Terrifier 3 Is Inspired By Bad Santa And Other Classic Christmas Movies

I've grown very fond of the "Terrifier" series — and I was not expecting this to happen. While I appreciated the practical gore effects, I found the first "Terrifier" movie to be a disappointment — it was a series of bloody moments with no real story to tell; an excuse to gross out audiences without much thought. Then came "Terrifier 2." Taking the criticisms of the first film to heart, writer-director Damien Leone decided to step things up and made a rather epic (and yes, highly blood-spattered) sequel. The results were big, weird, and pretty damn entertaining, and while there were still some flaws here and there, I came away impressed (you can read my review of the sequel right here). After "Terrifer 2," I've come to really appreciate the gruesome go-for-broke, DIY nature of this franchise, and I'm quite excited for "Terrifier 3," which drops new slasher icon Art the Clown into a Christmastime setting. 

In the "Terrifer" films, Art is a killer clown who really loves to murder people in creative, gruesome ways. Art seemed to be a human guy in a clown costume in the first film, but the second film turned him a supernatural force, which means that even though he was dispatched in "Terrifier 2," he can always return for more slaughter. USA Today has some new details about the upcoming sequel, revealing that "Terrifier 3" is set five years after the events of "Terrifier 2." In the new film, final girl Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and her brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam), who both barely survived the events of the previous entry, are still dealing with the trauma they suffered at the hands of Art. Writer-director Damien Leone says that Sienna has "been in and out of a mental health facility just dealing with all of this – not only just what she's been through but what she's becoming and what her role is in this universe." Leone also goes on to add some of the holiday movies that inspired the Christmas-set sequel. 

Leone touches on some of the influences for the new film, saying: "Pretty much any classic Christmas movie trope you could imagine, I try to put Art the Clown in that situation and see how he would handle that." He also singles out three specific Christmas-related titles: "Bad Santa," "Black Christmas," and the "Tales From the Crypt" episode "And All Through the House." 

Released in 2003, "Bad Santa" stars Billy Bob Thornton as a thief who moonlights as a mall Santa in order to rob shopping malls during Christmas. 1974's "Black Christmas" is one of the best holiday horror movies ever made: directed by Bob Clark (who also helmed another holiday classic, "A Christmas Story"), the film follows a group of college sorority girls targeted by a killer. It's been remade twice, and neither remake comes close to matching the brilliance of the original, which is a subtle, slow-burning thriller full of creeping dread. As for "And All Through the House," that was the first episode of the "Tales From the Crypt" TV series. Directed by "Back to the Future" helmer Robert Zemeckis, it tells the story of a woman who murders her husband on Christmas Eve. In the midst of all this, there's a serial killer in a Santa Claus costume lurking about. 

It'll be interesting to see how Leone employs all these influence in the upcoming movie. I'm a big fan of holiday horror, and dropping Art into this kind of setting sounds perfect. But if you care more about the blood and guts than the story, don't worry: there will be plenty of that, too. As Leone says, the upcoming sequel is "certainly is way more relentless and gory, that's for sure." "Terrifier 3" opens in theaters on October 11, 2024. I can't wait.