TERRIFIER 3 Director on How He's Going to Top Horrifically Gory Sequel - "I Can’t Let the Fans Down"

Terrifier 3 just landed North America distribution thanks to Cineverse Corp. There’s a lot of hype surrounding this horror franchise because the sequel, Terrifier 2, was such a huge success. The movie was made on a $250,000 budget, and it went on to make over $15 million! As you might imagine, this next movie is going to get a wide theatrical release.

Cineverse chairman and CEO Chris McGurk said in a statement:

“It achieved revenues of roughly 60 times the production cost and was powered almost exclusively by social marketing. We are thrilled that Damien and Phil have chosen to stay true to the franchise and keep the film uncut and independent vs. going the studio route. We aim to make this film the centerpiece of our releasing strategy which is focused on creator-friendly collaboration to generate fan-favorite franchises and remakes that work theatrically and drive streaming subscription revenues. This time, we are planning a wide theatrical release for ‘Terrifier 3’ as we are confident that the film will deliver yet another unparalleled horror experience. We eagerly anticipate the creative vision that Damien and Phil will unleash upon audiences when we bring ‘Terrifier 3’ to the big screen in the fall of 2024.”

The Terrifer films are written and directed by Damien Leone and while talking about how Terrifier 3 will build off of Terrifier 2, he said:

“Once I figured out what Part Two was, I knew it was going to be at least a trilogy, so I’ve been working on this since I completed Part Two. Even while I was writing Part Two, I actually had scenes that I’d already written for Part Three because I knew where it was going to go. I want to shift back a bit to the tone of Part One, which I felt was a little more simplistic and old school, gritty slasher. I want this one to go back in that direction, and I want this to be the scariest one of the trilogy. This one will actually have a little bit more of an evil overtone to it, so this is going to be hopefully the scariest and the darkest. I want it to feel as if the audience coming into this one isn’t as comfortable with Art the Clown as they feel they are now. I want to see if I can make them really scared of him again.”

The filmmaker then went on to talk about the pressure of topping the horrific amounts of blood and gore of the second film with Terrifier 3 :

“There’s sleepless nights sometimes where, ‘Oh my God, I can’t let the fans of this franchise down.’ They always come to expect the next big kill scene, the next big gory set piece. How am I going to top the now-infamous hacksaw scene in Part One, and now the second movie? I get asked at the conventions, ‘How are you going to top the bedroom scene?’ I always want to swing for the fences and try and see if I could outdo myself from the the previous installment.

“There was actually a kill that I was going to put in Terrifier that happened to Jenna Kanell’s character Tara. After the hacksaw scene, it was another torture scene. I knew putting those back-to-back was going to completely lose the audience because it would be way too much to handle. So that was a kill that I kept on the back burner… I didn’t even put it in Part Two. So that’s one I may explore. But there’s another one I thought of about a month ago, where it clicked and I said ‘That’s going to be the next bedroom kill scene’ — you’ll know it when you see it. I can’t say for sure I’ll ever top any of these scenes — it’s always going to be subjective — but you will know it when you see it.”

There are still no details to share on the plot, but the sadistic Art the Clown will be back brutally murdering people. David Howard Thornton will return to play Art again, and he will be joined by Lauren LaVera. It’s also been revealed that Terrifier 3 will have a much bigger budget to work with.

Priscilla Smith of The Coven said, “There will be a much bigger budget this time around, which is intended to give the filmmakers more creative freedom, and let them be as wild as they can be. And, all jokes aside, we are going for that Oscar this year.”

Leone added: “Terrifier 3 will be another boundary-pushing addition to the horror genre, continuing the no holds barred, uncompromising exploits fans of the franchise have come to expect and celebrate. If you thought Art the Clown’s reign of terror in part 2 was extreme, you haven’t seen anything yet.” 

So get ready for another insane and grotesque Terrifier movie!

Source: Variety