As most fans of the ‘Terrifier’ series and Art the Clown know, the deadly deeds and mythology of the evil killer are an ever-changing, erratic thing. Creator/writer/director Damien Leone’s entire ethos with the character and these films is to continually shock and surprise the audience, with art literally and figuratively betraying the alliance of horror and slasher films of the past. At any time and without warning, Art could show up, kill himself, come back to life, pull out a butcher knife or a gun, and generally be so unpredictable that it was extremely disturbing. Given this aesthetic, the ‘Terrifier’ films have followed suit: Art’s first appearance in a feature film was in ‘All Hallow’s Eve’, an anthology film made up in part of previous shorts that Leone had already shot (including the first ‘Terrifier ‘-film). ” short). Next was the first feature film “Terrifier”, which had a circular story structure. This was followed by 2022’s ‘Terrifier 2′, which has an epic length (especially for a slasher sequel) of 138 minutes and features the ensemble and greatly expands the series’ mythology.

With ‘Terrifier 3’ set to hit theaters on October 11, the film is already promising to continue this ethos of shock and surprise, if early reactions are to be believed. While Leone has spoken in various interviews and commentary tracks about how he comes up with some of Art’s most infamous and violent exploits, he also likes to leave plenty of room for his fellow cast and crew members to come up with ideas to add to the “Terrifier” stew. It is in this spirit that one of the scariest moments in “Terrifier 2” was born, a scene created out of innovation and necessity. It’s a great example of how everything goes with “Terrifier” and with Art himself.

Somewhere halfway through ‘Terrifier 2’, Art has already set his sights on his destined opponent, Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera). Knowing that defeating her will take more than a random attack, he has decided to break her spirit by going after her friends and loved ones first, starting with poor Allie (Casey Hartnett), who is doomed once Art steps in front of her door stands. or treat. In true art fashion, the killer isn’t in a huge hurry to do the deed and takes a breather before committing one of the most gruesome murders in slasher history.

Apparently, this delay wasn’t the original plan, as /Film’s Jacob Hall learned during a conversation with Leone, co-star Chris Jericho, and Art the Clown himself, David Howard Thornton. As Thornton told Hall at Fantastic Fest 2024:

“I remember in part two it’s a scene that we basically came up with out of nowhere and it was a happy accident. Originally I was supposed to come through this window and chase Allie and just walk her up the stairs would hunt And when we got the window it was already broken and it was the middle of the night (so) we couldn’t get a new window And so Damien and a few of us just put our heads together something we thought we we’d get it halfway through and we’d say, ‘Well, why don’t we just put that in here and add more to it, where art just feels at home and it just starts to feel like ‘a drink of water?’ And I think it’s so much creepier that way. This guy has so much confidence in what he’s going to do.

As Jericho quickly pointed out, the image of an already broken window only added to the eerie tension of the moment, even as Art happily grabbed himself a drink:

“And just the fact that the mirror or the window was already broken, that was way scarier than if you came through. Because imagine you go downstairs and you’re like, ‘Holy, there’s something in here. not ‘I don’t know what it is.’ It was a great scene.”

The moment works on multiple levels: it adds that layer of tension to an otherwise humorous piece, and yet the scene as a whole is a clever, mean-spirited way to get the audience to pay a little attention before Leone lets go of the film. most violent sequence on them. If there’s one scene that sums up what the spirit of ‘Terrifier’ is about, it’s this one.

The sequence also acts as a testament to how open and improvisational the “Terrifier” set is. According to Thornton and Jericho, this seems to be the way Leone prefers to work. As Jericho said:

“And so when you have a good relationship, like I said, my scenes with Damien were one day or two days of shooting, but you have a little connection. I’m sure you two have a great bond. Trust each other.’ What about this? Try that.’ Okay. And that’s what you want on set: someone you can go to. Damien is the captain of the ship. He’s the boss. But if I have an idea, I’m not afraid to put it out there because nine times out of ten we would even improvise some dialogue that we used in one of my scenes. And just, ‘Yes, let’s try it.’ So that’s a good relationship to have. He is a director with a lot of confidence, which is good for the relationship and the performance.”

Thornton not only echoed these sentiments, but also elaborated on how such an ethos extends to both the film crew and the actors:

“He’s very actor-friendly, he’s willing to hear new ideas and experiment. It doesn’t just come from the cast. You’ll hear if we have a crew member who has an idea for something… At the end of the day , the most important thing for us is that we have the best possible film. So he is open to other ideas. Of course he gets the final say in everything. And there have been so many happy accidents on set when everything goes wrong very aware of what is happening.”

While the film’s detractors will likely use all of this as ammunition against Leone, any creative worth their salt knows that collaboration (within a collaborative medium) often produces the best art. This is especially true when someone with great discernment, like Leone, can choose from the best ideas that come his way. After all, drinking water was far from the only great moment in “Terrifier 2” that was improvised. It’s something that Art the Clown himself understands very well: if you have so many tools in your bag, why not use them all?

“Terrifier 3” hits theaters on October 11, 2024.