Why Hollywood Really Rejected Terrifier 3

Contains major spoilers for "Terrifier 3"

It's October, and that means it's time for bloody chills and scary spills. No modern horror franchise has upped the nihilistic gore factor the way the "Terrifier" trilogy has. Art the Clown's antics are set to branch out into the Christmas season with the threequel "Terrifier 3" on October 11, and it looks like it's already revolting — and thrilling — audiences who've gotten a sneak preview of the film. They've proclaimed it the bloodiest of the series and the most daring in its gore — and it also was so nauseating that it drove nearly a dozen viewers from a screening in the United Kingdom, making one vomit. Nine of those people left during the brutal opening scene of "Terrifier 3," and one person had a panic attack. Not surprisingly, the film has followed its predecessors and is being released independently to theaters, later to be released to the streaming platform Screambox.

That's nothing new under the sun for this franchise, in which flayed corpses and severed limbs covered in grease paint are a way of life. But what's made the clown horror-centered series such a lightning rod for controversy and so popular in the mainstream horror world? Here's why mainstream studios rejected the project, and why it has become so infamous.

The "Terrifier" series has gained fame for its blackly comedic, extreme scenes of gore. Each film centers around Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), a literally demonic circus clown who merrily dispatches his victims with all of the skill of Klaus Nomi on ketamine. His rhyme and reason for these murders are basically meaningless; he just seems to kill anyone who approaches him, even if they do so in a kind manner. The exception is the Little Pale Girl (Amelie McLain), who may or may not be his very first victim.

Those kills are often violently graphic and filled with practical gore and blood. To wit: A woman is chainsawed in half during the first "Terrifier" lengthwise and Art takes a selfie with her bleeding corpse. That's the level of violence, black humor, and gore both films deal with, and blood and guts are spattered around in colorful patterns like finger paint. The third film is apparently no exception to the gore rule, with one character allegedly meeting with the business end of a chainsaw rump first. The fact that many of the victims are women has caused audience members to accuse it of misogyny, aside from its high level of grimy gore and blood. Director Damien Leone has tried to dodge accusations of misogyny by adding protagonist and final girl Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) to the mix. But this pattern of one-upping drippy cacophony is set up by the surprising theatrical success of "Terrifier 2" 

While the first "Terrifier" was released straight to home media and streaming, it gained some traction thanks to word of mouth. "Terrifier 2" was a surprise smash, shocking the industry by making almost $15.4 million worldwide off a budget of just $250,000 and getting a 2023 re-release. The second "Terrifier" film is just as unfiltered and uncompromising as the first, so the fact that it made so much money at the box office is quite a startling change-up.

"Terrifier 2" helped spark a new slasher renaissance, spotted with blood and gore. "Evil Dead Rise," "Longlegs," "The Substance" and "Thankskilling" owe more than a little of their success to Art the Clown's swagger. It also helped spark up an independent horror renaissance, with hits like "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" stemming from its fear-free moxie. 

Theatres have learned from its success, and there has been a wave of Art the Clown merchandising hitting movie theatres and stores worldwide ahead of, including a gruesome popcorn bucket that can be pre-ordered. Yet, despite this wave of populist support for Art's latest adventure, "Terrifier 3" still doesn't have major studio backing. Did Hollywood reject it? 

According to "Terrifier" series creator Damian Leone, he got a lot of offers from mainstream studios to produce or distribute "Terrifier 3" after the success of "Terrifier 2," but  he knew his high-octane gore wouldn't pass muster in the majors. "Before I even had a script, just having meetings and getting the feel that I was going to have eyes over my shoulders, and they were concerned about the levels of gore and this and that. I knew they weren't going to let me make this movie based on the first five pages. Like, that's how insane Terrifier 3 is," he told LADBible.

Art the Clown actor David Howard Thornton later confirmed during an exclusive Looper interview that he was nauseated by one of the kills in "Terrifier 3." "I was like, 'Dang you, Damien,'" he said. "Because he put something into that that makes me just nauseous anyway. And it's just like, "I know you deliberately did this, just you're really trying me here. You're really trying to see what you can do to me." There's actually some things that were in the script that we actually never got to bring to life on screen because we just didn't have time." He also revealed that the film was supposed to have a substantially darker ending.

Of course, it's important to remember that in the world of horror, such proclamations are common, and all of this may simply be propaganda for "Terrifier 3." It's a common promotional gimmick that studios use to make horror films seem like legendary fright fests for the ages, and similar reports of faintings and pukings accompanied the release of"Terrifier 2." Such gimmicks have included branded barf bags, planted protesters, fake fainters, and phony nurses standing by in theater lobbies. 

This goes all the way back to the 1960s when they used to hire people to pass out at William Castle productions. So take those pronouncements with a grain of salt. But if "Terrifier 3" is as shocking as it claims to be, it wouldn't be too much of a stunner, since the franchise exists to scare. Expect that to continue in "Terrifier 4," since "Terrifier 3" leaves the door wide open for a sequel.

"Terrifier 3" will apparently leave plenty of room for a sequel, as Damian Leone confirmed to Looper in another exclusive interview that sheds light on his thought process. It seems that once he landed on Sienna Shaw as a light-side counterpoint to Art's darkness, he developed a story arc in his mind that follows her development as well as Art's into new entities. 

"We're never going to lose Art just being a traditional slasher, stalking and slashing. But that, to me as an artist, gets very redundant and dull. So I wanted to explore more," he said.

Leone admitted to us that a fourth "Terrifier" movie will depend on how well the third film is received, as the slasher genre isn't always consistently popular. And it looks like his next project will land with a slightly more mainstream production house — fellow envelope-pushing provocateur Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures. He didn't give us any hints as to what to expect from that film, but he hinted it was progressing well. Audiences will determine the "Terrifier" franchise's weal or woe when "Terrifier 3" hits theatres on October 11.