The latest installment in the “Terrifier” series bodes well for the franchise, as Damien Leone’s unhinged slasher continues to break boundaries. In case you haven’t heard, “Terrifier 3” absolutely killed it at the box office, raking in $18.3 million during its opening weekend and beating the lamentable box office flop that was “Joker: Folie a Deux” along the way to become the number one movie in America. Considering that the previous installment, “Terrifier 2,” made $15.7 million during its entire run, that’s an impressive debut for “Terrifier 3,” dubbed one of the nastiest horror movies ever made by /Film’s own Jacob Hall.

How could a movie that is just wall-to-wall depravity fare so well? A lot of it has to do with word-of-mouth, with audiences seemingly keen to test their mettle against a film that was already notorious before it was officially released. “Terrifier 3” apparently caused walkouts during the first few minutes of a UK screening, which follows reports of similar occurrences during screenings of its predecessor. What’s more, the terrifying killer at the center of the films, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), has slowly been building pop culture caché since the breakout success of “Terrifier 2” and is now a full-blown slasher icon.

But even with all that in mind, the success of “Terrifier 3” is still remarkable, seeing as this is a film that features a scene in which a character is whipped with intestines while wearing a crown of thorns. And it’s not just the box office receipts that are surprising, either: Audiences seem to be loving this paean to barbarism, with the film receiving a “B” CinemaScore — a rare achievement for a horror film and especially shocking considering the film’s content. Now, “Terrifier 3” has achieved yet another first for new horror movies, this time with regards to Rotten Tomatoes.

The surprise box office success of “Terrifier 2” was notable back in 2022, simply because Damien Leone made his independent slasher on a budget of just $250,000. It goes without saying, but a $15 million take represented a ridiculous return on that investment. Though it has a comparatively massive budget of $2 million, “Terrifier 3” is proving to be an even bigger success, not only topping the box office performance of its predecessor but winning over both critics and mass audiences.

Back in August 2024, Rotten Tomatoes announced a new “Verified Hot” label to accompany the launch of its PopcornMeter for movies. The new system acknowledges the importance of audience reactions to films in an age where pandering to fans has become the modus operandi for several studios and franchises. The “Verified Hot” badge is awarded to films that gain a Verified Audience Score of 90% or higher and have a minimum of 500+ Verified Ratings. The designation is essentially the equivalent of the “Certified Fresh” badge, which is awarded to films which gain a critic score of more than 75% and have a minimum of 80 reviews.

Now, as pointed out by film commentator Erik Davis on Twitter/X, “Terrifier 3” has become the first new horror movie to go both Certified Fresh and Verified Hot since the PopcornMeter and its new designation were introduced. The film currently has a critic score of 76% and an audience score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, which considering the 90% requirement for the Verified Hot badge might seem confusing. But, as the site itself explains, “If a film earns Verified Hot status, but its Popcornmeter subsequently drops below 80%, it will lose the Verified Hot designation.” For now, then, “Terrifier 3” retains its standing as the first new horror film with both a Certified Fresh and Verified Hot badge to its name.

It could be argued that much of the success of “Terrifier 3” is down to “Joker 2” performing so poorly — at least in terms of Damien Leone’s horror taking the top spot at the box office. But with a B CinemaScore and now these Rotten Tomatoes ratings, the film is proving that, somewhere amid the unhinged brutality, there is something noteworthy lurking. Beyond its $18 million first week take, then, the real surprise is that people seem to be liking “Terrifier 3,” and considering Leone tried his absolute darndest to repulse us all, that’s genuinely shocking.

“Terrifier 3” is full of shocking moments, but none of them seem to have put off critics or audience members. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has 83 reviews, which is a significant enough number that might make it seem as if its 76% score is a solid summation of the film’s quality (although, again, we always encourage everyone to not use RT scores as the final word on whether a movie is worth watching). The average rating, which is a representation of the actual scores and grades given to the film by critics, however, is a tad lower at just 6.3 out of 10. Audiences, on the other hand, rated the movie 4.4 stars out of five, with more than 1000 verified ratings playing into that 89% score and the film’s Verified Hot designation.

“Terrifier 3” was expected to do well following “Terrifier 2” and that movie’s surprise box office success. But I’m not sure anyone expected the ratings to be this high for a movie about a demonic harlequin brutalizing everyone, including kids, at Christmastime.

“Terrifier 3” is in theaters now.