A kill so intense it made a cast member almost vomit?! While we don't yet know what the scene is, it's confirmed that the man who plays Art the Clown himself almost couldn't handle a scene in "Terrifier 3."
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00:00A kill so intense, it made a cast member almost vomit?
00:04While we don't yet know what the scene is, it's confirmed that the man who plays Art
00:08the Clown himself almost couldn't handle a scene in Terrifier 3.
00:112022's Terrifier 2 was director Damian Leone's sequel to his 2016 low-budget sleeper hit
00:17Terrifier, and took the violence to extreme levels in order to differentiate itself from
00:21big-budget Hollywood slasher fare.
00:23As Leone said during a 2022 Q&A at the For the Love of Horror convention in the UK,
00:28We have to show the audience things that they would never have the balls to show."
00:32It's a tactic that worked, with the film proving too brutal for some horror fans and making
00:36headlines with reports of viewers fainting and vomiting during screenings.
00:40Terrifier 2 scared up big wins at the box office, too, making $15.7 million on a $250,000
00:47budget.
00:48Not bad at all, especially for a film that contains some of the most sickening on-screen
00:52violence you'll ever see.
00:54One scene in particular became infamous for the sheer level of sadism and depravity it
00:58displayed, and involved David Howard Thornton's Art the Clown absolutely decimating a helpless
01:02teen in her own bedroom before her poor mother returns home to witness the devastation.
01:07It's Leone's favorite kill of the franchise thus far, and helped propel the film's notorious
01:11reputation, ensuring a threequel was quickly greenlit.
01:14Terrifier 3 is set to debut later this year, and will take the violence to even more extreme
01:19heights after being nicknamed as a mega-slasher by Mike Flanagan.
01:23With a much bigger budget and much more at stake, Leone has made no secret of his desire
01:27to outdo himself with this installment in his franchise, telling The Hollywood Reporter
01:31in 2023,
01:32"...I do think Terrifier 3 is going to be the scariest, darkest, and most sadistic one,
01:38believe it or not, of the entire trilogy."
01:40Of course, you would say that if you were trying to build hype for your movie, so we'll
01:43have to wait to see whether Leone has, in fact, topped his last splatterfest.
01:47In the meantime, the filmmaker is keeping the hype train running by claiming to have
01:51actually done the impossible and created a Terrifier kill so upsetting that one cast
01:56member couldn't handle it.
01:57As reported by GamesRadar, the director tweeted about a scene for the threequel that caught
02:01one person in particular off guard, detailing,
02:04"...Can honestly say we just filmed one of the most insanely horrific scenes of the Terrifier
02:08franchise and you'll never believe who couldn't handle it on set.
02:12The BTS is hilarious.
02:13Can't wait for you all to see."
02:15Following this revelation, a fan posted a screenshot of what appears to be star David
02:19Howard Thornton confirming that he was the one who couldn't handle it.
02:22The Art the Clown actor seems to have posted a social media comment wherein he says,
02:26"...This was the first kill that almost made me bomb.
02:29That's a first."
02:30Part of the appeal of Terrifier 2 was Thornton's portrayal of Art the Clown.
02:34As the murderous Harlequin, he exuded a disturbing cheekiness, depicting Art as delighting in
02:38the mayhem he causes.
02:39Damien Leone has spoken about how humor is central to Art's M.O., explaining how the
02:43character was inspired by iconic slasher killers while also differentiating himself from those
02:48figures with his twisted sense of humor.
02:50The director previously told Slash Films' Jacob Hall,
02:53"...Art thinks what he's doing is funny because he's laughing.
02:56He just really gets a kick out of it.
02:58He just gets pleasure."
02:59Thornton seemingly recognized the importance of all this when he first auditioned for Art
03:02in 2016's Terrifier.
03:04According to Leone, he immediately got the part after performing an improvised scene
03:08in which he mimed decapitating a victim and salting the head, all of which is to say that
03:12Howard Thornton is a pro at playing Art and hasn't yet balked at any of the depraved
03:16acts Leone has dreamt up.
03:18In fact, he seems to have had an absolute blast playing the part, speaking enthusiastically
03:24about his experiences during press interviews and generally seeming delighted to be involved.
03:29So if Terrifier 3 actually did make Howard Thornton almost vom as that unconfirmed screenshot
03:34says, it suggests Leone has taken things to another level.
03:38Just how he's managed to do that remains to be seen.