The violence-loving harlequin Art the Clown first appeared in the 2008 horror short “The 9th Circle” and was further developed in the 2011 short “Terrifier.” Both films were included in the feature anthology All Hallows' Eve in 2013, ultimately introducing Art to the consciousness of horror fans around the world. These short films were eventually expanded into Damien Leone's first feature film, 2016's The Terrorist, where Art was finally allowed to take his place in the slasher canon as one of cinema's greatest killers. The 2022 sequel, “Terrifier 2,” took the world by storm, taking blood and mayhem to new extremes by offering strong-willed gorehounds a 138-minute orgy of guts. “Terrifier 2” was produced for just $250,000, but grossed an impressive $14.7 million in box office revenue. It seems audiences were craving something that was on the edge.
Premiering on October 11, 2024, “Terrifier 3” Leone continues the adventures of Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), this time infiltrating the Christmas season. The play has so far only appeared on Halloween, so it is expanding its repertoire. Horror fans love Art the Clown and the gory cinematic extremes he represents; It's rare for a horror movie, even one from 2024, to feature as much violence as the “Terrorizer” movies. Many blood and guts enthusiasts have even gone so far as to have the art tattooed on their body. Art's face becomes as ubiquitous as the masks of Michael Myers, Leatherface, and Jason Voorhees. In murals of horror icons, art was now starting to creep over the edge. The clown is respected.
/ Film owner Jacob Hall recently went to Fantastic Fest 2024 to talk with Leone and Thornton about “Terrifier 3.” The couple had the opportunity to talk about the phenomenon of Art the Clown tattoos and what they think about them. As it turns out, they are both extremely honored.
Suffering for your art
Leone had been to horror conventions before, so he met a lot of fans with Art the Clown tattoos. The filmmaker felt humbled by his fans, finally realizing how devoted they were to his films. Something about Artie the Clown hung out with people. But that of course meant Leone couldn't make a bad Terrorist movie anymore; she didn't want people to regret their body art decisions. Leone said:
“(It) is very satisfying. And it adds more – not in a negative way – but it adds a little bit of pressure because you see people… We were just in the middle of a scam and no kidding, I would say at least 15, tattoos that I saw there in (those) two and a half days. This is sacrifice. This means that you are really impressed if you want to put it on your body. (…) So you don't want to let that happen. It's like making a bad movie that will leave a bad taste in their mouth when they get that tattoo.”
This means that when creating “Terrifier 3”, Leone held himself to a very high standard. He couldn't be lazy and forced himself to be more creative with the blood. Art now had a tattooed fan club and Leone couldn't let them down. “It makes us try that much harder and put that much more into these films,” he said. “That's what we do. We are very aware of the fans.”
Meanwhile, Thornton has less to say, which is strange considering it was his face (albeit in clown makeup) that was on other people's bodies. However, he joked to fans, knowing that getting tattoos is painful. “They suffered for their art,” he said.
