Summary
Terrifier 3will be released on October 24th, 2024, just in time for Halloween. Damien Leone’s slasher franchise has been a huge hit from the start and Art The Clown was an instantly memorable villain. Since so many people are horrified by clowns, he was definitely the right choice.
There’s one big question on the minds of horror fans: what will the third entry in the franchise be like? SinceTerrifierandTerrifier 2were low-budget films that ended up being big box office successes, it’s possible thatTerrifier 3could be more mainstream. However, that might not be the best choice for the franchise.
Runtime: 138 minutes
Budget: $250,000
Box Office: $15.7 million
Terrifier 2had a high box office grossas soon as it was released in the fall of 2022. While today,horror fans can watchTerrifier 2on Peacockin the comfort of their own homes, audiences definitely showed up to experience the movie in theaters. According toVariety, when the movie opened,Terrifier 2grossed $825,000 thanks to ticket sales from 886 movie theaters. AsVarietynoted, the film continued to do well from there, which isn’t often the case.
Many were surprised by how wellTerrifier 2did since it’s fair to say that the original, which was released in 2016, was a bit of a cult hit. In aninterview withSlash Film,director Damien Leone shared that after the success ofTerrifier 2, he was going to have a team of makeup artists to focus on the effects forTerrifier 3. He shared, “That allows me to be a better director.”
Leone also said thatTerrifier 2has wild kill scenes because he and Phil Falcone, the producer, put so much time and energy into it:
“Because that was one of the reasons why we were able to do so much crazy stuff in “Terrifier 2” is because we did everything ourselves. The amount of special effects that basically me and Phil did, my producer Phil Falcone, we did almost everything.”
Terrifier 3 Might Be More Of The Same
While there aresome solid horror franchises, fans know that often, the second or third entry can fall flat. That wasn’t the case withTerrifier 2, which has a great endingthat made fans excited forTerrifier 3.However, it’s still possible that the third movie will feel just likeTerrifierandTerrifier 2, and that might be disappointing.
However, it’s fair to say thatTerrifierfans will likely be impressed withTerrifier 3,based on what the writer/director has said about what fans can expect. In November 2023,Damien Leone toldThe Hollywood ReporterthatTerrifier 3will have the “tone” ofTerrifier: “I’m trying to go back to [2016’sTerrifier], tonally. So if part two is my [A Nightmare on Elm Street:Dream Warriors], I want to go back to the originalA Nightmare on Elm Streettone with [Terrifier 3]."
Leone said:
“When franchises lose their way, one of the mistakes they make is forgetting what made the franchise great in the first place. They just stray so far off of that path, so that’s something I’m trying to avoid. I just want to go back in that direction so I don’t forget where I came from … And I do think [Terrifier 3] is going to be the scariest, darkest, and most sadistic one, believe it or not, of the entire trilogy.”
Leone brought up a great point. There’s a tricky balance between presenting a new story in the third entry in a horror franchise… and making sure that audiences are pleased.Art The Clown is such a great horror villainthat there’s no doubt thatTerrifier 3will be satisfying, even if it does feel a little bit like the original movie.
Should The Terrifier Series Try To Go Mainstream?
There are manymodern slasher horror movies, andTerrifierandTerrifier 2are some of the most intriguing ones. There’s no doubt that the kills are intense and these are some of the goriest slashers that have been released in the last few years. That begs the question, shouldTerrifier 3be more mainstream to appeal to a broader audience?
Many horror fans would likely say no.Terrifierworks so well because Art The Clown is so brutal and because the movies don’t feel like every other film. There areso many forgettable slasher killersandTerrifierandTerrifier 2succeeded in creating something brand new and unique.
In November 2023,Damien Leone said in an interview withUPIcomthat theTerrifierfranchise could be over afterTerrifier 3. He said:
“I knew where I was going to take this one and where I was going to end the entire franchise eventually… “he well is going to run dry and you’re just going to keep repeating yourself at some point. I want to have my own Damien Leone solid franchise within theTerrifieruniverse.”
TheTerrifierfranchise has been so much fun because it was an unexpected success, and making it more mainstream would ruin that.
