By any metric – film output, fanbase size, media attention, merchandising, recognizability – Art the Clown is quickly rising through the ranks as a horror icon for the modern generation the same way that Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Michael Myers became household names in the 1980s.
Terrifier‘s humble beginnings originated in the mind of Damien Leone. Prior to making his directorial debut, the New York-based aspiring filmmaker and special effects artist envisioned a clown terrorizing a woman on a city bus.
Leone realized his vision in The 9th Circle, a 2008 short film in which Art The Clown made his first appearance as one of several evil entities. The homicidal clown returned as the antagonist in Terrifier, a 2011 short film that helped establish many of the character’s trademarks.
Terrifier caught the attention of producer Jesse Baget, who reached out to Leone about including it in an anthology alongside other filmmakers’ shorts. Leone convinced him to let him helm the entire anthology in order to create a more cohesive story. The result, All Hallows’ Eve, was released straight to DVD in 2013 by Image Entertainment (and is now coming to VHS).
‘The 9th Circle’
An extended version of The 9th Circle serves as All Hallows’ Eve‘s first segment, while Terrifier plays third. Although the wraparound story also involves Art, the middle segment centers on an alien to avoid detracting from the character’s impact.
All Hallows’ Eve went on to launch a franchise of its own. Leone joined Baget to produce 2015’s All Hallows’ Eve 2, which collected shorts from nine different filmmakers. A third installment, All Hallows’ Eve: Trickster, was released last year without Leone’s involvement.
In both the shorts and the anthology, Art the Clown is portrayed by Mike Giannelli, who had no real interest in being an actor and spending long hours in Leone’s makeup chair but was happy to oblige for his longtime friend.
When Leone decided to give Art the Clown a proper feature with Terrifier, Gianelli turned down the offer to reprise the role. He left big clown shoes to fill, but the loss turned out to be a blessing in disguise when Alabama native David Howard Thornton booked the role.
‘Terrifier 2’
Terrifier premiered at the Telluride Horror Show Film Festival in 2016 before being acquired by Epic Pictures’ genre label Dread for a limited theatrical and Blu-ray/DVD release in 2018. The gory slasher picked up even more steam when it hit Netflix later that year.
Terrifier cost around $50,000 to make, with producer Phil Falcone funding it in exchange for Leone teaching him special effects. The film’s unexpected success led to Terrifier 2 from Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting. It premiered at FrightFest in 2022 before opening unrated in U.S. theaters the same year.
Made for $250,000, the sequel grossed over $10 million at the box office, thanks in part to reports of viewers fainting and vomiting at screenings along with mainstream attention from the likes of The Howard Stern Show, The Joe Rogan Experience, and The Talk. In 2023, Pete Davidson enlisted Thornton to cameo as Art in the final episode of his Peacock original series, Bupkis.
Terrifier‘s unlikely success story is one for the ages. Although the early appearances are not considered part of the official Art the Clown canon, they remain interesting footnotes in horror history.
Art the Clown returns to the big screen this week in Terrifier 3.
