Alone with Art: Terrifier (2017)
My dear readers, though I have dedicated a small portion of my library to collections of witticisms and volumes of lighthearted anecdotes, I must concede that humor is not an area in which I would count myself an expert. Personally, I find any claims of authority on the subject to be somewhat dubious as even professional humorists are unable to win over the entirety of the comedy consuming public. My uncle Mortimer Hauntedhouse used to entertain dinner guests with a droll little bit involving a handkerchief and his prosthetic eyeball that, despite its obvious merits, did not win the universal appeal it deserved and actually put the occasional caller off their repast. My point here, if I must boil it down to the essentials, is that humor is a matter of personal taste and that everyone has their own version of what they find amusing.
Art the Clown making an unadvertised appearance at a local dining establishment
Art the Clown (David Howard Thorton), for example, is most amused by classical mime and immoderate bloodshed. He’s given the opportunity to pursue both of these jocular pastimes when he escapes a mental institution on Halloween night, an evening when his jarring appearance is less likely to attract unwanted attention. He slinks about the streets with a garbage bag full of violent instruments, waiting for victims to present themselves at random rather than showing favor towards any particular target. Art’s unsupervised release comes as an unfortunate turn for Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi), whose tipsy sister is stranded outside a creepy old building and is in need of her assistance. From the very moment she pops into her car and hears word on the radio that a festively attired maniac is on the loose, Victoria unwittingly commits herself to the sort of inevitable showdown that has become an essential building block of this particular sub-genre.
As an imitation of 1980s slasher cinema, Terrifier does its job admirably, choosing the appropriate title font, unabashedly adopting dated storytelling tropes and ensuring that many a peripheral character finds themselves alone with Art. The film does suffer from some of the same late-story lagging that hobbled the bloodbaths of the 80s and admittedly, some of this tedium is compounded by confining the bulk of the story to an abandoned building’s interior. But these shortcomings are to be expected when sticking so closely to antiquated influences. Despite a few breaks in the action, Terrifier still thrills with emphatically messy murders that are crafted with a little imagination and a great deal of blood.
Holiday-appropriate handiwork
Effective though the gore may be, Art the Clown himself is the film’s greatest asset. He is among the most frightening faces I’ve seen on the silver screen as of late. Art was only 2017’s second most notable horror clown and I may be courting some controversy with this suggestion but I find him to be a far more disturbing presence than his more profitable counterpart. The recently reimagined Pennywise, armed with a budget that could support the most wild of visions, was all sound and motion, much of it greatly exaggerated. Director Damien Leone, on the other hand, often uses stillness as his source of terror. Though there are some quality jump scares and no shortage of splatter, little in Terrifier can match the unsettling power of Art frozen in an anticipatory pose, not steadily advancing or popping out from behind corners but simply statuesque. Waiting to see if and when he launches into motion produces the kind of tension that will make patient and exhaustive genre fans feel well-rewarded.
Terrifier runs 82 minutes and does not possess a certified rating in the United States.
