Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Start Watching the Terrifier Series

When we talk about Terrifier, gore is the first thing that comes to mind. Writer/director Damien Leone's love and knack for practical effects is well known, and it's always been on display in the franchise. Terrifier 2, the series' first mainstream boom, generated reports of people vomiting and passing out during screenings, and with Terrifier 3 now in theaters, such reports are circulating yet again. 

With the third film in the series, which stars David Howard Thornton as the homicidal monster known as Art the Clown, Terrifier has hit yet another peak of prestige and visibility in the horror world. It's now the highest-grossing unrated movie of all time, it's earned very solid reviews from critics, and its ending proves that Leone is not done yet with Art and his wild story of mayhem.

That sense of continued promise and celebration is reason enough to dig into the Terrifier saga right now. But there's also a deeper reason, one hidden behind the smokescreen of goopy, stomach-churning gore effects. If you watch these films closely, you can see horror filmmaking stories growing and changing in real time, and that all starts with Terrifier, now streaming on Peacock.

Why you should watch Terrifier this Halloween season

Let's get one thing straight right away: Terrifier is the least narratively sophisticated of the three films in the main series thus far. Building on previous short films and the 2013 anthology All Hallows' Eve, the film is essentially the story of one wild, murderous night for Art, who at first presents as a human with particular fetishes and violent tendencies. There's not necessarily anything at work here other than a slasher out to exact maximum pain from his victims, but the more you get to know Art, the more you understand that this is not just a human with a taste for brutality.

That starts with Thornton, who imbues Art with a quality that transcends his initial "scary clown" allure. There's something otherworldly about him, the way he carries himself, the way he reacts to the world around him, sometimes scowling, sometimes grinning and coming alive like a silent film comedian who can't help but burst with excitement. The trick, of course, is that his excitement stems from the cruelest possible physical punishments he can inflict on his victims at any given time, something that's only gotten more sophisticated and more brutal with each sequel. In Terrifier, Art relishes violence both great and small, and Leone's gore effects absolutely sell every ounce of his cruelty. 

Art the Clown from Terrifier

Photo: Rotten Tomatoes Indie/YouTube

But if you're a Terrifier skeptic, you might be wondering: What's the point? Sure, gore effects are cool, and scary clowns are still incredibly effective for the right audience, particularly with a performer of Thornton's caliber in the driver's seat. But let's look beyond that, beyond the severed limbs and the gallons of fake blood and the greasepaint across Art's face. What are we really watching here?

Well, for one thing, this is a classic example of latching onto the start of something, then watching it grow from film to film. The Damien Leone who made Terrifier 2 is a better, more thoughtful filmmaker than the guy who made Terrifier, and he's only grown more thoughtful and precise with Terrifier 3. Taking in the first film allows you to see that growth, to appreciate how Leone has used each new rung of the budget ladder to his advantage, and to see a horror voice growing louder and more pronounced in real time. 

Then there's the story itself, which keeps growing more sophisticated and more steeped in high stakes as the films go on. If you've seen Terrifier 3, and you go back to this first film looking for clues, you might not find one-to-one Easter eggs hinting at this direction for the franchise (though you will find at least one other character in common). What you will find is the early sense, in every choice Leone and Thornton make with Art, that we're dealing with a being of unparalleled, impishly potent evil. There's something different about this clown, something eldritch and primal, something that's part of a bigger, more ambitious story, and it's already there in the first film, lurking, waiting to emerge.

Terrifier is now streaming on Peacock.