The horror genre has birthed many a creature to fear. Zombies, werewolves, giant spiders but none have quite perpetrated the fear of clowns. This was proven only last year when the remake of IT reminded cinema goers that child friendly men in make up can still be scary and then comes along TERRIFIER. David Howard Thornton plays Art the CLown, the new face of horror in a terrifyingly cold horror that shares much with the videonasties of the 70s than the mainstream success had by Stephen Kings Pennywise.

 

On Halloween night, Art the clown preys on a number of victims in a slasher that sees the clown from ALL HALLOWS EVE return to the slaughter. The plot as simple as the make up but the execution as brutal as each victims death.

 

TERRIFIER is the breath of fresh air the slasher genre needs. A new icon of terror and one that walks the walk as well as talks the talk. Thornton vrings a manace to the role of Art that is both menacing and engrossing. Using only mime, for the most part TERRIFIER is a silent film putting much of its shock and awe on the brutality bought on by Art and his bag of tools.

 

This is the closest to a video nasty we're going to get and puts itself up there with Freddy and Jason as one of the most shocking and bloodthirsty horrors on the market.Everything from the soundtrack to the physical effects is tinged with nostalgia but theres enough originality here to birth a new icon of the horror genre and one we hope to see more of in the future.

 

There is really very little to fault with Damien Leone's masterpiece and for those willing to ignore the budgeted vehicle, will find a real gem in the genre and one that will leave you sleeping with the light on.