When Damien Leone unleashed Art the Clown upon unsuspecting horror fans in 2016’s Terrifier, few could have predicted the silent killer’s meteoric rise to cult stardom. Yet, Terrifier 3 is crushing big Hollywood movies at the box office and expanding beyond film.
Art the Clown, brought to life by the incredibly expressive David Howard Thornton, has always been more than just another slasher villain. There’s something undeniably captivating about his stark black-and-white visage, his unsettling silence, and, yes, his penchant for particularly gruesome kills.
The gore in the Terrifier franchise is legendary, with reports of people leaving theaters or feeling unwell multiplying at each new installment. Nevertheless, Art’s fame grows to the point where he has become a reasonably recognizable horror superstar, even for the people who don’t have the stomach to watch the movies. It helps that each Terrifier movie gets a better critical reception than the previous, but Thornton’s brilliant performance has much to do with the franchise’s success. It’s nice, then, that Art is popping up in more than the Terrifier trilogy.
Art the Clown plus Ice Nine Kills makes the most gruesome video clip ever
To celebrate the release of Terrifier 3, metalcore band Ice Nine Kills has released a new video for the song “A Work of Art,” which they composed for the Terrifier movies. In addition to being a music video, “A Work of Art” doubles down as a short film in which Thornton’s monochromatic menace slashes his way to the sound of a thunderous metal soundtrack.
For those who didn’t lose their popcorn watching Terrifier 3, the music video offers a new dose of violence to test your limits — we also have a recommendation list of gruesome movies if you need some inspiration. While describing what happens in the 15-minute short would spoil the fun, it suffices to say that adding Art to a mosh pit has the exact result you would expect.
This unholy union of slasher cinema and headbanging metal is a match made in hell. It represents Art the Clown reaching beyond the niche of Terrifier movies, as only the best slasher can. Art’s ambitions don’t stop at music. The upcoming Terrifier: The ARTcade Game promises to put players in control of the killer clown himself.
Developed by Relevo and published by Selecta Play, Terrifier: The ARTcade Game is a classic beat ’em up where you play as Art and his allies, such as the Pale Little Girl and Devil Vicky. From the first-look trailer, it doesn’t seem like the game is trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it looks like a title to capitalize on Terrifier 3’s success by offering simple gameplay. What more proof do you need that Art the Clown has become an important pop culture icon?
The true measure of Art’s growing influence, however, can be seen in the recent box office numbers for Terrifier 3. Opening at the top spot domestically with $18.3 million, it outperformed Joker: Folie à Deux – a sequel to a billion-dollar hit. Given that Terrifier 3’s budget was a measly $3 million, the threequel has already brought in a millionaire profit. At the same time, Folie à Deux’s flop will put Warner Bros. Discovery further in the red. Art the Clown is here to stay, a victory for independent horror cinema.
Published: Oct 14, 2024 10:58 am