Why Terrifier 3 Is Going To Blow You Away

Contains spoilers for "Terrifier 3"

People have finally seen independent filmmaker Damien Leone's newest slasher "Terrifier 3" — and, love it or hate it, it's reportedly one of the most evil horror films ever made. The low-budget horror series created waves in 2022 when "Terrifier 2" became an unexpected box office hit. Featuring the resurrection of Leone's enigmatic villain Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), the film chronicles his deadly Halloween rampage and ultimate defeat at the hands of Sienna Shaw (franchise newcomer Lauren LaVera).

Leone had been writing stories about Art for over a decade by then, having debuted him in the 2008 short film "The 9th Circle" before expanding upon him in a 2011 short called "Terrifier," the 2013 anthology film "All Hallows' Eve," and, finally, the first feature "Terrifier" film, which hit theaters in 2016. The franchise's unparalleled gore and impressive practical effects have earned Leone a legion of fans, many of whom donated to an Indiegogo campaign for the second film. Leone tried so hard to top the original "Terrifier" that the sequel wound up being a mainstream hit (as well as possibly the only film of the year to allegedly cause actual nausea and vomiting among its audience members).

As we look ahead to the October 2024 release of "Terrifier 3," we're getting pretty excited about what lies in store for Art and his victims moving forward. And, in examining the road to the threequel's premiere and the passionate response it's already received from festival goers, we can't help but feel like Leone and his crew are poised to unleash a modern horror masterpiece upon the unsuspecting world. Here's why "Terrifier 3" is going to blow everyone away.

For the horror genre in particular, there's nothing as exciting as when a film is a pure expression of an artist's innermost fears, delights, and inspirations. This is a large part of what allows low-budget flicks like "Terrifier" and its sequel to thrive — because the sheer passion of creators like Damien Leone is extraordinary in and of itself.

The director's love for filmmaking and slashers specifically is present in every scene he crafts. The series has so far drawn inspiration from a great number of films, including entries from the "Friday the 13th" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" franchises, 1974's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," and John Carpenter's original "Halloween" film. "'Halloween' is my favorite, I would say, as a singular film, not necessarily the entire franchise," Leone said in an interview with Deadline in 2023 "I think it's the greatest slasher film ever made." He's also stated that a scene in "Terrifier 2" pays homage to Tom Savini's work in "Maniac," and we believe trailers for "Terrifier 3" are teasing a classic horror scene from "The Shining."

Beyond his many influences, Leone's faith in this project is so solid that he's withstood external pressures from more powerful creatives to change his vision. After "Terrifier" became a hit, a major studio offered him the chance to reboot the series as a mainstream horror franchise — but execs wanted him to abandon his unique level of gore to chase an R rating. Leone turned them down. His unwillingness to sacrifice what makes his art unique is what elevates Leone beyond most other directors working today, and this should inspire faith within any horror fan that he'll continue to deliver in "Terrifier 3."

If the series' gore happens to be your favorite part, we've got even better news than Damien Leone's decision not to compromise on it for an R-rating: Not only will "Terrifier 3" retain the same caliber of blood and guts horror pioneered by the first two films, it will actually exceed the disgusting splendor of them both entirely. As noted by Express, the director posted such a claim on his social media during production of "Terrifier 3," writing, "Can honestly say we just filmed one of the most insanely horrific scenes of the Terrifier franchise and you'll never believe who couldn't handle it on set the bts is hilarious. Can't wait for you all to see!" First reactions to the film coming out of an advance screening at Fantastic Fest 2024 have all but confirmed the horrifying contents, with attendees almost unanimously describing "Terrifier 3" as bloody, viscous, gory, disgusting, and evil, with many holding it above "Terrifier 2" in terms of sheer spectacle.

Damien Leone's unbridled passion for the art of horror filmmaking is also why fans should be excited about the truly staggering budget he secured for "Terrifier 3." While some directors may buckle under the increased pressure brought about by a sudden influx in cash, we'd argue that Leone's success at bringing this story to life with a relatively small amount of financial support bodes extremely well for how he'll use the extra cash this time around.

Though there's no available information on the budget Leone had for 2013's "All Hallows' Eve," he made the original "Terrifier" in 2016 for just $55,000. Its sequel — which most critics and audiences believed to be a massive improvement over its predecessor — had nearly five times this budget, a total price tag of $250,000. It went on to gross over $15 million worldwide. Now, "Terrifier 3" sees Leone once again multiplying his budget dramatically.

The exact figure hasn't been officially confirmed, though reports suggest that it's between $2 million and $4 million. Leone did confirm to Deadline that the budget for the third film gave him "a couple of million to play with." He further elaborated that the money was being used in large part to hire a dedicated team of makeup and special effects artists, allowing himself and his collaborator Phil Falcone (a hands-on producer on both "Terrifier" films) to shoot effects-heavy sequences more efficiently without sacrificing quality. It also allows them to properly compensate returning actors, ensuring that the "Terrifier" family remains intact.

Though the original "Terrifier" is widely appreciated by horror fans, there were aspects of it that even Damien Leone himself wishes he had done differently. "My biggest regret," he admitted in an interview with Dread Central, "is I wish I would have fleshed out Samantha Scaffidi's character more, who was the sister, Victoria, the second heroine in the movie who gets deformed in the end." Though this ending made it impossible for Leone to immediately do Victoria justice in "Terrifier 2," he did strive to avoid making this mistake a second time by spending a significant amount of his writing process for the sequel developing her successor — Lauren LaVera's Sienna Shaw.

LaVera's performance as the complex "Final Girl" has been praised, and Leone personally described it as the most compelling part of the film for him. Fortunately for both him and fans of the franchise, LaVera is returning to lead the third outing. "I've worked with a lot of great actors and actresses who I'm very close with, I love them, but nobody has ever cared more for a character that I've written [than LaVera], possibly more than I have," Leone told Halloween Daily News. "That's how much she loves the Sienna character." He's also said that the franchise belongs to Sienna as much as it does to Art the Clown.

As for LaVera, she stated in an interview with Deadline that she was looking forward to exploring the mental and emotional consequences of Sienna's survival at the end of the previous film. She also praised Leone for dedicating so much to the character, as well as for giving her room to build off of his work through collaboration and improvisation.

Speaking of Damien Leone's biggest regret from the original "Terrifier" film, he's finally in a position to do right by both the character Victoria "Vicky" Heyes and the actor that portrays her, Samantha Scaffidi. "Terrifier 3" will expand upon the mid-credits scene of the previous film, in which Vicky (who played a minor role in the film) is seen apparently infatuated with Art the Clown and presumably bringing him back to life after Sienna seemingly killed him during their climactic encounter. As a consequence of this, she will have a much larger role in the threequel, perhaps even as a villain on-par with her former tormentor.

An advance review from Slant seemingly confirms this, as they note that "it's the surprisingly spooky Victoria Heyes who emerges as the film's villain MVP, what with the overwhelming Art often playing second banana in their scenes together." They further praised Scaffidi's work, writing that she "exudes a chilling sense of evil from beneath pounds of prosthetics." If audiences feel the same way when "Terrifier 3" is released on October 11, Leone and Scaffidi will have successfully redeemed the character almost a decade after her debut.

Of course, we can't talk about the "Terrifier" films without paying special attention to David Howard Thornton, who has played Art the Clown since the first feature movie in 2016. Art was originally played by Mike Giannelli (who portrayed the character in "The 9th Circle," the original "Terrifier" short, and the anthology "All Hallows' Eve"), though he declined an invitation to return for "Terrifier," citing his disinterest in the process of filmmaking, long shooting hours, and the amount of makeup required. Thornton won the role of Art by improvising a nasty audition scene in which Art cut off a victim's head, spoke to it briefly, then salted it to taste before skipping along out of the room (it may surprise the uninitiated to know that this is much tamer than most of what the character does in the films).

Thornton's apparently innate understanding of the character's disturbing balance of humor and horror has led to him and Damien Leone creating one of the most recognizable villains in modern horror. In a review of "Terrifier 3," AV Club states that Thornton "embodies the role with wide eyes and a rictus grin," all the while hinting at something greater behind the scenes. "There's glee in his eyes as he plays with the conventions of his own genre," the glowing write-up continues, "from the pacing of a slasher kill to the audience's expectations for over-the-top gore, piecing together works of gruesome art like a deranged Jackson Pollock."

For wrestling fans, the inclusion of Chris Jericho in "Terrifier 2" as a somewhat oblivious receptionist at a hospital was a real treat. Though his screen time was quite brief compared to the rest of the cast, his larger-than-life presence made up for it, and fans were certainly keen to learn his ultimate fate seeing as Victoria gives birth to Art's severed head in the very same building as him. In 2023, Damien Leone confirmed that Jericho would be back for "Terrifier 3," and that the sequel would answer this unresolved question.

"He's super excited," Leone said of the actor to Deadline. "['Terrifier 3'] is going to pick up where ['Terrifier 2'] left off, in the insane asylum, so, you're going to see what transpires there, what mayhem unfolds, because seeing how Art and Victoria ended up, is so insane, and seeing how they get out of that situation and what happens next is going to be really wild. So, we have to get Chris back in there and see how he becomes a part of that situation." Though there have been few further details about his return, Jericho did reveal that production had created a 3D model of his head for the third film — presumably so Art can do unspeakable things to it.

Though Damien Leone has promised to end the "Terrifier" trilogy with an old school slasher vibe, the director still plans to bend the horror genre in at least one major way. After "Terrifier 2" brought elements of high fantasy to the series (making Lauren LaVera's Sienna a mythical valkyrie), a "Terrifier 3" leak revealed a huge detail about the setting: It takes place around Christmas. A leaked poster showed Art wearing what appears to be the face of Santa Claus as a necklace while wielding a large ax in front of a perfectly decorated Christmas tree. In the months since, it has been confirmed through trailers and statements from the cast and crew that "Terrifier 3" will indeed bring the holiday season to moviegoers just a few months earlier than expected this year.

Leone talked about the inspiration to jump holidays — from Halloween to Christmas — in an interview with Bloody Disgusting. He said that Santa Claus (played in the film by cult horror stalwart Daniel Roebuck) is perhaps the most natural character for Art to come up against. "He's just the perfect antithesis to Santa Claus," Leone explained. "He loves giving out presents and putting smiles on people's faces. So, just the set pieces that we have in this film and around this holiday are just amazing. I've always been such a fan of that sub-genre of horror." Leone further teased that his version of Santa would be a "maniac," and that the 1972 "Tales from the Crypt" story "...And All Through the House" served as a major inspiration for this approach.

There's been a lot of speculation about Damien Leone ending his story with "Terrifier 3," capping it off as a trilogy. He initially avoided confirming or denying that the 2024 sequel would be the final installment in interviews, claiming that doing so would spoil the film ahead of its release. Yet, despite this, several weeks before the arrival of "Terrifier 3," he indeed confirmed that there would be a "Terrifier 4."

The confirmation of another sequel, however, does not change Leone's sentiments on his continued involvement with the franchise — mostly that, at some point in the near future, he will need to step away in order to avoid things going stale. He seems perfectly open to (and perhaps even excited for) other creators to take over and make more "Terrifier" movies without him in the director's chair. After all, the filmmaker has aspirations outside the tale of Art the Clown, and has even reportedly spoken with horror icon Sam Raimi to discuss a future project.

This is all to say that, while "Terrifier 3" won't be the final installment in the series, time is seemingly running out for Leone's leg of the journey. It stands to reason, then, that the film will be pivotal for the overarching plot of the series, maybe even taking it to its darkest destination yet as a fourth — and potentially final — film looms in the distance.

Though the "Terrifier" films enjoy the same broad supernatural lore that most slashers featuring undying villains do, Damien Leone does take his world further than some others by showing a clear desire to build out a sort of perverse mythology that explains it. Horror buffs have been able to interpret the films in a variety of colorful ways, most notably as a twisted take on Judeo-Christian archetypes like Satan, demons, angels, the Beast, and the Antichrist.

Whether or not this is accurate, it's clear that Leone has more on his mind than Art's next kill. As the series continues to grow in terms of narrative, spectacle, and scope, he will have more opportunities to unveil the secrets that lie beyond the known world of this universe. By extension, this means more opportunities to fill audiences with unique dread and awful wonder as his extraordinarily horrible creations wreak havoc on the mortal world.

For now, "Terrifier 3" will almost certainly take the supernatural side of the series even further than the previous film as it blends undead clowns and heroic valkyries with the mythos of Christmas. Admittedly, it's a combination of genre flavors that seems downright disgusting on paper — which means Leone is precisely the person to turn it into something bafflingly delicious. We'll just have to wait until "Terrifier 3" premiers on October 11, 2024 to find out.