Terrifier 3: The Official Novelization (Review)
As a huge Terrifier fan, I wish that I could say that I like this novelization, but I gave Tim Waggoner's novelization of Terrifier 2 a 2/5 and settle on the same score here. I went in with low expectations because of how I felt about the T2 novelization and was almost immediately put off when, right on the first page, it is stated that Timmy is Juliet's older brother and then, on page 5, that he is younger than her, and that is reflective of the biggest problem that I have with this novelization. It's clear to me that it was written, submitted, and published without an editor/proofreader looking it over. There are so many errors throughout this novelization. Gabbie is referred to as Abbie at one point, Cole as Zach at another point, and in the final chapter, Phil Falcone's bus driver character is first referred to as Tom, then Bob, and then Tom again. There are also inaccuracies. For example, the opening kill in the movie is treated as a flashback that takes place ten months prior to the events of T2 (or two months after T1). There is even a very minor character named Grace who is original to the novelization who, on the night of T2's events, reflects on it having happened last Christmas. I could be wrong, but I don't get the impression that this is just creative liberty taken by the writer either; I think that it's him misunderstanding the structure of T3 and thinking that everything happens on a linear timeline. Waggoner also keeps contradicting himself when describing the layout of the house where Art and the demon stay for five years. Another major problem that I have with this novelization is the fluff and excessive backstory around totally inconsequential characters. We, for example, absolutely do not need several pages describing Bag Lady's biography up to that point. She is in the movie for all of five seconds and doesn't even having a speaking line. If you're going to provide additional backstory for characters that we don't get in the film, maybe do that for characters like Cole and Mia, not characters we couldn't possibly care less about. The novelization also feels the need to explain things that don't need to be explained, such as how Art and the demon know where to find Sienna after she is released from the hospital (I won't give Waggoner's explanation away, but I will just say that it's utterly ridiculous). Vicky is possessed by a very powerful demonic force with supernatural abilities such as the ability to perfectly mimic someone else's voice and also to affect electricity, and that's really all that you need to know. I also didn't need a silly explanation as to how Art knows where Jonathan's dorm room is. Speaking of that, though, I will say that the only aspect of this novelization that I prefer to the movie is that Waggoner does fill in a couple of holes that are legitimate ones - ones that I even bring up in my podcast episode on Terrifier 3. Why no one recognizes Art at the mall when he's supposed to be a local legend is explained, but, for some reason, Waggoner only explains away that instance of it and not the various other instances of it such as at the bar and on the bus at the end. Also, when Art arrives on Jonathan's college campus in the film, he enters a frat house that is hosting a big holiday party, but then we never see anything happen in that house. The next time Art is seen on screen, he has moved to Mia's dorm room in a completely different building, and there is no explanation as to why he went to the frat party to begin with or why he is now lurking outside Mia's dorm room. Leone, feeling sensitive to the various people who complained about T2 being too long, cut about twenty minutes from T3, and this could have been an effect of that, but Waggoner does explain this which I do appreciate, but otherwise, I really didn't care much for this. I wish that I had nicer things to say, but this novelization is just a mess that was not given the care and the attention to detail that it deserved.
