By JOEL HARLEY
Christmas comes early (or late, depending on your perspective) with Tim Waggoner’s official novelization of the franchise gorefest TERRIFIER 3. While I have mixed feelings about the series as a whole, I did enjoy the author’s adaptation of the second Terrifier film and was keen to see what he’d do with the third (and best) of the bunch.
Final girl Sienna Shaw is a mess as the book begins. After her release from a mental health facility, she arrives at the home of her aunt and uncle, where adoring cousin Gabbie is also living. Sienna is on edge after the traumatic events of Terrifier 2, suffering awful visions of dead friends and a maybe-real, maybe-not Art the Clown.
In contrast, little brother Jonathan is doing slightly better. Now at college, he’s moving on from the events of “The Terrifier” (as Waggoner refers to it), even if that means withdrawing from Sienna and denying what really happened on that fateful night.
Yet, neither sibling is aware that a vengeful Art lurks in the shadows. And he’s not alone. With him is an accomplice, Victoria, a survivor of a previous massacre. She’s possessed by a demonic entity and serves as the edgelord Harley Quinn to his even-edgelordier Joker.
Of course, you already know this if you’ve seen the film. From the horrific opening sequence onward, Waggoner’s adaptation faithfully follows the structure of TERRIFIER 3, taking in all the big set pieces and most stomach-churning kills. It’s a slicker, sicker story than its predecessor, trading in eccentricity for focus.
Like its predecessor, it quickly becomes clear that Waggoner can’t go toe-to-toe with creator Damien Leone for depravity. TERRIFIER 3 is gross, and Waggoner leans hard into the splatterpunk subgenre to dole out the gore, but we’re not in Aaron Beauregard or Ryan C. Thomas territory here, nor do we want to be. Ironically, though, Waggoner does tend to hold back less (!) than series mastermind Damien Leone does, at least where the bodycount is concerned. All those hapless nobodies who survived their encounter with Art the Clown? You better believe Waggoner tracks them down to finish what Leone started.
What Waggoner’s version also brings to the party is some clarity on the mystic mumbo-jumbo that bogged down much of the second film. Victoria’s role (other than screeching irritant) is now a bit clearer, and the book’s depiction of Art’s resurrection and subsequent hibernation becomes a helpful bridge between the Pale Girl stuff from Terrifier 2 and the more focused goremaking of the third film.
TERRIFIER 3 gives Waggoner less to work with in terms of lore but is juicier in its pared-down plotting and focus on the Shaw siblings’ Sienna’s recovery. This also gives the author more room to make a few cheeky little additions of his own, including some new kills (most notably a food delivery driver and Sienna’s psychiatrist) and interesting embellishments to the mythology.
Indeed, Waggoner takes some pretty wild swings, from Victoria’s army of demon rats to Art’s ability to “track” Jonathan after eating part of his body in the second film. The novelization also makes better use of Art’s freeze gun (here dubbed “The Frostbiter”), with Waggoner having great fun going into minute detail describing its effect on the human body.
Sadly, Jonathan’s off-screen death, the one thing we would like more clarification on, is just as vague as it is in Leone’s version. A hint that all is not as it seems, perhaps? Or is Leone saving the best for himself in Terrifier 4?
Less welcome are the multiple typos that seem to have slipped through the editorial net, as well as minor proofing errors where characters’ names are mistakenly switched up partway through a scene. While the novel really comes to life during its kill sequences (both the mall bombing and chainsaw sequence are particularly well done), it reads altogether flatter the rest of the time, as though the author has an abject disinterest in anything or anyone other than Art.
And that’s fine. Aside from maybe Sienna, the Terrifier franchise has always cared more about its killer than any of its meat puppet characters. But without LaVera’s performance to elevate the weak dialogue, all we’re left with is paper-thin supporting characters and a stilted, tin-eared screenplay. Still, the difference between page and screen works both ways, and at least Victoria is less annoying on the page.
TERRIFIER 3 is a colourful adaptation, offering a cheery perspective on Leone’s festive bloodbath while pulling off some fresh atrocities of its own. It’s a mixed bag (a black bin bag, to be precise) but is stuffed full of surprises.
