Now we know America still loves clowns, just not the one portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix .. Art the clown took center stage at the box office this weekend and trounced Joker 2.
And with the news of this small budget box office bonanza, something bigger seems to be happening.. something cultural seems to have shifted.
The Terrifier movie franchise centers on Art the Clown, a silent but sadistic killer who brutally murders his victims in increasingly horrific ways.
The first film, Terrifier follows Art as he torments two women on Halloween night, marking his debut as one of modern horror’s most terrifying villains. Terrifier 2 expanded on the lore, exploring more of Art’s supernatural abilities while maintaining the intense gore that became the series’ hallmark.
Both films are known for their graphic violence, practical effects, and unrelenting brutality, drawing comparisons to classic slasher films while pushing the envelope in terms of shock value.
The franchise was created by writer and director Damien Leone, who is also known for his work in makeup and special effects. Leone first introduced Art the Clown in a short film titled The 9th Circle eay back in 2008 and later included him in the anthology film All Hallows’ Eve in 2013.
As a filmmaker with a deep passion for practical effects, Leone’s work on Terrifier showcases his skills in creating disturbing, realistic gore, which has become a defining feature of the series.
Leone has expressed that he draws inspiration from horror classics like Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street while wanting to push horror into new, more extreme territory.
Terrifier 3 seemingly took the gore aspect to a much higher level. Just search up the rat scene or chainsaw scene. Choose if you wanted to watch it, but at least read about it. Chances are many of you already saw it at the either’s anyway.
Joker 2 dropped 82% at the box office Terrifier 3 for being a movie that costs little to nothing to make. It scored almost $20 million.
Timing is key.
Perhaps the fact the movie came out October. The weather’s colder and those Halloween decorations are abundant. Or perhaps just maybe something else is going on. It seems to be that there’s a craving out there for gore. Suddenly, it seems that society itself relishes in the macabre. And the dastardly.
It feels a lot like when the Saw movie franchise started back in the early 2000s. Then, society was overrun with torture and war footage on television. Reality was grosser than fiction, so fiction had to try to outdo it, and it tapped into a pop culture moment in which we as a people shifted into the acceptance of gore due to the acceptance of torture and a war stands in response to terrorism.
Art the clown then signifies something.. maybe Terrifier 3 is just a blip on the horror radar, or perhaps this movie coming out right before a really painfully divisive election showcases how painfully divided we all are ..
Art the clown is the instigator .. he’s the killer with no conscience, murdering children at a Christmas decorated mall without mercy. The darkest of crime and inhumanity.
Is it possible that Art the clown, while maybe not signifying how we all feel WE ACT, certainly signifies how society itself feels.. no remorse, no mercy and just relentless over the top violence to the point of absurdity.
Or maybe not.
Terrifier, 3 again could just be that blip .. the moment when moviegoers just said no to the supernatural scares, and they would rather have a blood-soaked and vomit laden theater to slip and fall in..
Time will tell, but either way Terrifier 3 has certainly made bloody waves.