Some might be put off by the self-consciousness of this low-budget slasher from writer-director Joe Beogs: not just its retro influences (a horror director who fetishizes â80s slasher movies?! You donât say!) but the endless reams of reference-trading, profanity-laced dialogue, particularly between its record-store-clerk leads (Riley Dandy and Sam Delich). But beneath that perhaps-overwritten bravado, the movie has a surprisingly lovely sense of last-call Christmas Eve romance, reflected in the movieâs visual style, depending heavily on 16mm cinematography, Christmas-light glow, and swirls of grainy snow â a dependably gorgeous combination that Begos really milks for all itâs worth. Oh, and eventually a killer Santa-bot starts stalking and killing everyone in sight. But Begos really lets his characters breathe before the murders kick in, and Dandy makes a terrifically scrappy Final Girl. This is the rare slasher throwback thatâs significantly better than most of the movies itâs throwing back to, and made with a lot more care than most quick-hit plays for streaming attention, too.
Terrifier 3 (2024)
Everett Collection
Damien Leoneâs bozo slasher epic continues with the biggest-grossing holiday horror picture in years; yes, Terrifier 3 made more money than the recent hit Violent Night (as well as the non-horror The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, if weâre keeping track). Some theaters are even bringing it back on Christmas Day if you want to live the horror lifestyle to its fullest. Shot with a grainy warmth similar to Christmas Bloody Christmas, and a similar affection for its leading lady, but way more gleefully ghastly (maybe even self-satisfied) about its envelope-pushing kills, Terrifier 3 wants to be the hardest-core holiday horror around, and succeeds through sheer force of will (and, at one point, chainsaw). Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), that malevolent serial killer resurrected by demonic forces, returns to dress up as Santa and kill whoever he can (and yes, that includes children); itâs up, once again, to Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) to stop him. Craftwise, the Terrifier movies have improved with each entry, although this one lacks some of the dementedly overlong oddball grandeur of its predecessor, and feels even more like an installment in a series than ever before. Still, Artâs brand of deeply evil mischief is perfectly suited to holiday iconography, emphasizing that there is something weirdly merry about Christmas horror, even when itâs bloodying up a beloved institution.
