The Terrifier Franchise’s Perfect Ending Is Also The Most Divisive Option

Damien Leone’s Terrifier franchise progressed its ongoing narrative with Terrifier 3, and in the process moved closer to what could be a perfect, yet divisive conclusion. The original Terrifier featured the clown as a twisted, yet human serial killer who transformed into something even more inherently evil after Art was possessed by a demon. Terrifier 2 introduced Art’s archnemesis in Sienna Shaw, the teenage girl whose father had a mysterious connection to Art and who appeared to be capable of stopping Art thanks to her father’s magic sword.Both Art and Sienna have proven hard to kill, as they have battled each other on two separate occasions with neither of them dying permanently despite seemingly fatal wounds (or in Art’s case, a full decapitation). Each has grown more powerful with each battle, and the end of Terrifier 3 puts both of them on a supernatural path to Hell itself. Their ongoing story of the ultimate good vs. the ultimate evil is hurtling towards a shocking and perfect ending, but if it comes to fruition, it will leave fans of the franchise divided.

Art Needs To Kill Sienna, And He Needs To Do It In Brutal Fashion

Art Should Ultimately Score A Gory Victory

Lauren LaVera’s Sienna Shaw has been built up as the very real incarnation of the angel warrior character that her father designed for her as a child. She is the ultimate good, and the direct inverse of Art’s demonic clown, who is the ultimate evil. They are heading towards one final showdown after their first two battles, and Sienna’s new healing abilities make it seem as though she stands a chance of beating Art once and for all. However, that ending, which would undoubtedly be well-received by Sienna’s many fans, is not the perfect way to wrap up the franchise.

The perfect ending to the Terrifier franchise is to have Art the Clown kill Sienna, and in a brutal, humiliating, torturous fashion. The Terrifier movies have been marked by gut-churning, obscene levels of gore and sadism, and it’s ultimately the reason that the movies became so popular in the first place. Moments like the bedroom scene or the shower scene are what initially drove word-of-mouth, and so it’s only fitting that not only does the ultra-popular Art the Clown win, but in the process, he creates another moment that makes people pass out in the theater.

Why Art Killing Sienna Is The Perfect Ending

It Would Encapsulate Everything That Makes Terrifier Great

The Terrifier movies are predicated on Art the Clown doing everything he can to not just kill people, but to make them suffer. Whether it’s literally rubbing salt in open wounds or pointing and laughing at mortified loved ones, Art’s whole schtick is humiliation and pain, and the fact that there are no lines or limits on who he torments and kills. Sadistic violence and gore are what separate the Terrifier movies from contemporary slasher series, and the conclusion of the series needs to lean into all of those aspects. What better way to do so than having Art win?

It would be a tremendous meta joke for Art to point and laugh at in his typical fashion, but in this final instance the person he would humiliate would be the audience. In Art’s first feature length appearance, All Hallow’s Eve, he literally comes out of the TV to invade the real world at the end, and Art killing Sienna and breaking the fourth wall would be the ultimate homage to his origins. Building up Sienna as a pure force for good only to have Art absolutely massacre her would fall in line with everything that makes the franchise great.

Why Art Winning Would Be Such A Divisive Ending For Terrifier 4

Lauren LaVera’s Sienna Shaw Has Developed Her Own Base Of Devoted Fans

That ending seems somewhat unlikely for one simple reason: fans love Sienna Shaw. Lauren LaVera’s nuanced and powerful performances in both Terrifier 2 and Terrifier 3 have earned her plenty of praise from both fans and critics. She may have even set herself on a path to more mainstream studio movies thanks to her work in the Terrifier franchise. She is set to have a voiceover cameo in the upcoming Stephen King adaptation from Mike Flanagan, The Life of Chuck and will star in the upcoming horror movie The Monster opposite the Academy Award-nominated Djimon Hinsou.

Thanks to LaVera’s explosive popularity, it seems unlikely that Damien Leone would kill her character off, even if it did keep Art alive to cause more mayhem down the road. Sienna has been set up as the only hope that Miles County (and perhaps the world) has of stopping Art the Clown and his demonic acolytes. However, with LaVera’s mainstream career taking off, that could be just the show-stopping finish that could benefit her, and the Terrifier franchise as a whole, even if it does upset some of the audience who discovered the franchise with Terrifier 2 and Terrifier 3.

Terrifier 3 follows Sienna and her brother as they attempt to move past the traumatic events of Art the Clown’s Halloween massacre. As they embrace the Christmas season, Art reemerges, intent on turning their holiday into a nightmare, continuing his reign of terror.

Director

Damien Leone

Release Date

October 11, 2024

Studio(s)

Dark Age Cinema , Fuzz on the Lens Productions

Distributor(s)

Cineverse

Writers

Damien Leone

Runtime

125 Minutes

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