Terrifier (2018)

zero stars
Terrifier is pure, unadulterated trash. I hated every second of it. Director Damien Leone gives us a killer clown named Art, who dispatches his victims in the most gruesome ways possible, but he doesn't stack up well at all to filmdom's more sinister clowns. Pennywise commits psychological warfare and exploits his victims' fears. The Chiodo Brothers' killer klowns from outer space were inventive in their use of circus props to hunt humans. The Joker? He's been analyzed to death. He warrants it. He's one of the greatest comic book villains of all time. Art the Clown doesn't belong in that company, nor does he belong in the company of Freddy, Jason and Michael. He's a one-dimensional killing machine in a one-dimensional movie that isn't scary, suspenseful, interesting or clever. It's witless and stupid. It's a parade of characters who meet a grisly demise for no purpose other than to showcase the special effects crew's talents.

Tara and Dawn (Jenna Kanell and Catherine Corcoran) leave a party and go out for pizza when they stumble onto Art (David Howard Thornton), a gnarly clown with bloody teeth and creepy makeup. Art follows them to the restaurant, where he stalks the two women but otherwise remains silent. The plot leads to a warehouse where an exterminator is working late, and where Tara and Dawn find themselves in Art the Clown's clutches. A few more characters enter the frame. They don't matter. They are just props for Art, who carries out whatever ghastly forms of punishment writer and director Leone can dream up. Tara's sister Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi) shows up to help, but really, none of this leads to any kind of satisfactory conclusion. The last scene takes place in a morgue that looks like it was filmed in someone's garage, and I know because I've been in a real morgue (Richmond, VA) and know the sterile conditions that are required.

An antagonist who displays no remorse, no personality and no dialogue can work, but others have to do the heavy lifting and do it successfully. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Leatherface was a silent brute, but he benefited from Tobe Hooper's taut direction. Sally Hardasty's hysterical laughter at the end is chilling. Terrifier doesn't approach that level of craftsmanship. We meet a lady in the building carrying around a doll and pretending it's her child. She appears in several scenes. Her presence in the warehouse is a mystery. She has a moment alone with Art, whose killing spree pauses briefly as a connection forms between them. A scene like this asks us to consider her motive and his reaction. She puts his hand on Art's face. What are we to make of it, and where will this lead? Nowhere. It's a dead end. Like everything else in this movie, it doesn't matter.

There is an especially graphic death scene involving a hacksaw that didn't bother me despite its ruthlessness (maybe I'm too desensitized to this stuff by now). Instead, it got me thinking of the 1986 film The Hitcher, which also featured a cold-hearted villain (played by Rutger Hauer) who lived to torment others for reasons known only to him. The hitcher killed one of his victims by using a truck in a scene that left it up to the imagination instead of showing it. That is not the only similarity. Both movies posit that a bond has formed between the survivor and killer. That original movie generated suspense through a combination of tight shots, sound, atmosphere and patience. Leone's attempt to link his clown with the final girl is a Hail Mary pass attempt that falls to the ground and rolls away. You might as well see The Hitcher to see what Terrifier could have been.

Not once did I feel fear. That is the most offensive thing about the whole affair. For all the makeup and killings and underlit rooms and the low-budget feel, Terrifier doesn't elicit any kind of dread. It tries and tries and tries some more only to come up empty-handed. I'm generally not a glass-is-half-full kind of person, but if I were to toy with the idea here for a bit, then I might conclude that Damien Leone isn't without talent. The technical details are fine. The splatter effects are realistic. He made good use of the surroundings (except that morgue scene). What's missing is a story to justify watching a murderous clown. Leone simply drops characters into a movie to be killed. It's like dropping bugs into a spider web and calling someone over to watch. That's nature. Art the Clown is not so much a force of nature but rather a tool in a butcher shop just waiting to be used.

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