Terrifier 3 ending explained – Spoilers and how it sets up a sequel

Having grown exponentially with each film so far – in terms of both budget and takings – a fourth entry in the saga had already been greenlit before Terrifier 3 arrived in cinemas.

And that's already looking like an understandable decision given the new film is tracking for another impressive box office performance.

The franchise focuses on the exploits of the horrendously evil Art the Clown – who writer/director Damien Leone described to RadioTimes.com as like "if Jack the Ripper and Satan had a baby" – as he embarks on some of the most brutally violent murder sprees you could possibly imagine.

The gore and shock value has been a huge part of what has made the series successful thus far, with viral stories of punters throwing up and passing out in cinemas.

And unsurprisingly, that is the case once again in the Yuletide-set latest entry, as Art gets into the Christmas spirit in a typically gruesome manner.

But what of the film's ending? Where do we leave Art and how does this set up the already confirmed Terrifier 4?

Read on for everything you need to know, with the warning that spoilers will obviously come thick and fast from this point onwards.

Terrifier 3 ending explained – How it sets up a sequel

Throughout the film, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) – and his partner-in-crime Vicky (Samantha Scaffidi) – embark on perhaps their bloodiest killing spree yet, with their unfortunate victims including a family, an old man dressed as Santa Claus and a huge group of excited children at a mall.

The most gruesome deaths are spared for Jonathan Shaw's classmates Mia and Cole, who are absolutely butchered in a shower. It's nasty stuff.

He then descends on Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and Jonathan (Elliot Fullam), who are now staying at their aunt Jessica's house for the holidays, hoping to recover from the trauma of their last encounter with Art – but sadly rest and recuperation is very much not on the menu.

Sienna is captured and restrained, tied to a chair as Art prepares to finish things. To make things worse, Vicky then opens a wrapped present that contains a severed head – with most of the skin peeled off – and initially reveals that the skull belongs to Sienna's younger cousin Gabbie.

She then kills Jessica with an especially horrible method that involves both a live rat and a knife to the throat.

In a twist, Gabbie then appears, and we learn that it can't have been her head in the present after all, with Vicky revealing that it actually belonged Jonathan.

But this doesn't mean that Gabbie is safe, of course. And indeed, soon the child falls through a hole in the room which appears to be some sort of portal to hell...

Anyhow, amongst all this, the restrained Sienna is able to use her special sword to free herself and exact revenge by killing Vicky. Before she can use it on Art, however, he mounts an escape and hops on board a bus – where he looks to be instantly eyeing up his next victims. He ain't finished yet...

As for how this sets up the next one, we can rest assured that this isn't the last time that Sienna and Art will come face-to-face, especially given she has now pledged to save her cousin Gabbie from whatever awful world she's fallen into. We'd imagine such a rescue mission would involve at least another brush with Art.

It's also quite possible that the next sequel could yet see a return for Jonathan. It's interesting that he was killed off camera – the Terrifier franchise isn't exactly one to shy away from showing deaths in all their bloodiness – and the fact that we are told that the mangled skull belongs to him shouldn't necessarily be taken at face value.

This could very well be a fake-out, although we'll have to wait until the next one to find out.

Terrifier 4 will also continue to develop the lore around the series – especially some of Sienna's backstory – something which Leone told RadioTimes.com he has enjoyed slowly teasing out.

"I like giving them information every film and then raising more questions to keep them coming back," he explained. "But also, I know that I'm not finished telling my story, so I don't want to give you every bit of information now, or else there's nothing left to grab onto.

"And something I never wanted to do was just keep bringing Art the Clown back just to murder another group of people – to just keep remaking Terrifier the original over and over and over. That gets... that's very dull to me.

"Like I said, I'm more interested in the story and the characters now more than the kill scenes.

"I'm interested in a larger story, and I'm especially interested in this hero's journey that Sienna is on right now. I'm more interested in her character, almost more than I am... I don't want to say more than Art the Clown, but she's as important. This is just as important."

As for whether Terrifier 4 will bring things to a close, that seems unlikely just yet – although Leone does say that he'd planned out exactly how the franchise will eventually finish.

"I have the ending, and it's how many puzzle pieces can I fit before I get there? How long do I want to drag this out – and not in a negative way," he explained. "Because there's so many... I have so many ideas, like, I'm just constantly… I'll have, like, folders of ideas of kill scenes or situations I could put Art the Clown in that would be either hysterical or horrifying.

"And then it just becomes, well, how many of those can I fit into this movie, while also telling the overall story and following Sienna's journey? So I don't know.

"Personally, I think one or two movies tops before I'm done with my Terrifier saga, and I feel like we have a complete, satisfying franchise on our hands, because my fear is just diminishing returns and just making these movies just for the sake of making them and not having anything else to say, and that's just going to tarnish everything we're doing.

"So if these movies just keep dropping in quality, you gotta, you know... I'd rather get out while we're on a high, if possible."

Terrifier 3 is now showing in UK cinemas and the first two films are available on Prime Video and Paramount Plus.

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