Name: horror 3.

Age: Three days old.

Look: A clown sticks a chainsaw up a man's butt.

I don't understand. Is that a metaphor? No. Terrifier 3 is a horror film about an evil clown (often dressed as Santa Claus), and in this film he murders a man by taking a chainsaw to his nether regions.

Ah, I see. Well, no thanks. Are you sure? They would be in the minority.

I would? Oh yes. Because Terrifier 3 is No. 1 at the US box office.

Even when it comes to chainsaws Murder? Well, there's more to it than that.

Phew. It's also about (in no particular order) how people are beheaded, skinned, stuffed with rats and then split open. I missed some stuff, but you get the gist.

I don't want to repeat myself, but no thanks. Are you sure? It makes people vomit.

How next? Earth is that a selling point? Are you kidding? It is The Selling point. If you've been paying attention, you've seen stories about preview screenings ending with the audience vomiting or walking out because the level of gratuitous violence was so extreme. In other words, don’t think of “Terrifier 3” as a movie. Think of it as a challenge of endurance.

Did this just come out of the blue? No. Art the Clown – the monster at the heart of the Terrifier films – has been appearing in short films since 2008. Creator Damien Leone's first Terrifier feature came out in 2016 and made back its $35,000 budget tenfold; 2022's Terrifier 2 made back 60 times its $250,000 budget; And now Terrifier 3, which cost $2 million to make, is the biggest film in the US, grossing $18.3 million this weekend.

But why? The films were shot independently of each other and have no age rating. If you're a horror fan, they're a corrective to decades of watered-down studio fare. They’re also – if you’re in the right mood – pretty funny.

Wasn't Joker: Folie à Deux should the big film be in October? Yes, but this movie flopped hard, mostly because it's a long, dark musical that goes out of its way to punish people who enjoyed the dark thrills of the first film.

So the opposite of Terrifier 3. Yes. And a warning that “Terrifier 4” should definitely not feature Art the Clown sadly singing old show tunes while swinging his chainsaw.

Say: “Terrifier 3 is proof that the world loves movies about violent anti-heroes.”

Don't say: “Unless they have singing in them.”