Terrifier (2016)

What a way to finalise this October Halloween Film Challenge! When going into this movie I had no idea what to expect. I wonder how common it is for others to have not one clue about what is going to happen in a film but for me it is surprisingly common. So for someone going into this with not so much as knowledge from the trailer I was quite scared for what I may have been shown and in a way I had a right to be. It also doesn't help that I got conflicting sources between Terrifier (2016) and Terrifier (2018) and am still not entirely sure if they are the same but for all future purposes the one I watched said it was 2016 and that is what I am choosing to believe!

I want to start by saying I was not a fan of the killing visually. If you have read any of my other reviews I am sure this is common knowledge that I do not like gore so this movie was very difficult to watch in places. Particularly the scene when they cut the woman in half from her genitals! God, whenever I see a guy get kicked in the nuts or something in films I always laugh at how the guys watching it also cringe but watching that scene I understood it. It was a true clutching my pearls moment I had to look away. In fact there were multiple times when I had to look away I'm sorry I just did. It's something I even found surprising myself because as gory as they were the blood seemed very over saturated that I could tell it wasn't real but I still wasn't able to stomach it. That being said I did love when we saw the shop keepers head turn into a jack-o'-lantern. Give me more deaths like that! After seeing that I had such high hopes but the rest afterwards were just the usual stabbing and shooting which I never thought I would classify as 'boring'. Another thing I was unsure about in the film was the overall narrative and character building. The reason I say I am unsure is because as far as I know there wasn't one. The best way I can describe the movie is an edgy student film where the narrative structure is minimal because they just want an excuse to film the most graphic scenes imaginable. But in order to have those moments you need a minor story for context of the situation which is why we got the small clips at the start that introduced us to the clown and his motive. Similarly there was no character development meaning they all felt like people place holders solely there to be killed which I suppose is the point of most horror films however here felt like a throw away.

The most thought out character was the killer clown known as Art. I am going to try and talk about this in the least problematic way I can: I loved Art. I do feel awkward saying I love a killer because it feels like I am treding a very thin line but it is all fictional and I know it would never be the same for a real life situation! But in the context to a completely fictional horror film I loved the role Art played. Firstly this is the first killer clown I have seen act like an actual clown! Art was walking around and goofing off the same way a real clown would that I was so much more interested. I think it is so much more intriguing when the killer is acting crazed and creepy like a clown and not just dressing like one. Why wear the outfit without the performance? For that same reason I was glad that they put on makeup and not a full plastic mask the way others do, it just felt more authentic. And I hate to say it but Art is the first killer character that I understand people's obsession with. I know that the scream killer and Chucky or Jason are all very famous killers but I never understood the obsession for them beyond being staple Halloween movies. But with Art I got it. He wasn't just a killer he was a silly guy. Who else is out here riding mini bikes and wearing wigs and skin pretending to be a girl. Everything he did just felt so girl boss that I almost wanted to giggle watching these fucked up scenes. And everything was committed with such confidence, but it wasn't a confidence that he knew he would get away with it. It was more a confidence that even if he lost he had better things to do, not that he ever 'lost'.

The only time that happened was when he was caught at the end and even then he very sassily sighed and grabbed his gun to shoot himself. For those who have watched Doctor Who I was given very strong Moriarty vibes, had Moriarty had a crazed homicidal cannibalistic break. The only thing I hated about Art as a character was that his motivation to kill was sex related. I understand why that was the motive and it makes a lot of sense but because of how much I was 'enjoying' him as a killer I was hoping he would stay this crazed character but nope it was all for sexual reasons. I just wish they had left it at choosing one specific character that he 'marries' by killing them last like a treat and that he dresses up as a woman to be silly and goofy not for some sexual gratification. I did also hate that he ate that woman's face. That really grossed me out. However the way it was done was quite good structurally. Having this character shown at the beginning that we know the fate of and that they are attacked to the point of facial disfigurement but not who they are before meant we were constantly wondering who. For most of it we follow the character Tara and her journey of being chosen so we assume it is her but then once she dies we scrambled to think who it could be. My next thought being the crazy woman with the baby doll but then she too dies. Until Tara's sister Victoria arrives and we realise she was the next target and ultimately the survivor. In a way it was quite clever to have the main character constantly changing because it meant we never knew who the true final girl would be and retaining viewership.

In terms of character I do think it was interesting to have Victoria go on and also kill . To be fair, she was being a real bitch and talking shit after their interview so she did kind of deserve it but specifically the notion of having this victim turned crazy after what happened is so good. And it isn't just that the trauma she went through changed her but even having to live her life with this disfigurement that everyone is being disrespectful about, it's enough to make anyone turn killer and I wouldn't blame them! To summarise, the best part about this was Art acting like an actual clown. I do wish we saw more silly goofy deaths such as the jack-o'-lantern because I love the creativity behind it but also it makes him feel at the root of his character like a children's clown. I also refuse to accept he is supernatural in some way, shape or form so the end sequence to me does not exist. I may be persuaded to watch the second purely for Art and his character but the gore does make me think otherwise so time will tell. And with that: the October Halloween Film Challenge comes to an end. This has been very fun to do and I am excited for the wider analysis I will do in the future as well as some creative writing pieces that may or may not be in the works. For notifications of every upload subscribe for an email of my next post!