Across the two Terrifier films so far, maniacal killer Art The Clown has done horrible things. Terrible, despicable things. And so, when the man behind the make-up – actor David Howard Thornton – says that even he was pushed close to the edge of nausea while shooting the much-anticipated third entry, you know that’s saying something. Damien Leone’s indie slashers have grown to become something of a horror sensation, a cult phenomenon with a pop cultural icon in Art. They are, too, spectacularly gory. And by the sounds of things, the impending Terrifier 3 – a Christmas film, of course – will be decking the halls with buckets of blood.
“There’s one particular thing I have a hard time stomaching,” Thornton tells Empire in the Gladiator II issue. “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!’” Considering the serious bodily mutilations that have occurred in previous entries, it sounds like Leone might somehow have upped the ante even higher this time. According to Thornton, there’s one sequence in the threequel that “will be very controversial…” he teases. “People are gonna be surprised by the depravity that we get up to in that scene.”
But, there’s always more than just gore to Art. As the clown get-up suggests, there’s an impish, ghoulish sense of humour to the Terrifier films – an extremity that tips the horrific over into the hysterical. “I don’t know what this says about me, but I get a little giddy [about the gore],” says Thornton. “To me, it’s cartoon violence. I just like trying things that people haven’t seen before.” With Terrifier 3, then, be afraid. Be very afraid.
Read Empire’s full Terrifier 3 story – going behind the clown make-up with David Howard Thornton – in the Gladiator II issue, on sale Thursday 29 August. Pre-order a copy online here. Terrifier 3 comes to UK cinemas from 11 October.