Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the Terrifier trilogy.
Terrifier 3 cuts straight to the chase in more senses than one, delivering a clean script that removes some of the annoying questions left behind by Terrifier 2. What’s best is the movie’s ending also teases the plot of Terrifier 4.
Let’s be honest. The success of the Terrifier franchise comes from Damien Leone’s practical effects expertise and commitment to crafting the most gruesome kills ever. Still, there wouldn’t be a successful series of movies if Leone didn’t also improve on the storytelling front. For instance, Terrifier 2 explores the mythology surrounding Art the Clow’s (David Howard Thornton) resurrection and introduces final girl Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera). However, it took Leone Terrifier 3 to build a solid foundation for the future by explaining why everything in the franchise happens as it does.
Terrifier 3 explains the nature of the Little Pale Girl
In Terrifier 2, Art begins to have visions of a young blonde girl after he’s resurrected in the morgue, following his deadly encounter with the police in the first movie. Known as the Little Pale Girl, this mysterious figure with yellow eyes follows Art around, rejoicing every time he tortures and kills another victim. Terrifier 3 explains where the girl came from and what she means.
In Leone’s threequel, Art gets revived again after having his head chopped off by Sienna at the end of the second movie. In a bizarre development, Art’s head is birthed by Vicky (Samantha Scaffidi), the disfigured surviving victim from the first movie. After having her face devoured by the killer clown, Vicky has been pushed to the brink of sanity. So, after she births a living clown head, she embraces chaos and goes out with Art on a new killing spree. At the end of it, Vicky slits her wrists in a bathtub, taking her own life.
When Vicky gives in to madness, she inadvertently waives her soul. As Terrifier 3 explains, when demons want to move from hell to earth, they must inhabit a dead body. Not anybody, though, but the corpse of a genuinely depraved individual. That’s why, five years after the battle between Art and Sienna, Vicky returns to life, this time with yellow eyes – she sinned just enough before passing away to become a proper vessel for demons.
The yellow eyes are identifiers of demonic origin, so it’s fair to assume the Little Pale Girl is the same demon who possesses Vicky’s body. That means Art starts to see the girl everywhere in the second movie because he’s also been resurrected by this demonic force. Basically, Art was so vile during the first movie that after his death, he was rewarded with a death-defying healing factor so that he could keep working to make Earth all the more hellish. And people, he takes his job seriously!
Sienna Shaw’s sword in Terrifier has a bizarre origin
Terrifier 3 also explains why Sienna is destined to face Art, regardless of where she tries to hide. Every time a demon comes to Earth, the forces of Heaven choose a warrior to stand against their corruption. As it turns out, Sienna is the warrior who must defeat Art.
Art and his demon sponsor know Sienna is the only hurdle in the way to destroying humanity, one tortured person at a time. That’s why they are drawn to her, like a moth to the flame. They can’t kill Sienna, as she also has the power to heal and resurrect. Nevertheless, they can keep destroying everything she loves, draining her hope and pushing her to turn evil.
Terrifier 3 also reveals the origins of Sienna’s sword. While being tortured by Art and Devil Vicky, Sienna has a vision of a demon forging the sword her father gifted her. The blacksmith demon is kept in chains by the Virgin Mary herself, who ensures the fiend keeps working on the weapon. It seems that the only thing that can truly harm the forces of Hell is a blade created by their own kind.
We still don’t know how the sword ended up with Sienna’s father and how he’s involved in the supernatural affair. Yet, we now have a clear picture of what’s happening in the franchise. It will be Art vs Sienna until one of them wins the war.
Sienna Shaw is going to hell for Terrifier 4, and Art the Clown will follow
After leaving the mental institution where she got trauma treatment, Sienna moved in with her Aunt Jessica (Margaret Anne Florence) and Uncle Greg (Bryce Owen Johnson). At first, the moving allows Sienna to connect with her young cousin Gabbie (Antonella Rose). However, what should have been Sienna’s fresh start changes into a nightmare when Art and Devil Vicky finally knock at Sienna’s door.
In the gruesome ending of Terrifier 3, Uncle Greg is decapitated, crucified in the wall, and has his bowels removed to serve as Christmas ornaments. He had it easy. Aunt Jessica has a glass tube hammered down her throat before being force-fed live rats. To increase Sienna’s despair, the duo of killers also slay her brother, Jonathan (Elliott Fullam), off-screen. Jonathan’s skinless head is shown in a cage, half-devoured by rats. Meanwhile, Sienna is just tied to a chair, immobilized and powerless to prevent her family from
When all this pain is insufficient to break Sienna’s spirit, Art and Devil Vicky decide to kill Gabbie in front of the warrior. Fortunately, Gabbie tricks Devil Vicky into allowing Sienna to open a Christmas gift, her demon-slaying sword. With the sword in hand, Sienna can fight back. She kills Devil Vicky and pins Art down. It looks like the forces of Heaven might claim the victory, but Devil Vicky had a last card on her sleeve.
After having Vicky’s body slain by Sienna, the devil opens a portal to Hell on the living room floor. Gabbie falls into the hole, forcing Sienna to let go of Art and try to save her cousin. Sienna fails, and Gabbie is dragged to Hell along with the blessed sword. As for Art, he escapes with his trash bag of weapons.
Sienna is last seen vowing to retrieve Gabbie from Hell, no matter the costs. Art flees Sienna’s home on a bus, trying to get some distance and regain his forces. So, it’s fair to assume they will meet in Hell, where Sienna will journey to find Gabbie. If she’s lucky, Gabbie can use Sienna’s sword to fend for herself until her big cousin arrives to rescue her.
Published: Oct 11, 2024 04:03 am