We spoke to filmmaker Damien Leone leading up to the release of his latest Terrifier installment, a threequel that raises the bar in terms of gory special effects and disturbing imagery. The first two films have garnered a cult following, and Leone let it slip at a recent festival that he indeed plans a follow-up to Terrifier 3, which hits theaters Oct. 11. Since the first two films end with cliffhangers, you can certainly expect the same sort of conclusion with this latest installment.
“It ends like the way The Empire Strikes Back ends, and you gotta think, ‘Is there gonna be more?’ I’m like, ‘Well, of course, I would never leave you in that situation as the audience,'” Leone told MovieWeb. “When I wrote part two, I knew where my story was going to end. So then it just became a matter of building the puzzle blocks in order to get to that finale. So the ending of part three sets up this insane predicament that [final girl] Sienna is in, and this sort of mission that she has now. That is going to be her primary focus in part four.” Leone added:
”
Parts two and three were the supernatural detour of the Art the Clown character
, because I really wanted the opportunity to explore that element with the slasher that’s not typically explored, at least never to this degree. Like, the slasher is just supernatural. It’s the trope, ‘the boogeyman comes back,’ but nobody really explores why. Like,
what is that evil that’s resurrecting them?
What is that? How does that exist? What is it? So I wanted to explore that and even turn it into a character on some level.”
12:31
Related
Terrifier 3 Director Damien Leone Talks Christmas Horror & Continuing the Franchise
The auteur discusses taking Christmas horror to a gory new extreme and preparing for Terrifier 4.
“So Art the Clown’s kind of taken that supernatural detour, but now we find him again in the next installment,” Leone continued, regarding the franchise thus far and how it all leads to Terrifier 4. “It’ll be like going back to part one, where he’s on his own again. He’s seemingly mortal. I can’t really get into too much, but I think that it’s a cool full-circle moment for the franchise.”
Art the Clown Gifts Us a Black Christmas in Terrifier 3
Leone also detailed some of the inspirations that fueled his vision for Terrifier 3 — and how a certain iconic filmmaker who helped give rise to Art the Clown as a villain. “I pay homage to so many movies that I love. There’s certainly a bit of The Exorcist in this one with the [villainous] Vicky character,” he told us. “In terms of the scope and the look of this movie, you know, I really wanted to try and capture the original Black Christmas vibe.” He continued:
“But I also was excited to shoot on Panavision anamorphic lenses, which I’ve never done before…
Those lenses are more expensive than the budget of
Terrifier 2
…
Those are the lenses that John Carpenter always shoots his films on, one of the biggest influences on me. Of course, the original
Halloween
was one of my favorite movies of all time.
There would be no Art [the Clown] without that movie
.”
From Cineverse, Terrifier 3 will be released in theaters on Oct. 11, 2024. The film is also screening as a double feature with Terrifier 2 today, Oct. 10. Find more information here.