Terrifier 3’s Major Character Death Explained

WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for Terrifier 3!The lore behind Damien Leone’s gruesome slasher franchise took another step forward with Terrifier 3, and in doing so a major character from the franchise met an untimely and appropriately grisly end. The Terrifier franchise has centered around Art the Clown, a twisted murderer who has evolved into something far more evil and powerful over the course of the franchise’s three movies. He met his match in Terrifier 2 with Sienna Shaw, a young girl with a connection to Art, unbeknownst to her, and the universe expanded beyond simple gruesome slaughter into an exploration of good vs. evil.

In the latest chapter, Art’s kill count continues to rise thanks to broken horror taboos and new and inventive methods of destroying the human body and . While the ultra-violence of Terrifier 3 has made some people sick, one major character dies off-screen, which is unusual for the franchise given its emphasis on disturbing gore. The circumstances around that character’s death are a bit complex, and require some explanation given its implications for the franchise’s future.

Jonathan Dies Off-Screen In Terrifier 3

The Audience Only Sees His Severed (And Gnawed) Head

While Lauren LaVera’s Sienna Shaw survives another round with Art the Clown, her brother Jonathan does not. Jonathan had been at a nearby college attempting to move on with his life when Sienna warned him that Art had returned to Miles County. Sienna tries her best to convince him of Art’s reappearance, even drudging up some of his own past theories and evidence in her argument. She is finally successful in convincing him to return to their aunt and uncle’s house to be with her, and Sienna sends her uncle to pick him up.

However, Art and Vicky get to him first. The evil duo assault and capture Sienna in her aunt and uncle’s house, revealing that they have killed her uncle and captured her aunt as well. Sienna is shown a skinned head in a cage being gnawed at by rats, which she is told is her younger cousin, Gabbie’s. However, when Gabbie is revealed to be alive and unharmed, Vicky puts Jonathan’s glasses on the gnawed head, implying that the head is actually her brother’s. Jonathan was killed off-screen, which is surprising for the franchise given how important his character was.

How Jonathan’s Death Impacts Terrifier 3

It Comes At The Climax Of The Movie

Jonathan was a major figure in Sienna’s journey to overcome her traumatic encounter with Art in Terrifier 2, as he was the only person who understood what she was going through, and the scars that she bore, both mental and physical. During Art’s murderous rampage five years earlier, he brutally murdered her closest friends and her mother, so Jonathan was really all she had left who was close to her. By killing Jonathan, Art has well and truly isolated Sienna, making her easier to defeat.

As the ending of Terrifier 3 reveals, the demon that resides in Vicky’s body is determined to conquer and take over Sienna next. She is able to resist it, as she has some of her own power that seems to act as an inverse to Art’s debauchery. She is the angel warrior to his evil demon, and acts as his nemesis; therefore, he seeks ways to weaken her. Killing her brother, the rest of her family, and dragging Gabbie to Hell has made Sienna truly alone, and perhaps vulnerable enough for the demon to get to her.

Is Jonathan Really Dead?

His Off-Screen Death Creates Multiple Possibilities

Given the Terrifier franchise’s penchant for showing almost every kill in gut-churning detail, it seems odd that a major character like Jonathan would be killed entirely off-screen. Along those same lines, the severed head that Sienna is shown has all of its flesh peeled off, so apart from the glasses that Vicky puts on it, there is essentially no evidence that the head is actually Jonathan’s. Vicky already lied about its identity once, claiming it was Gabbie’s initially–who’s to say she isn’t lying again?

The actor behind Jonathan Shaw, Elliott Fullam, has acted in several TV shows but only two feature films:
Terrifier 2
and
Terrifier 3
.

There is a very real possibility (and perhaps even a strong likelihood) that Jonathan actually isn’t dead, or at least hasn’t been dismembered like most of Art’s victims. Jonathan may be trapped somewhere himself just as Sienna was, awaiting a grisly fate once Vicky and Art finish tormenting Sienna. He also could have escaped from them, and all they were able to take were his glasses. No matter what the truth is, the fact that none of Jonathan’s murder or corpse was clearly shown casts doubt over him actually being dead.

How Jonathan Could Return In Terrifier 4

Sienna’s Newfound Direction Could Include Jonathan

At the end of Terrifier 3, Gabbie falls into the pit that opens in the floor after Sienna beheads Vicky. It’s strongly implied that the pit is a portal to Hell itself, and that Gabbie could be trapped there, but perhaps not permanently. Sienna is able to heal herself after Gabbie falls into the pit, and vows on the spot that she will find her lost cousin. That implies that she plans to go to whatever depths of Hell that she needs to in order to save her cousin, and she knows that she can do it.

That could be the path to Jonathan’s return: Sienna could bring him back from Hell itself in Terrifier 4.

Sienna was killed by Art at the end of Terrifier 2 and sent to the Clown Café, Art’s own personal-themed corner of Hell. She knows that she has the power to not only escape Hell, but to resurrect herself just as Art is able to. Her sword might have been lost to the pits of Hell when Gabbie fell through the portal, so Sienna has even more incentive to find her way to Hell and back: the sword still seems to be the only thing that can give her a deadly edge over Art and any of his acolytes, and it may be the key to killing him once and for all.

Whether that was Jonathan’s head at the end of Terrifier 3 or if he’s trapped in eternal torment as Gabbie likely is, Sienna intends to journey to the domain of the demons behind Art and Vicky to rescue them. Each chapter of the Terrifier franchise has expanded the fantasy and lore behind Art the Clown and Sienna, so it’s reasonable to expect the same from the all-but-inevitable next chapter of the slasher franchise. That could be the path to Jonathan’s return: Sienna could bring him back from Hell itself in Terrifier 4.