A clown, a drunk, and Santa Claus walk into a bar.
Sounds like the setup for an off-color joke, but that’s the scene I witnessed upon visiting the set of Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3 earlier this year. As you might expect, the punchline is a bloody one.
“I’ve been really looking forward to this scene,” Art the Clown actor David Howard Thornton tells me. “It’s like the costume shop scene [in Terrifier 2] or the pizzeria scene [in Terrifier]. It’s such a fun scene, and then it gets serious. I think it has one of the more creative kills in the movie.”
Thornton shares the scene with Daniel Roebuck as jolly old Saint Nicholas and Clint Howard as a barfly named Smokey.
“I’m able to do comedy with character actors I’ve respected my entire life,” Thornton beams. “I’m able to share my craft with these men I’ve looked up to, and it’s magical. I never expected something like this to happen in my life. I’m like a little kid in a candy store right now.”
No stranger to iconic horror properties, Roebuck has squared off against Michael Myers in Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, played The Count in Zombie’s The Munsters, succumbed to The Tall Man’s sphere in Phantasm: Ravager, and investigated death in Final Destination.
“Although I want to take myself seriously as an actor, really, I’m a fan of horror films, and that goes back a very long time since I was a kid,” says Roebuck, reinforcing his claim by pulling a stack of vintage Famous Monsters of Filmland magazines out of his travel bag.
“I’ve been holding this secret for a long time,” he exclaims, radiating cheer befitting of Santa. “I’ve been really excited about it. I’m actually entering into the movies that I watch. It’s extraordinary.
“This is Terrifier bigger, badder, best. You’re going to get the best Terrifier you got, and you’re gonna get a dynamite ending.”
Roebuck explains, “Almost two years ago, Damien told me I’ll be Santa Claus. I thought, ‘If it’s a Christmas movie and I am Santa Claus, it’s not going to end well for me.’ I didn’t know how elaborately unwell it would be for me, but I’m grateful. What’s going to happen to Santa? Well, it’s not pretty.”
Clint Howard also has ample genre cred, including playing a killer in cult classics Ice Cream Man and Evilspeak as well as Christmas horror experience from Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation and Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker.
He met Leone and Thornton on the convention circuit. “I was really impressed with Terrifier and Terrifier 2. I thought, ‘Wow, this elevates the genre.’ So I nominated myself to be in the next movie, and Damien’s eyes lit up.”
He describes his character as “a hapless guy that enjoys drinking. He’s at a bar swapping stories with Santa Claus and the bartender, and Art comes into his life. When Art comes into your life, most of the time you realize that the clock is ticking on the end of your life.”
Howard is utilizing his time on the set of Terrifier 3 as reconnaissance for an Ice Cream Man sequel he’s developing with his wife, Katherine Cruz, and original director Norman Apstein. “We are pooling ourselves together and we’ve invented another Ice Cream Man,” he reveals.
“It has no similarity to the first one, except that I’m getting hired to play an ice cream man. We’re going to make the movie at a modest level, so on this particular trip, Kat and I are really keeping our eyes open and seeing how the [Terrifier 3] crew is doing everything. They may not realize it, but they’re sharing information with us.”
After two and a half months in production, it’s the final week of a 45-day shoot. At this point, a typical film crew will have reached the point of exhaustion, despair, haste, or some combination therein — but not the tight-knit Terrifier team, many of whom returned from the previous film.
“This is the fastest turnaround that I’ve ever had to deal with from blank page to finished product, so that’s been really intense, but it’s been a blast,” says Leone during a rare free moment. “I’m really, really proud of the work that we’ve done.”
“We’ve been here for over two months now, and it’s just blown by,” notes script supervisor Marcus Slabine, who appeared as a bartender in Terrifier 2. “It’s not like coming to work; I’m coming to hang out with my friends. We love what we do. We fly through the days because we’re all just having so much fun.”
“I had more fun doing this film than the first two films combined,” Thornton divulges. “I just feel so much more comfortable with the character this time around, and it’s such a tight script. I’m just having so much fun. Over the course of these films, I’ve become so much more aware of the character and where to take him, but also more confident in what I’m doing with him.”
“Everybody that’s been on this crew from the beginning is amazing, and so are the new people that we brought on,” praises producer Phil Falcone. “Each film we’re bringing in new people that are becoming part of the family, piece by piece. We’ve really come into a lot of incredible people.
“The footage looks amazing. The effects are mind boggling. The production value is going to look better than anything we’ve ever given. We’ve upped the game.”
“When we did Terrifier 2, there was a crew of nine people, and we all had to wear multiple hats,” details Michael Leavy, who played the ill-fated exterminator in Terrifier before producing the sequels via his Fuzz on the Lens Productions and serving as an assistant director.
“It’s nice to have a lot of like-minded but really talented people come into the family. We treat it as a family from the top down. We just all click, and it’s really great to see this thing expand. I’m just honored to be a part of it.”
While Leone is the patriarch of the Terrifam, Falcone is its unsung hero. “Phil is an incredible producer,” says Bill Diamond, a fabricator who designed and built “specialty event sets” for the film. “I know he doesn’t get the credit that most people see, but he really should. You can’t do Terrifier without him, as far as I’m concerned.”
Falcone funded the original Terrifier after hiring Leone for special effects on his first film, Joe’s War, and continues to be the filmmaker’s right-hand man.
“He told me what he needed [for Terrifier funding], and I said, ‘That’s all you want? Screw it. I’ll do it. Teach me special effects.’ And that’s how that started. For the next three or four months, me and Damien built everything in my apartment,” Falcone explains.
“Damien’s mind is not like any others I’ve known. He’s amazing at what he does and how he does it. The first time I worked with Damien on a movie, I knew he was the real deal.”
“Damien’s one of the most passionate filmmakers I think I’ve ever met,” commends Slabine. “He knows exactly what he wants, how to shoot a scene, how to shoot the gore. I’ve never seen him get mad on set, no matter how crazy things get, no matter how hard the day is. He’s always excited. It’s like watching a child play.”
“I really am impressed with Damien’s editing ability. He cuts great,” Howard shares. “He turned Terrifier 2, which was a very little movie, into something big, and I wanted to be a part of Terrifier 3.”
Diamond likens Leone to his late mentor and collaborator, Jim Henson. “Jim was meticulous. Damien is that way too. That’s something that people may not know. It’s the detail. Movies like this could be shot or artistically created, and Damien artistically creates it.”
He continues, “I think Damien’s got a great creative eye. It’s not just the horror factor. He’s a great storyteller. This is definitely his genre. I’m the old classic monster guy, but I love Art. The collaboration has been great. I had a lot of fun taking Art and putting him in these realms to play in.”
Set five years after the events of Terrifier 2, final girl Sienna (Lauren Lavera) and brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam) try to embrace the Christmas spirit and rebuild their shattered lives, only for Art the Clown to return, turning their holiday cheer into horrifying fear.
“I always loved Christmas-based horror movies as a kid. I thought it would be hysterical to throw Art into this holiday and see what kind of shenanigans he can get himself into, taking all those classic Christmas movie tropes and seeing how I could weave him into them and create something fresh,” Leone expounds.
“There’s a million Christmas horror movies, just like there’s a million killer clown movies. I like to try and take something that’s familiar and see if I can put my own spin on it. It’s led to a lot of hysterical moments and also really disturbing moments.”
He notes, “Tonally, I wanted to go back to the roots, so to speak. The first was very dark, whereas the second one became more poppy. There was more action in it, and the supernatural element was huge. It had more of a Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors vibe, whereas the first Terrifier was more like my Nightmare on Elm Street.
“For this one, I’m kind of laying off the supernatural and going back to the roots of it being a really gritty, old-school slasher, but there’s still heavy elements from Part 2. We’re still following the Shaw siblings’ journey and seeing how they’re coping with the tragedy from Terrifier 2.
“The vibe of Part 2 is still there, but I think you will see that this is the darkest of the franchise.”
For the first time, Leone has been afforded the opportunity to focus on directing. He has entrusted makeup effects duties to Christien Tinsley, whose numerous accolades include an Academy Award for his work on The Passion of the Christ.
“One of the most exciting parts of this is being able to work with somebody like Christien Tinsley,” raves Leone. “Having that kind of quality thrown into a slasher film and seeing all these sick things come to life with that level of talent has been so extraordinary.”
“Almost every single day, there’s at least one if not multiple gags, multiple effects,” comments special makeup effects artist Ryan Keith Ward. “We’ve got makeups. We’ve got prosthetics. It’s been a ton. It’s been great though.
“A lot of times we run into this thing where you do this cool stuff and a fraction of it ends up on the screen. It feels great to actually know that most of what you’re doing is gonna end up in front of people.”
Fans of the boundary-pushing franchise are waiting with bated breath to see how Leone tops the brutality of Terrifier’s hacksaw scene and Terrifier 2’s bedroom scene.
“When Terrifier 2 came out, Mike Flanagan said we created the mega-slasher. When you hear something like that, you really want to up your game moving forward,” Leone declares.
“It becomes more and more difficult to top the previous movie, and the pressure certainly mounts as we go forward, so it takes a while for me to come up with these kills. I have to go to some interesting places when I’m writing the script to figure out how we can top ourselves.”
“When it’s practical effects, there’s always a pressure to deliver as best you can, the highest quality you can,” adds Ward. “But I really think that when people see what’s in this film, they’re going to be blown away, even loving the stuff that was in the first two. The scope and scale of everything in this is going to blow a lot of fans away.”
Thornton admits to nearly vomiting during the filming of a gore sequence. “There’s a scene people are gonna be like, ‘That might be going too far,’” he smirks a signature Art the Clown grin. “I felt icky.”
“We want to make sure that we deliver for the fans, first and foremost,” asserts Leavy. “We all believe and buy into what Damien is doing. The story, what we’re creating. It’s so surreal to be a part of something that people consider a horror icon.”
“That adds a little bit of pressure,” he confesses. “We don’t want to let our core fan base down. They’re the reason we’re here. We also want to challenge ourselves, and we all believe in each other.”
Lovingly described by Leone as “real-life Bugs Bunny,” David Howard Thornton is an Alabama native who was a school teacher with a background in stage acting before making his life-changing film debut in Terrifier. He seamlessly becomes Art as soon as Leone calls ‘action.’
“I know where [Art] lives now, especially after three films,” the actor explains. “I can just turn it on when I have to. I think some of my co-stars have said it’s weird to see. One second. I’m doing silly voices, and then, boom.”
“David’s a really fun, talented person,” says Leavy, who also directed Thornton in Stream. “I wish people got to see more of his voices, because he’s an incredible voice actor and is really funny. It’s kind of interesting that he ended up being a silent killer clown. Great guy to be around, though, and really a team player.”
“It’s extraordinary when you watch David work,” Roebuck gushes.
“I liken this phenomenon to Freddy Krueger. I think David has many opportunities ahead of him, just like Robert England did, to portray other characters in and out of makeup.”
“I love acting, and I love working at this level, and getting to work with David is certainly a joy,” Howard concurs. “What a gentle soul. What he does as Art is amazing.”
Thornton is modest about his status as a horror icon and enjoys the anonymity behind the makeup. “That’s still a weird thing to me. It still hasn’t really sunk in. I’m just having fun doing my thing.
“I don’t feel like I’m an icon or anything like that. I just feel like I’m Dave, because the whole cast and crew treats me just like that. They’re not treating me like some special thing. I’m part of the gang. I’m just having my fun. And I hope people like what I do, and if people want to see more, then thanks, I’ll give you more.”
And more is what fans will get, with Leone planning to helm at least one more installment. “I’d love to just tell a solid story just where I know it’s the beginning, middle, and end, and I can walk away being satisfied and having a worthy conclusion,” he affirms.
“But I do think this is also a franchise that can go on for quite some time, and there’s so many settings and situations that you could put Art the Clown in that would be fantastic. As of now, I would love to do one more film after this, and I think I’d have to hang up the belt for a little bit and then maybe circle back. I’d love to have a solid conclusion to this franchise.”
He continues, “If I felt satisfied, and I felt like I gave everything I could, I would never want to hold it back from the fan base. They love this character so much that I’d love to see it keep going, so I would definitely hand it off and produce it. Maybe have a reboot or turn it into a series. I would be cool with that.”
“I love this character so much that even after a fourth film, I still feel like there’s so much more I want to do with him,” adds Thornton. “I love Art. He is such a fun little rapscallion, and I love finding new nuances to him. I will play him as long as I can. If I’m 80 years old and I can still play him, I’ll do it.”
“I think [Terrifier] could go as far as anybody wants to push it,” voices Leavy.
“I know Damien wants to do at least one more, and I’m right there with him if he wants to do it. I want to see this thing through with him and be by his side like we’ve been since the beginning.”
“But I also know he wants to do other things, and he wants to show the world because he’s so talented, and he’s got a lot of ideas. I’d like to see him do that outside of the Terrifier world, but I think Art the Clown can go on as long as the Freddys and the Michaels and the Jasons,” he adds.
“There’s so many stories to tell. Art’s a unique character. Damien did a wonderful job creating a great character, a great universe, and a great story with the addition of Sienna. I think there’s definitely a potential to go on and on and on. Maybe we’ll send Art to space by Terrifier 17,” he chuckles.
Leone is excited to continue propelling the franchise forward with Terrifier 3. “The first Terrifier was very, very simplistic; just a throwback to grindhouse slasher movies. It was a showcase for Art the Clown. Hopefully it was this cool, new villain who really delivered the goods in terms of the gore, and he had a distinct personality, a cool look — but that’s really what it was.
“With Part 2, I expanded the lore, and I’ve incorporated protagonists. At the core of Terrifier, I’m trying to create this sort of mythic battle between good and evil, and that’s escalating as the series goes. That’s what excites me more than anything about it.
“Sienna, the heroine of the series, is my favorite character. She’s really the heart of this entire franchise. The dynamics that these characters have really set it apart from a lot of other slashers, so there’s a lot more to it than just a killer clown movie.”
“Terrifier 3 expands on everything that the first two parts set up,” admires Slabine. “It connects a lot of the dots. It has next-level kills, but I also think that this has a lot more heart to it. The stuff with Art and some other characters is really going to draw people in.”
“The mythology building is something I appreciate about this series,” agrees Roebuck. “It’s not just a cut-and-dry slasher. The first one was to an extent, but they really opened up the world with the second one. A lot of people have done clown killers, but I don’t think anybody got it as right as these guys. They got the perfect actor in David, the perfect visualizer in Damien, and the perfect team to back him up.”
“It is violent, there is a lot of blood, but it’s a movie. Have fun watching it,” advises Howard. “If you want to squirm, squirm. If you want to look away, that’s okay too. I feel that Damien is really doing something unique. It’s not just a cheap movie. It’s well-thought, very inspired, a lot of good energy. It’s hard to keep your eyes off of Art the Clown.”
“We’re taking this in some new directions,” Thornton proclaims. “We’re also building upon the mythos that we’ve already established in Part 2. Plus, with it being a Christmas movie, it’s fun for the whole family that way.
“Gonna ruin Christmas for everybody this year.”
Terrifier 3 releases in theaters from Bloody Disgusting & Cineverse on October 11, 2024.
The post “Gonna Ruin Christmas for Everybody This Year” – Visiting the Set of ‘Terrifier 3’ [Report] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.