Let’s face it: horror movie villains have been dull in the past two decades. I don’t want to hear about John from “Saw” or Annabelle, they’re not scary. The last horror movie I truly enjoyed was “The Conjuring 2.” Then last month I found out about Art the Clown and the “Terrifier” franchise and had to see what all the fuss is about.
People, we have a new horror movie icon. Granted, an evil clown isn’t something new. There have been plenty of them, the most famous being Pennywise.
The first time we see Art is in the horror movie anthology “All Hallows Eve” where a kid gets a mysterious VHS in his Halloween bucket. They watch it and on it are three disturbing stories, two featuring Art the Clown (the other is some alien. The two with Art are the most disturbing I have seen in years. One is where Art kidnaps a girl and is assaulted by cult members and the other is a girl who is chased by Art after she stops at a gas station.
That anthology spawned a new series called “Terrifier.” The first one has two girls who, after getting drunk at a Halloween party, try to sober up at a pizza place. Here they meet Art who decides to terrorize them, first by slashing the tires of their car. This is where I fell in love with Art.
In both movies, Art lives up to his name. He’s an absolute artist. He’s a mime, first and foremost so he never speaks. This adds an extra layer of creepiness to him since nobody can figure out what he’s thinking except through his actions and facial expressions. He also takes total glee in killing even if he doesn’t make any sound. The most insane kill he did was in “Terrifier 1” where he SAWS A NAKED GIRL WHO IS HANGING UPSIDE-DOWN IN HALF! The gore, the way the scene was shot, and Art having a blast was a work of art.
Let’s talk about his costume. It’s black and white, his face is painted white with black around the mouth and eyes and a black small hat. That look, along with a creepy grin that shows disgusting teeth is the stuff of nightmares. This is what you want to look like if you want to scare the kids.
Another thing that makes Art awesome is something I’ve never seen in any slasher movie. In one scene, a girl was beating Art with a wooden board, Art was pretending to be wounded in the most mime way possible and then he pulls out a pistol and shoots her. That…that right there is genius. I wanted more of Art.
Then “Terrifier 2” happened.
The movie is two and a half hours long but feels like it’s double that. It’s slow, plodding, unscary, lacks any suspense and, except for two, the deaths were boring. After the masterpiece that was the first movie and the creative and messed up deaths, we get mediocrity.
That doesn’t mean that we should forget about Art. There’s still a ton that can be done with him if the creativity of the first movie is repeated. Expect to see people dressed up as Art from now on and for Art to be remembered for decades to come. Art is a work of art and an artist.
Categories: Let's Talk About..., Movies
Tags: Art the Clown, damien-leone, horror, horror movies, Let's talk about, movies, Terrifier, terrifier-3
Sanrock Reviews 
My wife finds Pennywise the most dreadful character she ever read about.