The good news continues for director Damien Leone and Terrifier 3 as the slasher sequel heads into its second weekend of release, as the movie has managed to claim yet another record, this time on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has already managed to surpass the box office take of its predecessor to become the most successful entry yet in the franchise, and is on track to become the highest-grossing unrated movie ever made domestically.
Per a post by entertainment journalist Erik Davis on X, Terrifier 3 has become the first horror film to be both Certified Fresh and Verified Hot on Rotten Tomatoes since the website installed its new system back in August. A quick glance at their About Section sees that to qualify for a Certified Fresh rating “a film must have a Tomatometer score of 75% or higher, with at least five reviews from Top Critics.” The movie loses that status once it drops below 70%. On the audience side of things, the Popcornmeter percentage is based on reviews from fans, and reaches Verified Hot status once it achieves an audience score of 90% or higher. That accolade disappears once that score dips below 80%. As of this writing, Terrifier 3 sits at a 73% rating from critics, and 88% from moviegoers.
Related
Why Terrifier 3’s Director Turned Down a Major Offer to Make Art the Clown Mainstream
“I knew they’d never let me shoot the first 10 minutes,” Leone said of his decision to say no to a major studio.
Leone’s masterful follow-up to Terrifier 2 has managed to shake up the film industry since its release on October 11, leaving many execs baffled by its success, especially considering its miniscule marketing budget. Just $500,000 dollars was allocated by Cineverse to spend on promotion for the movie, meaning the bulk of its financial accomplishments were achieved through grassroots campaigns organized by fans, and word of mouth. The horror community has long been known to support its own, and was out in full force ahead of Terrifier 3, shouting from the social media rooftops about how everyone should go see it, and – obviously – their efforts paid off.
More People Have Probably Seen Terrifier 3 Than Has Been Reported
It’s interesting to note that despite being an unrated film, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that most movie theater chains like AMC, Cinemark, and Regal are treating it as an R-rated movie, meaning they’re not letting anyone under 17 in to see it unless they’re accompanied by an adult. As such, the outlet details that Universal’s The Wild Robot (rated PG) saw a surge in ticket sales during the same weekend that Terrifier 3 was released, hypothesizing that many minors bought tickets to that film, only to sneak into see Art the Clown bathed in blood instead.
If that’s the case, then the major chains are actually holding Terrifier 3 back from becoming an even bigger financial success, but again, that’s just speculation at this point. Still, it’s a likely theory, seeing as how it’s highly unusual for a film like The Wild Robot to see just a drop of 25.9% in ticket sales compared to its second week of release, when from week one to week two there was a drop of 47%. Either way, Terrifier 3 has got to be considered one of the best indie success stories in recent memory. At this point, there’s little doubt that the fourth installment in the franchise will be an even bigger hit, which spells good news for Leone and the fans, who are changing the face of horror before our very eyes.