With the movie calendar quickly moving to fall, that means horror fans are that much closer to the release of Terrifier 3. Art the Clown is returning to kill again in director Damien Leone’s next slasher installment. However, this time there’s a holly jolly twist. Now, ahead of the film’s next trailer, Terrifier 3’s latest image has Art getting in the dreadful Christmas spirit.
The image, debuted by Empire Magazine, has David Howard Thornton’s Art dressed up in a Santa Claus costume. He’s holding a blood-covered axe, which has dipped onto his gloves and sleeves. Not that Art cares. This demonic force is too busy admiring his work off-screen. It almost seems like he’s laughing at something. That means he probably added someone to his massive body count. The slasher killer is nestled in a dark house decorated in Christmas lights, and it’s snowing outside. This is only going to add miles to the franchise’s already chilling atmosphere. While the past two films have had their fair share of nauseating moments, Terrifier 3 looks to take its gore to the next level.
It even made Thornton sick to his stomach. “There’s one particular thing I have a hard time stomaching”, the actor said when talking to Empire. “I don’t want to say what it was, but I almost vomited. Of course, everybody thought it was hysterical that I was having that reaction. Like: ‘Oh, we finally got him!’” Thornton would finish by teasing that one sequence “will be very controversial. People are gonna be surprised by the depravity that we get up to in that scene.” The Terrifier franchise has been one of the most disturbing and brutal in all of modern horror. To the point where it made moviegoers faint and throw up in theaters. Now it looks like even Art has his squeamish limits. That bodes well for the release and future marketing of the film.
What’s ‘Terrifier 3’ About?
Taking place five years after the events of Terrifier 2, Terrifier 3 once again follows Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) and her brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam) on Christmas Eve as they’re still dealing with the trauma left by Art. They are staying with their aunt and uncle at the moment. However, Art has returned to get revenge on Sienna and Miles County. Taking inspiration from iconic holiday slashers like Black Christmas, this snow-covered holiday will never be the same. The film will also see the return of Samantha Scaffidi’s possessed Victoria and the debut of genre veteran Daniel Roebuck as Santa Claus. The third film looks to be a blend of the original’s pure slasher bloodbath and its first sequel’s epic mythology of heavy dread. When it comes to what was set up in Terrifier 2, fans will get some answers to what the connection between Sienna and her deceased father really is to Art the Clown.
Terrifier 3 is releasing in theaters on October 11, 2024. Its new trailer is set to debut tomorrow, Wednesday, August 28, and the ghoulish countdown has already begun.
