Damien Leone’s Terrifier 2 is the talk of the town in the horror world.
From its impressive box office numbers (grossing more than $7.5 million worldwide on a $250,000 budget) to graphic violence, the slasher sequel is having a moment. There are reports of people vomiting and fainting during screenings, and it’s become an internet challenge to sit through some of its more insane kills.
Any filmmaker could dream of this type of horror success, and it seems like the Terrifier franchise has a bright future. When Variety asked what he plans to do for the following entries, Leone laid out his plans.
“I had a Part 3 in mind when writing Part 2,” said the filmmaker. “There are so many questions brought up in Part 2 that are not answered, and that was part of the design because I know I’m going into a Part 3. I pretty much have the entire treatment ready for Part 3, but it’s getting so big that it could potentially split into a Part 4 because I wouldn’t want to make another 2-hour, 20-minute movie.”
“So we’ll see,” he continued. “My fear is that eventually, the well is gonna run dry, we’re gonna wind up jumping the shark, there will be nothing left to say with this character. It happens with a lot of franchises that I’m still a huge fan of. I’ve watched all these Part 10s and Part 13s, but sometimes that could really ruin the entire franchise. For them to peter out or not have this satisfying arc or the movie goes in another direction, that could be devastating to your overall franchise. I want to try and avoid that.”
During the interview, Leone is asked about upping the violence for future installments, and it seems he isn’t stressing it too much.
“There’s definitely pressure. I think we’re set up to fail with Part 3 in terms of the gore, no matter what, because now people have their expectations so high. If I go way past that, we’re going to be thrown into the bad taste category, and if we don’t hit that, then we’re going to have dropped the ball,” says Leone. “So I have to hit a bullseye in terms of the gore for Part 3. So no pressure there.
Speaking of gore, there’s some talk of how far David Howard Thornton’s Art The Clown would go in the movies. Leone offers a candid and hilarious answer on what he feels is crossing the line.
Leone starts, “Art the Clown likes to play with people’s entrails. There’s the scene where he cuts off a man’s penis. He could have taken it further. We had conversations of things he could do once he took the guy’s penis off. We explored those and joked about it, but then we said, ‘No, that’s way too far. That’s too distasteful.'”
SEE ALSO: Video Review – Terrifier 2 and Its Impact on Mainstream Horror
He adds precisely what he had in mind, stating: “Possibly making a balloon animal out of it, or something like that. But we absolutely can’t do that. It was actually [Art the Clown actor] Dave’s suggestion. We’re always trying to one-up each other and come up with sick things, but that was too far for me.”
After being resurrected by a sinister entity, Art the Clown returns to the timid town of Miles County, where he targets a teenage girl and her younger brother on Halloween night.
Terrifier 2 sees the return of David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown and Samantha Scaffidi as the 2016 horror’s lone survivor Victoria Heyes alongside Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, Felissa Rose and Chris Jericho.
