Damien Leone is a filmmaker who has changed the face of modern horror by creating Art the Clown. The character has been with Leone since his time working in short films, with The 9th Circle being the character’s very first appearance. He was then the central character in Halloween time anthology, All Hallow’s Eve, but it was the arrival of Terrifier that put both Damien Leone and Art the Clown on the map. Terrifier was an independent slasher film that captured attention due to its extreme gore; it proved so popular that a sequel was made. Terrifier 2 in turn performed even better, and now, the third film, Terrifier 3, is about to be the first in the series to receive a full theatrical release.
Set five years after the events of Terrifier 2, Terrifier 3 shifts focus from the usual Halloween setting, to Christmas, where the story joins Art the Clown survivors, Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and Jonathan (Elliot Fullam). Although five years on, the scars of their trauma are still vivid for the duo, and the arrival of the clown mime looks set to ruin their holiday season.
Ahead of the release of Terrifier 3 exclusively in the UK and Ireland on Friday 11th October, THN were able to spend time speaking with both Damien Leone and Elliott Fullam. Our conversation covered Fullam’s journey from children’s animation to the Terrifier movies, why Art the Clown has become an instant icon, what fans can expect from Terrifier 3, and how many more Terrifier films there might be.
After the 70s, 80s, and 90s gave us icons of horror such as Ghostface, Pinhead, Freddy, Leatherface and co, there has been something of a lull in popular genre villains, with the exception of perhaps Jigsaw. What is it about Art the Clown that has succeeded where so many other attempts have failed?
DAMIEN LEONE: I’ve been saying that, I feel the same way, there’s been this void. I think that Art the Clown checks some specific boxes for that character. One, those characters, you have to be visually striking, there has to be an immediate attraction to the character. That’s something I would hear people say about how they discovered Terrifier. When it was on Netflix, before they even knew anything about it, they would scroll through and they said, “I saw his face, I just had to see what was up with that character.” So, if you hook them with his face now, it’s like, what is that character? What is his performance? What is his method of dispatching victims, right? So you really have to walk the walk, and that’s the second box with character.
Being a makeup effects artist, I always wanted to push boundaries, push the envelope of how far we can push the gore. And could we show things in our movie that Hollywood maybe can’t show in there. I think that excited the audience, and those kill scenes, those big set pieces became a draw and became a staple of the franchise. But most importantly, it’s the charm of this character. I believe that really draws the audience in and the juxtaposition where in one situation he’s completely terrifying and you want to run away from him, and then he’ll make you laugh your ass off the next moment. I think the audience likes having their emotions played that way. It also makes the character very unpredictable, so keeps you on your toes the whole time. Just when you think you have him figured out, he’s going to surprise you.
I’m not sure if he’s known in the US, but I read a Letterboxd review that likened Art the Clown to Mr. Bean if he had a breakdown…
DL: Have you never heard this before? Because David constantly says “he reminds me of an evil Mr. Bean.” He loves Mr. Bean, that’s one of his biggest influences.
Elliott, how does one go from voicework in a children’s animation to the Terrifier movies? I imagine the tonal whiplash is pretty intense?
ELLIOTT FULLAM: I don’t know which came first. Honestly, I just love acting and art just in general, but no pun intended. I’ve always been a horror fan since I can remember. I love doing fun voices. There wasn’t too much of a hard transition, but it was fun.
DL: He’s just a naturally gifted guy. As soon as I saw his audition, I knew he was the person for that role. Then when I saw the read with Lauren (LaVera), the chemistry together was so wonderful. I knew it was going to just elevate everything we did in part one, which is just a simplistic stalk and slash showcase for Art the Clown. Now we can bring in these wonderful human characters that the audience can really empathise with. It does nothing on the page until you have these wonderful actors to breathe life into them.
EF: Thank you.
How does it feel being face-to-face with Art? I know David is very different to Art, what is it like seeing that switch?
EF: That’s what it is, a switch like you say. He can turn it on and off so well. When you yell action, he’s Art the Clown, and when there’s a cut, he’s David, but he’s wearing makeup. So let’s say that it’s a more physical scene he’ll be, “you okay? Is everything okay?” whilst wearing the whole Art makeup. He’s the best.
Damien, what does an Art the Clown Christmas look like?
DL: Hopefully you get the essence of Black Christmas. I had a lot of inspiration from older horror movies. I still live in the 70s, 80s… late 60s to the 80s, those are my decades of film, so heavily influenced by Black Christmas. My favourite is Tales from the Crypt. There’s an episode called, ‘And all through the House’ that I think is the greatest Christmas horror short – whatever you want to call it – ever created. It’s a maniac Santa Claus. Escaped mental patient, dressed as Santa Claus, trying to break into a house and murder this woman, in the middle of the night. So perfect, so simple.
I really wanted to capture that essence, because there’s something so cosy for a horror movie to set it at Christmas time. You know, it’s like the perfect movie, you just want to be like lights, during Christmas, hot cocoa under the blankets and just feel completely secure yet completely terrified at the same time. I really wanted to try and capture that.
The interconnectivity of the series is very strong, should people be rewatching the other films ahead of three?
DL: Absolutely, especially part 2 into 3. I feel like part two is sort of the unofficial part one honestly, because that’s when we really start establishing the lore and we bring in Sienna. You have your heroes and your villains on their journeys. Where part one is certainly important, especially it sets up the Victoria character, who’s a huge, pivotal, crucial part of Terrifier 3. So it’s essential that you see the entire franchise at this point.
The Terrifer fans are loyal and rabid people, and you’ve snuck in a few surprises and Easter eggs for them. How much fun were these to work in, and can you give any hints for what people should be looking for?
DL: I love doing that. There’s tons. There’s Easter eggs and homages from all movies that inspired me, previous works of mine, especially if I could always draw from my original short films that he is in. I love that. There’s a great Easter egg at the end of Terrifier 3. That was exciting because the way that part 3 ends is how I always wanted to introduce Art the clown. I could never get permission to do what I wanted to do, so we had to change it, so it was cool to finally be able to pull that off.
This is the first Terrifier film to get a full theatrical release in the UK, why should people go and watch it?
DL: I think these movies are just so fun to experience with an audience. It’s like everybody comes together. You become one sort of hive creature. I got to see it at Fantastic Fest, I finally got to experience this one with an audience, and it’s just like the other two. You hear cheers, howls of laughter… I keep saying one of the most interesting things, if you’re not familiar with this franchise on the surface, is finding out how funny it is. You can walk by the theatre not knowing what’s playing and you might think you’re walking past a comedy at any given point, that’s how much laughter Art the clown gets in certain scenes.
I’m proud of that because I never really set out to be a comedy director, but these movies have proven to be pretty hysterical. I think that just experiencing that with an audience, there’s just going to be a lot of fun to be had, lots of cheers, lots of screams, and just to see Art the clown do his thing and see why he’s connecting with people in a way that a slasher hasn’t in quite some time. It’s a special time. Clearly it doesn’t come along too often. It’s a cool thing to experience and be a part of.
EF: He said fantastically, but I think that the Terrifier films are a wonderful theatre experience. People laughing, people being grossed out, you know screaming, whatever, it’s a whole range of emotions, every little drop of blood or bone break, (mimes wrist break). I say that because during the alley kill scene with the arm breaks in Terrifier 2, I broke my arm, so every single time I saw that scene, I went “urgh” every single time, even at home, but in the theatres especially, just hearing everybody’s reactions to it, it’s infectious. It’s a fun time. Definitely bring your friends because it’s a great time.
And obviously we want a fourth film. Do you have an idea what that would look like?
DL: That’s true. I wasn’t supposed to, or trying to announce that there was going to be a fourth movie, but we showed it at Fantastic Fest, we had the Q&A, and someone asked. If you see the movie, it ends like Empire Strikes Back and it’s the ultimate cliff-hanger. So, of course, I’m not going to leave you guys like that. So there will be more. I don’t know how many. I know where it’s going to end. Right now, the way my brain works, I have the end of the saga, let’s call it. I have lists of set pieces and things I need to do with the story. Amazing situations, either funny or terrifying that I have to see Art the Clown involved in. Then it’s just a matter of can I fit that all into one more movie?
Maybe it’ll be two, but I think I don’t see myself going past that because it’s getting really hard to surpass the prior kill scenes. I don’t want to just keep repeating myself or make lacklustre sequels that just keep getting worse and worse and tarnishing what we’ve done. So as long as I have interesting things to say and it’s fresh and exciting, I would love to keep making them. But I think getting out while the getting is good is kind of where my head’s at right now.
Terrifier 3 is only in UK and Irish cinemas nationwide 11th October. Distributed by Signature Entertainment.
