Trick-or-treat time is nearly upon us, but spooky season’s been in full bloom ever since Art the Clown returned to theaters in Terrifier 3. Last year’s Terrifier 2 brought Damien Leone‘s bloodthirsty clown to a wider audience, and the third installment has only expanded his fan base. Terrifier 3 is now the top-grossing unrated movie ever—as well as being one of the top gross-out movies ever. However, it has some stiff competition from the other Terrifier films in that department.
Which leads us to today’s stomach-turning question: in your opinion, what’s the most impressively awful, I-can’t-believe-they-did-that Terrifier kill? Here are our favorites—and shout out to our fellow sickos over at Vulture who did a ranker of 30 death scenes from the Terrifier series.
Terrifier 3: Mall Bomb
With its Christmas theme, Terrifier 3 opened up festive new arenas for Art to enhance his body count. With a Santa suit layered over his clown costume, he infiltrates a shopping mall’s North Pole photo op—getting rid of the “real” Mr. Claus and, alarmingly, interacting with several children. But just when you start to think maybe he isn’t going to start ripping kiddie eyeballs out, which would totally be well within his wheelhouse, he starts handing out wrapped gifts… before he makes his exit. The almost wholesome scene turns absolutely nightmarish when one of the children unknowingly opens a present that’s actually a bomb instead. Tasteless? Yes! Boundary-pushing? Of course! But is it the worst Art has up his fur-trimmed sleeve?
Terrifier 3: Rats!
No “nice” character is safe from Art the Clown’s wrath, which is bad news for the kindly Aunt Jessica. After opening her home to Sienna, the tenacious Terrifier 2 survivor who’s just been released from a long-haul stay in the hospital, Jess gets caught in the crosshairs when Art comes a-knocking, intent on mopping up his unfinished business. Though Art is a master of improvisation—a sort of MacGyver of murder—he also comes prepared for his most elaborate set pieces. With the help of his demonic sidekick Vicky, he ties Jess up next to the family Christmas tree, shoves a plastic tube into her mouth, and forces rats down her throat, then cuts her open and the rats emerge, still alive. Jess, of course, is not alive, and certain members of the audience may take this moment to repurpose their Art the Clown popcorn buckets as barf containers. Applause, applause.
Terrifier 2: Bedroom
In retrospect, Sienna’s best friend, Allie, should’ve just given Art the candy. After a few run-ins at the door with the killer, Art makes Allie pay with one of the most prolonged, disturbing deaths not just in the Terrifier franchise, but maybe all of horror. It starts with slashing her face from the eyeball down. Then he breaks her arms. Then he rips skin off her back. Throws in some stabbing. How about some bleach and salt? Oh, and then keep her alive just long enough so that her mom can see her completely ripped to shreds before she dies too. The scene is incredibly hard to watch, but that’s beauty of the franchise.
Terrifier 3: Shower
Two of the universal truths in horror movies are never having sex (thanks Scream) and never taking a shower (thanks Psycho). In Terrifier 3, Art-obsessive Mia and her boyfriend, Cole—the dorm roommate of Jonathan, Sienna’s brother—break both rules… and Art makes them pay. With a chainsaw no less. Channeling his inner Leatherface, Art cuts Mia about two million times and when Cole tries to run, well, he wishes he hadn’t. Art gives him the gender-swapped Dawn-death from the first Terrifier. In that earlier movie, Art kills Dawn starting between her legs and working toward her head. Here, he starts with Cole’s butt, makes his way through his penis and scrotum, and, well, yeah. That dude is dead. And we are mortified.
Do you agree these are four of the worst, and therefore the best? Share your take on Art’s greatest below!
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