If you were to walk up to the average horror movie patron and ask them to build a Mount Rushmore out of genre icons, you’d likely end up with some combination of Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Chucky, Leatherface, and Ghostface. Just as deserving of a spot in that conversation, however, is Art the Clown.
Indeed, from humble beginnings as a background character in the short film The 9th Circle, to pronounced indie success that only seems to be growing exponentially, Art has pretty safely established himself as a horror legend at this point, thanks in no small part to the nausea-inducing gruesomeness with which he slaughters his victims.
With Terrifier 3 having nabbed over $20 million at the box office since its wide theatrical debut on Oct. 11, the only thing that could further speak to Art’s place in pop culture would be if the rest of the franchise was having a moment at the same time.
And wouldn’t you know it, FlixPatrol reports that this day of Oct. 15 has seen both Terrifier and Terrifier 2 have nestled themselves onto Prime Video’s film podium in the United States. They’re currently shoring up third and second place, respectively, with only the creatively-vacant Killer Heat outperforming them at the top of the charts.
It is, of course, only natural that Terrifier 3‘s cinematic campaign would bolster viewing numbers on its predecessors, especially since the franchise’s mythological arc is a touch more pronounced and fantastical than that of other horror franchises, and it would therefore be worth clueing oneself into the wider story before seeing Terrifier 3. What is not natural, however, is the folks who are capable of stomaching all of Art’s antics without getting so much as lightly queasy. Observe, if you will, the mere descriptions of some of Art’s kills over the years (not including any from the latest film):
Sawing someone (as in manually) in half as they’re suspended upside down from a ceiling. Multiple stabs in the back before getting bleach poured on them and topping it off with mounds of salt. Throwing acid on someone before beating them with a spiked club and ripping their heart out. Massacring someone with a chainsaw directly up the rectum.
None of this is even touching on how far Terrifier is willing to go in terms of who rather than how. Indeed, the whole Terrifier enterprise is built on an almost gleeful adherence to the most truly horrific murder imaginable, and the fact that a slew of indie films have been capable of evoking what they have is a testament to the ingeniousness of their special effects teams.
In this stomach-churning way, you wouldn’t think Terrifier 3 would be able to draw that much of a crowd, but its opening weekend box office numbers say differently. Indeed, Terrifier 3 opened at $18.9 million during a remarkably busy release week, having hit theaters on the same day as Pharrell Williams’ Lego-ified life story Piece by Piece, Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice, anime superhero film My Hero Academia: You’re Next, and the wide release of Jason Reitman’s SNL-costumed panic attack Saturday Night.
Moral of the story? If your box office competitor is willing to be as morally reprehensible as Terrifier 3 and its predecessors, then you’d best believe it’s not going to feel threatened by your movie, and the numbers are going to show it.