Terrifier (2016)

On Halloween, two women are stalked by a murderous clown on a rampage in this brutal and uncompromising thriller heavily inspired by the '70s and '80s slasher genre. I should clarify that this is not a very "fun" horror movie per se, as effective as it might be. It takes on a more sadistic and grisly approach, as well as a throwback to the ultra-violent grindhouse style of filmmaking. Some of the brutality goes on for an uncomfortably graphic amount of time, refusing to give the audience any sort of respite. Regardless, it sticks in the back of your mind and establishes Art the Clown as a formidable supernatural horror villain with a lack of moral conscience or a soul, on the level of Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers, while staking his own claim in slasher history. This film has no socially redeeming values whatsoever; it's basically just an excuse to torture its victims for 85 minutes. If you go into it with that mindset, you'll find it a much more agreeable affair. It's the stark simplicity and bleakness of this vision that makes it so damn effective and true to its name.

3 vivisections out of 5