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Review: Terrifier (2016) ★★★½

Art the Clown in The Terrifier

&NewLine;<p>I will readily admit that the name &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;<em>Terrifier<&sol;em>” did not inspire much confidence in me&period; It sounds more like a bad carnival ride than a legitimate movie&period; Despite the awkward title&comma;<em> Terrifier <&sol;em>is aptly named&period;<em> Terrifier<&sol;em> actually <em>is<&sol;em> terrifying&period; And while it is certainly not a perfect film&comma; and it falls prey to many of the limitations of low-budget horror&comma; it is saved by a genuinely frightening performance by David Howard Thornton&comma; fantastic special effects makeup by Alana Rose&comma; and a willingness by director Damien Leone to push violence to its extremes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The film opens on a talk show interview with a severely disfigured woman who narrowly escaped death the previous Halloween&period; Following the interview&comma; the talk show host mocks the woman’s appearance&comma; only to be violently attacked moments later&period; We are then taken back to the previous Halloween night to witness the massacre that led to her terrible injuries&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>On Halloween night&comma; Tara &lpar;Jenna Kanell&rpar; and Dawn &lpar;Catherine Corcoran&rpar;&comma; leave a Halloween party and debate who will drive&period; During their conversation&comma; they catch sight of Art the Clown &lpar;David Howard Thornton&rpar;&period; He doesn’t speak&comma; but attempts to silently lure the women to him&period; When Tara and Dawn turn away&comma; the clown suddenly disappears into the night&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The two women decide to grab a bite to eat at a local pizzeria while they sober up&period; However&comma; as they wait for their food&comma; Art the Clown enters and silently taunts Tara&period; When the clown suddenly goes to the bathroom&comma; Tara expresses her concern&comma; but Dawn seems unphased by his presence&period; Moments later&comma; the owner throws the clown out of the restaurant for smearing feces all over the bathroom walls&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>When Tara and Dawn return to their car&comma; they discover that someone slashed their tires while they were away&period; With no way to get home&comma; Tara calls her sister&comma; Vicky &lpar;Samantha Scaffidi&rpar; to come pick them up&period; As they wait&comma; Tara asks the caretaker of a nearby building to use the bathroom&comma; setting off a night of terror and carnage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;10&sol;Jenna-Kanell-in-Terrifier-horror-actresses-41811238-853-480&period;png" alt&equals;"Jenna Kanell in The Terrifier" class&equals;"wp-image-1670"&sol;><figcaption><em>Terrifier<&sol;em> &lpar;2016&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Horror aficionados will quickly pick up on director Damien Leone’s appreciation for past genre films&period; Some narrative and visual elements pay homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s <em>Psycho<&sol;em> &lpar;1960&rpar;&comma; and the extreme violence feels like a return to the torture porn movies &lpar;<em>Saw<&sol;em>&comma; <em>Hostel<&sol;em>&comma; etc&period;&rpar; of the mid-2000’s&period; Additionally&comma; though it was probably  unintentional&comma; lead actress Jenna Kanell bears a striking resemblance to Neve Campbell in Wes Craven’s <em>Scream<&sol;em> &lpar;1996&rpar;&period; While some may not like when film’s rely heavily on pastiche&comma; it never feels overdone in<em> Terrifier<&sol;em>&period; Damien Leone strikes a satisfying balance between homage and fresh content&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>As previously stated&comma;<em> Terrifier <&sol;em>does not hold back with violence and depravity&period; It’s not a film for the faint of heart&comma; though there are certainly more difficult films to stomach out there&period; In any case&comma; the violence in<em> Terrifier<&sol;em> is part of what makes it terrifying&comma; but it is not the only element&period; Alana Rose&comma; who worked as the film’s primary special effects makeup artist&comma; puts her skills on fully display&period; Art the Clown is frightening thanks in large part to her superb makeup design&comma; and his horrifying grin helped sell the film to horror fans&period; This also holds true for Art’s victims&period; Many indie horror films falter due to unrealistic or even laughable gore&comma; but Alana Rose makes every scar and every gush of blood disgustingly realistic&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>David Howard Thornton also gives an extremely unsettling performance&period; Though he hardly makes a sound&comma; his physical performance plays on every fear people have of clowns&period; He dances around with glee and dawns a large&comma; bloody smile as he slices his victims into little pieces&period; It’s enough to put any coulrophobe on edge&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;10&sol;terrifierbanner-1024x588&period;jpg" alt&equals;"David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown" class&equals;"wp-image-1671"&sol;><figcaption><em>Terrifier <&sol;em>&lpar;2016&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>While David Howard Thornton’s performance and Alana Rose’ makeup design must be lauded&comma; Damien Leone’s script is not without fault&period; He takes some risks that lesser directors would not take&comma; but not all of them pay off in the end&period;<em> Terrifier<&sol;em> takes place in just a handful of settings&comma; with the majority of the story unfolding in a single building&period; This isn’t necessarily a bad thing&comma; but it is one of several examples of how the &dollar;100&comma;000 budget put limitations on the narrative&period; Additionally&comma; Leone attempts to add depth to the story by adding an interview with the disfigured woman&comma; but it never really goes anywhere&comma; and frankly doesn’t make all that much sense&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Despite its faults&comma;<em> Terrifier <&sol;em>delivers on its promise&period; It is a genuinely terrifying film that puts <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;2017&sol;11&sol;12&sol;review-stephen-kings-it-2017-&percnt;E2&percnt;98&percnt;85&percnt;E2&percnt;98&percnt;85&percnt;E2&percnt;98&percnt;85&sol;"><em>Stephen King’s It<&sol;em> <&sol;a>&lpar;2017&rpar; to shame when it comes to actual scares&period; That said&comma; this is a violent&comma; gory ride&comma; which may be a huge turn off for some viewers&period; However&comma; if you can stomach the blood and guts&comma;<em> Terrifier<&sol;em> is definitely worth a watch&comma; especially for die-hard horror fans&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Rating&colon; &starf;&starf;&starf;&half; out of 5<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><em>Terrifier<&sol;em> &lpar;2016&rpar; is currently available to stream on <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;netflix&period;com">Netflix<&sol;a>&period; If you’d like to see more of Art the Clown&comma; Damieon Leone’s <em>All Hallows’ Eve<&sol;em> &lpar;2013&rpar; is currently available to stream&comma; rent&comma; or purchase <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;amazon&period;com&sol;gp&sol;product&sol;B07NT8DBYW&sol;ref&equals;as&lowbar;li&lowbar;qf&lowbar;asin&lowbar;il&lowbar;tl&quest;ie&equals;UTF8&amp&semi;tag&equals;mjones34880c-20&amp&semi;creative&equals;9325&amp&semi;linkCode&equals;as2&amp&semi;creativeASIN&equals;B07NT8DBYW&amp&semi;linkId&equals;bf499b270c4f60642de281fd9c7b8a50">via Amazon here<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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