Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3 has broken new ground in the horror genre along with plenty of box office records, but one element about its hero, Sienna Shaw, makes her unique among major slasher “final girls.” Lauren LaVera’s Sienna Shaw was introduced in Terrifier 2 as a potential victim with a mysterious connection to the demonic Art the Clown, only to evolve into his primary foil by the end of the highly-acclaimed sequel. Their epic battle is revived in Terrifier 3 five years later, and Sienna once again proves herself capable of stopping Art.
Many slasher franchises have included the concept of a lone survivor of the killer’s rampage, eventually giving rise to the “final girl” trope within the subgenre. While oftentimes the heroine’s victory is simply surviving, some of the most famous final girls, like Halloween’s Laurie Strode or Scream’s Sidney Prescott, have returned multiple times to fight and defeat their tormentors. Sienna Shaw fits the mold of the latter, but Terrifier 3 introduced a new potential trait that sets her apart from any other slasher heroine.
Related
All 6 Art The Clown & Terrifier Movies Ranked, Worst To Best
Art the Clown has a history that extends before the Terrifier franchise, and each appearance varies in both length and overall quality.
Terrifier 3 Teases That Sienna Might Be Immortal, Just Like Art The Clown
No Major Slasher Franchise Has Ever Given An Immortal Slasher An Immortal Target
The climax of Terrifier 2 saw Sienna and Art doing battle in the abandoned carnival and Terrifier funhouse that serves as part of Art’s backstory. Art managed to technically kill Sienna; he stabbed her with her father’s sword before casting her into a portal to what appears to be Art’s own personal corner of Hell, “The Clown Cafe.” Sienna died there but was resurrected by the power of her father’s sword, and returned to the Terrifier to behead Art.
|
Terrifier Franchise Key Details |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Movie |
Release Date |
Budget |
Box Office Gross |
RT Tomatometer Score |
RT Popcornmeter Score |
|
Terrifier |
2016 |
$35,000-$55,000 |
$416,000 |
60% |
53% |
|
Terrifier 2 |
2022 |
$250,000 |
$15.7 million |
86% |
80% |
|
Terrifier 3 |
2024 |
$2 million |
$64 million (and counting) |
79% |
86% |
In Terrifier 3, Sienna managed to escape the trap laid for her by Art and Vicky, despite Art massacring her hands while she was tied up. She is soon after shown magically healing her own hands, which, combined with her previous resurrection, may indicate that she is immortal. Her resurrection at the Terrifier is a direct reflection of Art’s resurrection at the morgue following his suicide at the end of Terrifier, which could mean that she and Art are on a level playing field.
Art And Sienna Both Being Immortal Sets Terrifier Apart From Other Slashers
It’s Rare For A Slasher’s Victim To Be Unkillable
The practice of making a slasher virtually unkillable is common in the horror subgenre. The reason that franchises like Halloween, Friday the 13th, or A Nightmare On Elm Street extend across so many sequels is because their killers are never truly defeated, even if they may be stopped or killed on some level at the end of a movie. In that sense, Art the Clown is just like Michaal Myers, Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger; he may have started as a mortal, but over time developed into something supernatural and effectively immortal.
Art the Clown’s first-ever appearance in the short film
The 9th Circle
depicted him as a servant of Satan, but in the original
Terrifier
movie he was a mortal human serial killer.
What sets the Terrifier franchise apart is giving Art a target who can’t be killed by a kitchen knife, machete, chainsaw, or bladed gloves. In fact, Sienna appears to be his cosmic inverse, as the religious and messianic symbolism surrounding her angel warrior persona makes her the ideal opponent for a serial killer clown driven by some sort of demonic entity. Terrifier 3 ratcheted up the symbolism to make it clear that Sienna’s battle against Art is a microcosm of the neverending battle between the forces of Heaven and Hell/Good and Evil, which is unique in slasher franchises.
What Art And Sienna Both Being Immortal Would Mean For The Franchise After Terrifier 3
There Are Far More Narrative Possibilities Than Traditional Slasher Sagas
If Art the Clown and Sienna Shaw are both actually immortal, then the future of the Terrifier franchise becomes even more exciting. Thus far, both Art and Sienna have grown more powerful as time has progressed, with Art adding an ally in Vicky/The Little Pale Girl and Sienna has gained a self-healing ability and armed herself with her father’s (seemingly magic) sword. If neither is able to kill the other, then their supernatural arms race will almost surely continue, especially given the path that Sienna is currently on.
The regenerative healing powers that both Sienna and Art displayed in
Terrifier 3
mean that the
Terrifier
franchise could be nowhere near its end.
Terrifier 3‘s cliffhanger ending implied that Sienna is on her way to rescue her cousin Gabbie from Hell itself. That in and of itself is an exciting prospect for Terrifier 4 and beyond, but if Art and Sienna are both unkillable, they will need to continue to power up until something gives. The regenerative healing powers that both Sienna and Art displayed in Terrifier 3 mean that the Terrifier franchise could be nowhere near its end, and Sienna and Art’s battle as the avatars of the forces of good and evil could spill back out of Hell into new locations.
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
