New Terrifier 3 Set Image Teases The Brutal Return Of Art The Clown

Director Damien Leone has established a new slasher mainstay with his "Terrifier" series. After taking his Art the Clown character, who'd previously appeared in several short films, and putting him at the center of 2016's "Terrifier," the director followed up that lackluster effort with 2021's "Terrifier 2" — a movie too brutal for some horror fans. While "Terrifier" had been, in the words of /Film's Chris Evangelista, "crap," the sequel had more narrative and lore-building. As such, it amounted to not only a surprise box office hit ($15 million on a $250,000 budget is nothing to scoff at), but a markedly better movie.

After the release of "Terrifier 2," audiences — many of which reportedly fainted at screenings — were excited to see more of Art, the bloodthirsty harlequin who had started to gain some pop cultural recognition. His nightmarish visage could be seen cropping up in "Bupkis" cameos and generally seemed to be transcending the niche horror genre from which he came.

All of which means anticipation for "Terrifier 3" couldn't be higher. While fans are eager to see more of David Howard Thornton's delightfully tricksterish performance as Art, there's also the question of just how Leone is going to top the off-the-wall brutality of his previous films. Both "Terrifier" and "Terrifier 2" relied on unrelenting violence and sickeningly inventive kills to grab audiences' attention, with the sequel becoming notorious for a scene in which a poor girl is skinned alive. So, as fans wait to find out what on Earth Leone is going to dream up this time, any trickle of information about the upcoming threequel is surely going to be met with excitement. Now, the director has given us a tiny glimpse behind-the-scenes of "Terrifier 3," with a set photo that might reveal a slight change to Art's look.

Thus far we've already had a sneak peek at "Terrifier 3" thanks to a teaser trailer that sees Art the Clown don a Santa outfit and seemingly prepare to ruin the festive season for a helpless young girl. Now, director Damien Leone has posted a behind-the-scenes shot to his Instagram that seems to show actor David Howard Thornton in the makeup chair, having his Art prosthetics applied.

Teasing the image with a brief caption that read "Christmas will never be the same" (yeah, we kinda got that from the potential child massacre teased in the trailer, Damien), Leone didn't reveal anything more about his upcoming threequel, though the photo itself might have given away a slight costume tweak.

In the image, Howard Thornton appears to have been fitted with contact lenses that turn his irises black and make them slightly smaller. In "Terrifier 2," you could see the actor's eyes through his mask, which may or may not appeal to you depending on how much humanity you like to see from your deranged serial killers. What this means for "Terrifer 3" remains unclear, but Leone has said filming starts in the beginning of February, so it shouldn't be long until we learn more.

This isn't the first behind-the-scenes shot we've got from Damien Leone, who back in November 2023 posted a photo of him and David Howard Thornton on the set of the teaser trailer. Interestingly, in that particular photo and said teaser, Art's previous look is intact, with Howard Thornton's eyes peering ominously out from behind the white mask sans contacts. "The new eyes are insane," someone commented on the new Instagram post, while responses to the image on X/Twitter ranged from "CAN'T WAIT" to "I need to this to come out NOW," and my personal favorite, "Babygirl vibes."

Much like the contact lenses in his latest Instagram post, whatever Leone is planning for "Terrifier 3" remains somewhat mysterious at this point. Beyond it being a Christmas slasher, there's not much we know about the movie. But considering Leone has been very open about the fact that the ultra-violence is his secret weapon in terms of setting his films apart from other horror offerings, you can expect some pretty outlandish kills in the threequel.

Leone's favorite kill from "Terrifier 2" has become notorious among viewers for being the moment even some seasoned horror fans tapped out. It followed a similarly controversial hacksaw scene from the original "Terrifier," the details of which are too gruesome to recount in any sort of depth here. Needless to say, this latest behind-the-scenes pic just adds to the anticipation, especially since it seems to indicate that we could be getting some slight costume tweaks. 

What exactly could those changes mean for the story? We'll have to wait until "Terrifier 3" slashes its way into theaters on October 25, 2024 to find out for sure.