Terrifier 3 is exactly why I love horror so much

As a confessed horror obsessive, people often ask me why I watch so much from the genre and, to some degree, idolise horror villains and killers. This usually comes after admitting that I watch three or four horror films per week. I’ve been watching horror from the far too young age of 12 when I could buy VHS tapes from a secondhand shop with no ID.

Horror obsession has come up a lot recently as hype for Terrifier 3 builds and the marketing gets into full swing. The Terrifier franchise is often the subject of criticism for its overly averted attitude to violence, and its glorifying gory scenes that can turn the stomachs of even hardened horror fanatics.

Many ask the question “How can you watch this?” or “But it’s sick, why do you enjoy it?” Of course, this is a difficult question to answer, and many horror fans will have nuanced answers based on their personalities.

While many wouldn’t admit it, it’s akin to why we rubberneck at car accidents or watch as someone on social media makes an idiot of themselves and we find it hard to look away. Mostly, it’s curiosity. For some, it’s seeking an emotion stronger than others. Fear is a powerful thing, it pushes many to improve, and most of us see it as a challenge.

Before I go into why exactly I seek out so much horror content, let’s for the moment go back to Terrifier and explore how violence is portrayed. Firstly, we never get a motive for why the killer, Art the Clown, does what he does. He’s evil, basically. He finds joy in killing, which is the antithesis of the average person. Pretty much every kill in the franchise ends with Art laughing silently (he’s a mime, really, and not a clown) and pointing to witnesses to view what he has done as art, hence the name.

Despite what many think, horror is a great art form as it allows self-expression, but also extreme self-exploration, especially of sensitive subjects. If we look at The Substance, another recent horror release, we observe the impact of ageing, especially on women, and how beauty drives society on the whole. The themes on display utilise shock to drive home a message or play with stereotypes.

For me, at least, I watch horror to explore what makes us human. Of course, there’s a part of me that loves the trashy aspect, or indeed the fear that arises when something especially creepy happens. However, while I started watching horror because it felt edgy and rebellious, I kept watching to see how human beings tick.

This was magnified after going through something traumatic myself. I’ve written about the death of my daughter a lot, but one thing I rarely talk about is how, after her death, I avoided any form of media that heavily featured death. This included horror.

Throughout my teenage years I sought out the gnarliest slashers, grinned through the most bloody of kills, and often cheered for the killer (while still hoping the final girl got away). After the death of my child, I felt like seeing these scenes would awaken horrific imagery in my head. I avoided the genre I loved for around five years in fear of what I would see and how it would impact my mental health.

It was only recently, during specialised therapy, that I was told that avoidance was due to having PTSD from her death. During the many sessions I had with my therapist we discussed horror films and I saw that I was testing myself. Would this next kill be the one to overwrite my own personal imagery of death? Or, to some extent, break me?

In the end, I saw that I went back to horror for the simple reason of pushing myself. I couldn’t avoid it any longer and as I came back to the genre I consumed as much as I could, often with a view of searching my own emotional reactions to what was on screen, yet also with an eye on seeing how other humans view and portray death. Despite always being open about how her death had changed my life, I often bottled up the imagery I had in my mind from real life.

So, back to Terrifier and its upcoming sequel. When you talk to fans of this franchise they’ll often bring up two scenes - in the first film when Art saws a woman in half lengthwise from a very intimate area through to her scalp, and in the second film, where he butchers a teenage girl, flays her and essentially plays with her body like a toy.

These scenes, while horrific, are brilliant due to the physical effects created by the crew. The use of realistic materials, animatronics, and gallons of fake blood create a macabre, yet thrilling image. We’re seeing something we shouldn’t be. Something forbidden. They each test us as an audience and generally horror fans will boast about never being scared, or never flinching from what’s on screen.

Few genres do this. A thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat, a romance will have you pining for love, but horror finds your boundaries. It probes at them like a tongue on a loose tooth.

Terrifier 3, though I’m yet to see it I have read many great reviews of it, is made to shock and disgust. As Jacob Hall writes in their terrific review, “It pushes your buttons with such deadly force that your inner machinery breaks –– you cannot believe what you're seeing,” and “Some audiences just want a movie that's going to push them to some kind of limit.”

I’m excited to watch because I want to be pushed to that limit while in a safe space. I won’t bungee jump, nor will I run through a haunted house filled with actors wanting to tip me over the edge, but I’ll watch as Art maims and murders in the safety of the cinema with my best friend next to me. And I’ll do it over and over again.