a spinoff).

I saw this after reading a glowing review by Coventry.

This movie is indeed terrifying in terms of brutality n gore but what i liked more is the atmosphere.

Another good aspect is that nothing is shot in dark n one can easily make out what is going on. No flickering lights, no shaky cam n no fast cut editing.

There is a kill in this movie which is way too brutal than the Sean Bean's one from Black Death.

The only thing i wanted to kno more is the background story of the killer, his motives n the some clarity bah the supernatural ending.

Aft liking this, i wanna check out the director's previous films.

A brutal, barbaric & bestial horror packed with harrowing kills & senseless savagery, Terrifier is completely devoid of basic narrative fundamentals and exists solely to shock, upset, disturb & disgust its viewers with its endless gore & no-holds-barred carnage but for those with a taste for the extreme, this indie slasher may just prove to be a welcome thrill-n-kill ride.

Written, produced, edited & directed by Damien Leone, the plot is merely an outline with nothing of value brewing underneath and only exists as an excuse for the filmmaker to indulge in the old-school tricks that power the violence & viscera. The make-up & special effects are worth noting but with an absent narrative & no characters to support, the film doesn't cover a lot of distance.

Further hampering the journey are the shoddy dialogues & awful performances, not to mention that it's also lacking in tension and is rather predictable & repetitive. The cardboard characters keep making the idiotic choices throughout the film which only diminish our interest in their fate, if there was any. Nevertheless, David Howard Thornton impresses in his role and is sickening to watch.

Overall, Terrifier is as repugnant & repulsive as it is raw & ruthless and often gets carried away with its scenes of torture & terror. While there is an audience for this kind of cinematic offering, the film remains a forgettable ride for the most part. Still, Art the Clown does exhibit promise & potential to become a horror franchise icon but his character & mythology needs to be fleshed out better than how it's done here.

Yes there is almost no plot and it's very nihilistic and gratuitous, but it makes up for that with a truly creepy villain and some very well done and incredibly brutal gore effects.

The acting is perfectly fine. Nothing amazing, but it's perfectly acceptable. A lot better than you usually get in a low budget horror these days.

This isn't a movie that's going to revolutionize the genre, but it's a fun throwback to the good old days of unstoppable silent killers terrorizing people for arbitrary reasons.