Terrifier 3 opens a few days before Christmas in a cheery home occupied by a nuclear family. The youngest child wakes her sleeping parents, having heard footsteps on the roof. Mom brings the girl back to bed, explaining the sounds were probably an elf. That’s when Mom hears something too. The house is settling, she reasons. Dread builds when Mom finds the front door ajar, yet she thinks nothing of it. Meanwhile, hoping to get a look at the visitor from the North Pole, the little girl sneaks downstairs to find a jolly man with a bag standing in front of their shimmering tree. But that’s not Santa Claus; it’s writer-director Damien Leone’s fiendish creation: Art the Clown, the sadistic purveyor of blood and gore who has become a cult icon for his unrelenting splatterfest appeal. Those familiar won’t be surprised when Art, played by David Howard Thornton, proceeds to dismember this entire family, starting with the parents, their oldest son, and then, undoubtedly, the little girl (but that’s off-screen). If one were to ask Leone whether anything is sacred in his book, the answer would be a resounding “No!” That, of course, is the point. If you can accept his approach, you might be able to get into Terrifier 3’s groove. Then again, if you’re reading this review, chances are you’re familiar with the series and don’t need convincing.

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