For a slasher villain who doesn’t talk, Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) clearly has a lot to say. The supernatural killer who has plagued the ‘Terrifier’ franchise for three films does not speak out loud, but often communicates with his victims through clowning and pantomime. The films are known for their sickening, hard-to-handle gore, but they’re also funny at times, thanks in large part to Thornton’s deft-and-wicked performance and the flourishes he adds to otherwise quiet moments.

In an interview with series director, writer, editor and producer Damien Leone and star Thornton ahead of the premiere of “Terrifier 3,” /Film’s Jacob Hall asked the duo how much of Art’s character’s movement and physicality was pre-written, and how much is worked out during shooting. Leone estimated the split to be 50/50, while Thornton thought it was closer to 60/40. As an example, Leone mentioned a great scene in “Terrifier 2,” in which Art chases teen hero Sienna (Lauren LaVera) while she’s in a Halloween costume shop. While Sienna tries to pay for her purchase, Art begins trying on a pair of sunglasses from an exhibit rack. He tries to terrorize her, but he also makes us laugh because every time the camera returns to him, Art strikes a different pose with different glasses.

Leone says the scene is an example of the development of Art and Thornton’s contributions to the character. “The sunglasses scene in (‘Terrifier 2’): so the script says, ‘Sienna is at the counter, Art the Clown goes to the sunglasses rack. He grabs a crazy pair of sunglasses. Each time Sienna turns Art around with a new pair of sunglasses.’ Leone notes that those clues are still pretty vague — there’s no description of what sunglasses Art is wearing, what poses he strikes, or what behavior he has. “So what I’m going to do is buy a whole box of crazy glasses, put them on the rack, and then David just goes to town and puts these glasses on.”

Leone says that thanks to the improvisation, there is plenty of extra footage of Art trying on sunglasses. “For each sunglasses style, he just squeezes out as much as he can,” he explains. “There are even shots of him wearing the now popular sunflower glasses, doing the peace sign and whatever else he might be doing.” The director notes that he starts with “a very specific scene in the script of exactly what I want Art the Clown to do,” but after shooting a few takes of Leone’s script version, Thornton is given room to make the scene his own say: ‘I just let David go. And he’ll improvise, and he’ll do all these wonderful things, and add all these wonderful nuances to it.”

As any director knows, it’s always better to get too much footage than not enough, and it sounds like the “Terrifier” process involves capturing enough versions of a scene to build it up in the way that works best fits the film during post-production. production. “When I get into the editing room, I can basically shape the performance,” Leone explains. “If I want him to be a little more Bugs Bunny, I’ll lean into that more. If I want him to be more of a cold, stoic, creepy killer, maybe we’ll lean into the way that I originally wanted. So it’s a perfect marriage between the two of us.”

It’s no surprise that Thornton’s improvisation perfectly matches Leone’s vision: the actor has been getting creative with Art the Clown since his first audition, when he recreated the decapitation of a victim and ate her head with a dash of salt during an improvised scene .

“Terrifier 3” hits theaters on October 11, 2024, with news of which (if any) of the gory murder scenes would feature some improvisation.