An entire franchise of sadistic horror movies is coming to a cinema near you. Terrifier 3 will be released on the 11th of October. The previous two movies, Terrifier and Terrifier 2 were originally not released to cinema but will be shown back-to-back in some Irish cinemas this October.
The problem with these three movies is not just the depiction of brutal violence on innocent people – it is the fact that the sadistic violence is celebrated as an art form. There’s a particularly sad comment on the movie’s reddit page where a woman asks for a detailed description of the violence and its grateful to receive it because “My boyfriend is so excited to go see it and I cannot stomach gore well so just want to reiterate this is SUCH a blessing for people like me who want to go to be supportive but also save some mental and emotional anguish lol”.
Lady, if your boyfriend is entertained by material that causes you mental and emotional anguish, you can do better.
A review of Terrifier 2 in Variety says, “when Marion Crane got slaughtered in the shower in “Psycho,” we felt for her (in a way, we were her), but “Terrifier 2” encourages us to view its victims the way the Nazis viewed theirs: as gruesome fodder for an experiment in pain.”
These films do not depict violence as necessary to a plot line that in the end condemns violence; for the Terrifier trilogy the sadism, the brutality, the torture of women is the point and not necessarily a moral evil.
According to Variety, Terrifier 2 put “sadism front and centre.” Therefore, it would be naive and dangerous to believe that this does not have an impact on the minds and souls of the viewers. Variety again, “the sequences of Art the Clown slicing, gouging, peeling, dismembering, and torturing (at one point he literally rubs salt in his victim’s wounds) are supposed to make the audience feel like they’re in the serial killer driver’s seat, a very disturbed place to be.” Normal people might find this disturbing, but the disturbed enjoy it, the very reason why the IFCO should never have approved it for release.
This trilogy of sadism, this encouragement of the barbaric, is coming to us in October and no one in the government or the Department of Justice seems to care. They care about the misogynist Andrew Tate – they believe his words are a threat to women. But of Terrifier 2, which in the words of my editor John (who had the unfortunate job of watching an infamous scene as I cannot) said of that scene that it depicted the most brutal form of violence against a woman he had ever seen. So why is the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee letting this go out to Irish cinemas? Why has the IFSO approved Terrifier 3 and 2 and 1 for release?
As per the website, the IFCO states “the remit of the Director of Film Classification was first established by the CENSORSHIP OF FILMS ACT, 1923. This short and remarkably succinct piece of legislation, although drafted during the silent movie era, remains the basis upon which IFCO operates today.
Section 7 (2) of the Act states that “the Official Censor shall certify the picture unless he is of the opinion that such picture or some part thereof is unfit for general exhibition in public by reason of its being indecent, obscene or blasphemous or because the exhibition thereof in public would tend to inculcate principles contrary to public morality or would be otherwise subversive of public morality.”
By its own admission Terrifier 3 contains very strong and sadistic violence and graphic injury detail. Terrifier 2 has “extremely strong and sadistic violence with very gory detail.” Yet both have been approved by this board.
Just who are the IFCO I asked myself and is there any movie they would not approve? The board is here.
Dr Ciarán Kissane is Director of Film Classification. In an interview with the Irish Times in December last year Dr Kissane explained a more modern approach to be taken by the IFCO. By a more modern approach what Mr Kissane means is that he is going to unilaterally rewrite Irish law and adopt a race to the bottom when it comes to Irish cinema. Just how low in the depiction of sadism should Ireland go? Why all the way, is my interpretation of the interview although not his words.
The Irish Times, “I wonder if he can now see the circumstances in which he would fail to grant a certificate to a feature, so effectively banning it.
“I suppose the legislation says it is possible,” Kissane replies. “So I can’t say it definitely never would happen. The only situation that I could currently see, in principle, would be if something was illegal.”
He means if there was evidence of illegal activity in the film’s creation?
“Yes. If there was something that was in breach of the law,” he says. “There is content out there that is illegal in other spaces. I think that would definitely be a line. Beyond that, in principle, I think the idea that adults over 18 should be free to make their own decisions is a good one. And we have had very few over-18s [certificates] since I have started. We have never had a conversation about banning anything. I can’t say never, but I find it hard to see that situation.”
That is certainly a new approach, effectively saying that no matter how degenerate the film, it would get the Irish government seal of approval. But this is not what the law says.
Mr Kissane has taken it upon himself to unilaterally change the law from granting a certificate unless something was indecent or obscene or subservice to public morality to unless the law was breached in the making of the film, it will be approved by the Department of Justice via the IFCO. Arguably, the IFCO will approve all movies unless it is a snuff movie or child pornography.
This is profoundly undemocratic. The last time I checked Ireland was a democracy and it was TDs in the Oireachtas who changed the law, not some random man from Laois.
If Minister McEntee and Taoiseach Simon Harris (who appointed Mr Kissane when he was Minister for Justice) believe that there are no rape scenes too brutal, no torture scenes too sadistic, no maiming too barbaric, no decapitation too inhumane to warrant a ban in cinemas then they can explain this to the voters and change the law accordingly. Until that happens the IFCO under the authority of the Department of Justice should apply the law.
In the winter of 2022 a rare thing happened. A low budget film, initially on a small release, with no stars, became a word of mouth sleeper hit. The reason why people flocked to it were the stories of the effect its sickening violence had on viewers. People vomited, fainted and reportedly an ambulance was called. It became a cultural fetish object that people needed to see, to see if it went that far.
That film was Terrifier 2.
The first Terrifier was a 2016 independent slasher film from director Damien Leone. It followed a pair of sisters who have to contend with a murderous clown called Art (the fantastic David Howard Thornton) on Halloween night. Art had previously appeared in short films by Leone and his anthology film All Hallow’s Eve. It was specifically written to showcase Art, and Leone’s practical effects work. It does not really have a plotline, since everything was in service of this. It’s a decent slasher that is admirable for its low budget construction. It got some fans for Art and got reasonable attention on the horror scene.
What drove people to see Terrifier 2 is the appeal of the extreme horror I cover in this series – that horror sometimes needs to be illicit. The line of films that are problematically deemed “elevated horror” are amazing, but there’s often this air of seriousness that leaves people with a need for grand guignol trash.
However, Terrifier 2 is also a well made story, with a great final girl in the shape of Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera). In terms of a sequel that surpasses its predecessor Terrifier 2 is the Aliens or Terminator 2 of clown slasher films.
The film opens immediately following the end of Terrifier. Art has been resurrected by an unknown entity, following being defeated at the end of the first film. We see him dispatching an unfortunate orderly at the morgue. He then goes to get his togs washed at a dry cleaners, where he first sees the Little Pale Girl (Amelie McLain) – a disturbed girl in similar clown garb who seemingly only he can see.
One year passes.
We follow Sienna and her morbid younger brother Jonathan (Elliot Fullam). We learn their father has died and their mother Barbara (Sarah Voigt) is struggling as a single mother. Sienna is busy preparing her amazing costume (seriously, it gives me the gender envy), inspired by a character her late artist father used to draw for her. As Halloween approaches, and the anniversary of the first massacre Art starts stalking Sienna and soon all hell will break loose. There are also vague hints to the supernatural lore of Art. But you don’t need to think about that too deeply.
The film is such a joy – if you’re a sicko. It looks gorgeous. One of the early stand out sequences is the Clown Cafe dream sequence, which introduces almost Lynchian surrealism to the mix. The music is perfectly pitched.
Art has become, inarguably, the iconic slasher of the 21st century. Dressed in an outfit that is reminiscent of the Pierrot clown from the comedia dell’Arte, with a constant rictus grin, gaunt face reminiscent of depiction of the Joker and jaunty little hat he makes a striking image. It is regrettable that the design includes the anti Semitic trope of a hook nose, but I sincerely feel that wasn’t conscious, as this is a classic villain trope we don’t consider enough. However, without the personality Thornton imbues Art with the design would be for naught. Art relishes in killing: it is fittingly his art. He is constantly doing bits, mining and playing with his prey.
Art’s sadism is a huge part of the violence. It’s not just the splatters of claret, but the cruelty, the prolonged focus on suffering. One scene in particular lives in infamy. Someone wrote it, and then a lot of people had to work together to put it on screen.
Kino.
The films have garnered accusations of misogyny for their depictions of violence against women. This is a pretty intrinsic part of the subgenre, and it’s not as if the men folk don’t get it bad from Art too, so I don’t think it’s particularly egregious (though the hacksaw scene in the first doesn’t help my case). There’s also a welcome lack of sexual violence (though there is violence against sex organs).
It helps that Sienna is a hero you can genuinely root for. All the performances are good, even if there’s one or two naff bits of dialogue.
What comes next in the Terrifier series is the difficult third film. And whilst some feedback has been mixed, overwhelmingly its extreme gore and blasphemy has been highlighted.
Sickos like me can’t wait.
Terrifier and Terrifier 2 are currently streaming on Amazon Prime
Featured Image Credit
Patrizia Dahlia Thompson (she/they) studied FIlm and Media at DIT Aungier street. Changing career direction later on, she has a master's in Library and Information Studies (yes, that's a thing). She has worked mostly in libraries for ten years , whilst continuing to indulge her love of talking about films via podcasting, writing and chewing the ear off any unfortunate soul who indulges her. You can follow her on Letterboxd under the handle Padzdahlia
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