We spoke with actor David Howard Thornton amid the release of Terrifier 3, the acclaimed new installment from director Damien Leone that features Art the Clown’s goriest kills yet. In fact, Thornton — who plays Art — is tasked with performing a deed so horrific that even he had to admit how grossed out he was, confirming to us that this latest film in the franchise features the worst slayings by far.
“There’s a notorious moment that happened near the end of the film that really grossed me out a lot, and it’s one thing I just can’t handle in real life either,” Thornton told MovieWeb. “And Damien knew that, so I think he definitely put that in there just to really mess with me on set. And then it was just the environment I was in that just made it worse because we’re in a hot, smelly house at the time, and then Samantha [Scaffidi] comes in, who played Victoria, eating this horrible-smelling bag of corn nuts. So that just exasperated everything more.”
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Thornton continued regarding the film’s epic kill moment, which we won’t spoil here:
“Also, I think what is involved in that kill is just so horrific, too. And it’s just that I’m a very empathetic person in that moment. I really empathize with what was going on. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is such a horrible, horrible thing to actually be doing to a human being.’
I think it’s one of the worst things I’ve actually seen Art do. And that’s saying a lot.
But I mean, to me, I just thought, ‘This is morbid.'”
Lauren LaVera, who plays lead heroine Sienna in the latest installments, also joined the interview and shared her enthusiasm for jumping back into the saga for Terrifier 3. “I actually really love horror and intense movies, so there was no reservations to hop back into the story,” she told us. “I really love Sienna, and I really love her journey. I was really excited to sink my teeth into some of the places she could go, considering her mental state. So I did a lot of research on that, and I was just really psyched to help continue telling her story.”
From Cineverse, Terrifier 3 is now playing in theaters.