Terrifier 3 is set to hack and slash its way to UK cinemas from October 11 as Art the Clown sets his sights on the holidays. The monochromatic clown is once again set to terrorise the jolly town of Miles County at Christmastime, with teaser trailers showing Art decking the halls with more than boughs of holly. Following the runaway success of Terrifier 2, expectations are high for the return of Damien Leone's gore-splattered franchise, with many expecting kills to top the infamous bedroom scene.
As we get ready to take another trip to the Clown Cafe, FILMHOUNDS sat down with Terrifier and Terrfier 2's special effects artist and Terrifier 3's producer Phil Falcone to break down what fans can expect from the latest film, creating each iconic bloodbath, and what the future holds.
How did you become involved with the Terrifier franchise?
I did a movie called Joe's War, and I needed special effects done. My friend John De Meo said: ‘I know this kid. He just did a short for my friend. Give him a call.' Damien came to my set and we hit it off immediately. He was talking to me about this clown movie that he had. And I said, ‘I'm about to raise funds for a movie that I want to do, an action movie. I'm really not into horror films, but give me what you're looking for. I'll call my friends and see if anybody wants to do horror instead of action.' So he sent me what he was looking for, and I said, “Shit, I'll give it to you. Just teach me special effects.' So we partnered up. And I'll be here as long as I can be.
You're producing Terrifier 3 which is one of the most eagerly anticipated horror films of the year. What can fans expect?
The production value has grown on each film, and this one's no different. We've brought in bigger teams. On Terrifier, we had six people in our crew I believe, and Terrifier 2 was around 11 people. On Terrifier 3, I think the crew is about 40. Plus we brought in an effects team. Damien and I did everything for Terrifier and Terrifier 2, but we would have never been able to do Terrifier 3 and still film it in the short amount of time that we did.
Does working with a bigger budget and bigger crew come with any drawbacks at all?
For me as a very hands-on producer, so it took me away from the hands-on part. I think a bigger budget, bigger problems. I like the smaller crew you have. With the smaller crew, everybody does a lot more work and they have to wear different hats. I shouldn't say a lot more work, because these kids killed it today. But if you were like me as a producer, I was still the set builder, the effects, I was managing blood. Then you had the cameraman who was doing that, building sets with me, cleaning up afterwards. To me, it was, it was much when it was smaller, it was family. When it got bigger, you still had your family, but now all of a sudden, you had a lot of relatives that you hadn't seen ever. But they are all great people. With a bigger set it's more mechanical and less fluid, but we met some great people, and I think they'll be joining the family.
Damien Leone has said the film goes back to its roots. As someone who worked on Terrifier and Terrifier 2, would you agree?
The first Terrifier was much darker than the second one, and I think it's correct to say Terrifier 3 goes back darker. It still has elements of both, but I think it's darker. If you look at the progression, Terrifier 3 is a standalone. You could take each one of these films and they could stand alone, even though there's an arcing story. The film itself is so large and each one has progressed so much that you look and it's a different film. It's a different, completely different film.
A lot of people will be expecting a scene to rival the infamous bedroom scene in Terrifier 2 – is there something like that in Terrifier 3?
I don't like to judge that because, like, you still have people who say the kill in Terrifier was better than the kill in Terrifier 2. And I think you're going to have that again. But I will tell you, these kills are insane. Damien's creativity on these things is insane. Personally, I think there are at least three kills in this film that people are gonna love.
You worked as a special effects assistant on the first and second films. What was that like?
With Terrifier and Terrifier 2, I had no idea how to do special effects. Damien was teaching me on Terrifier, and he came up with, ‘I'm going to saw this girl in half'. I asked how, and he said, ‘We're going to get this mannequin and we're going to cut.' I suggested ‘Why don't we just mould the body so it's like the combination?' and that's what we did. It was a lot of work, but Damian's an artist and he knows how to do it. So that kill was born. In Terrifier 2, the big scene was the bedroom scene. He said, ‘I want the head to move. I want the body to move.' So I had to figure out how to do that, and I had never done it before. But by this point, I'm a little better with the effects. So I got working on that. Then he said he wanted it to move on the bed. So I had to build a bed. With Terrifier 3 we worked with a major company, so we sat down and he was discussing everything he wanted. They worked out how we could do this, and how we could break it down. Each team was broken down, each kill was broken down to the smallest detail of how it had to look, how it had to react on the set, and how it had to be done. And then when we got to the set, we worked with a team to make sure it all worked with the blood. I would walk by them every day, and say ‘I'm here if you need a hand', and once in a while, they'd go, come on, get in. Damien continued to coach them through it and handle whatever he could. With Terrifier, people come to see Art the Clown but stay for the effects. This is the biggest thing I've ever handled and I think Damien really pulled it off.
Was there ever a point with any of the scenes in the films that you thought you might not be able to pull off practically?
There are so many scenes that I thought that. That being said, you know, we stay away from CGI as much as possible. I think in Terrifier, if there's even half a per cent of CGI in there, that's it. In Terrifier 2 maybe it's 2%. In Terrifier 3 there's a little more, but it's just to enhance. We stayed practical effects and we're never going to change that. It's always going to be practical effects but there are things that you want to do to spice it up a little bit. There is a couple of moving parts that we probably have to fix up a little bit. But for the most part, I'd say where at this point, 95% is practical, and it's maybe 5% CGI, if that.
How much fake blood do you think you used in Terrifier 3?
I do not have a count. Somewhere along the line, I think I heard 25 gallons or something like that. I'm not 100% sure. But that could have been a budget on its own. The amount of blood that was used in this film is insane.
What is it like for the cast working with these special effects? Obviously the fake blood can be very cold and uncomfortable
Terrifier was brutal for Catherine Corcoran (Dawn). She's hanging upside down and we had to pick her up every 40 seconds. It was filmed in such a cold, dank spot. In Terrifier 2, God bless those women because they have blood on them. And if it was 20 degrees where we were shooting, that was a lot, and that blood gets cold and sticky in a hurry, but they dealt with it. For Terrifier 3 we were in better spots to film in. We had heat, we had running water, we had all that. It was a lot more comfortable.
The reception to the Terrifier franchise has been monumental, and it only seems to be growing. What do you think it is about the films that connect with horror fans?
I think there are many answers to that. You have a character in Art the Clown that is, if you break it down, like so many of the other iconic horror characters. He takes different qualities from different people and I think Damien structured that beautifully. I also think because we have such a tight-knit crew that brought this together and created this camaraderie and the love of family, it translates on the film. When you see these films, you feel it. It's really like a family unit. It just seems like everybody's welcoming both sides, fans and the cast and crew.
With many people wondering what will be next in the world of Terrifier, if you could create any sort of film for it, what direction would you go?
I think as we're growing, I like the projection that we're taking. I like the arc that it has. I have been asked if there was going to be a Terrifier 4 and 5 and I'll say it again, we want to go until we're not fresh anymore. You don't want to put a bad taste in anybody's mouth. If Terrifier 4 wraps it up, and we don't have a story after that, that'll be it. But if Terrifier breeds another story, we want to grow. You don't want to go backwards and you want to continue to escalate. As long as the fans really like it. There's a big arcing story, and I don't know if Terrifier 4 will be able to close out that story, or if we're going to need a five, or if it's going to take a new route. These are questions Damien would have to answer.
Terrifier 3 is released in UK cinemas on October 11, 2024.
