Terrifier 3‘s Damien Leone on Lore, Gore, and His Favorite Christmas Horror Movie

It’s not adjacent Halloween yet, but Terrifier 3 is astir to battalion theaters chock afloat of blood-drenched vacation cheer. Writer, director, and exertion Damien Leone’s twisted instauration Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) returns to torment Sienna (Lauren LaVera), the pugnacious but traumatized last miss of breakout fearfulness smash Terrifier 2. You tin find io9’s reappraisal of Terrifier 3 here, and support speechmaking for our interrogation with Leone.

Note: we’ll person much from io9’s interrogation aboriginal this week; this portion of the speech is spoiler-free.

Damien Leone (left) connected the acceptable of Terrifier 3. © Jesse Korman/Dark Age Cinema

Cheryl Eddy, io9: We get much “lore” successful Terrifier 3 than ever before—Sienna’s destiny arsenic it connects to Art, the backstory with her father, etc. How deliberate has your program been successful revealing these pieces implicit time? Will we yet larn the full communicative successful a aboriginal movie?

Damien Leone: Very deliberate. Certainly by design, due to the fact that I privation to marque a fewer films. So I attack this franchise arsenic much of a miniseries wherever you’re getting pieces of the puzzle arsenic we go. Because if I enactment it each into 1 movie, past I don’t truly cognize what other I’m saying successful the consequent movie lore, due to the fact that past it becomes a substance of, “All right, let’s conscionable present a caller batch of characters and conscionable person Art the Clown slaughter them.” Which, listen, galore radical would perfectly love. I’m definite they’re already wishing that’s each these movies were. Some radical they just, you know, the lore is excessively overmuch for them oregon the ambiguity of the lore and the phantasy element. But to me, that’s exciting. And I deliberation that sets it isolated from a batch of different slashers.

I truly don’t person an involvement successful conscionable remaking the archetypal Terrifier implicit and over, similar I said, with a caller batch of victims that Art kills for nary reason. When I was penning Terrifier 2, I knew past wherever I was going to extremity this franchise betwixt Art and Sienna. So it’s conscionable a substance of, is it 1 movie to archer that communicative oregon possibly 2 more? I don’t spot it being much than that. But erstwhile it is finished, it volition beryllium a solid, concise franchise that you could ticker with hopefully a beauteous beginning, middle, and end, and you’ll cognize precisely who these characters are, wherever they started and wherever they ended off. 

io9: So your perfect would beryllium 5 movies?

Leone: I don’t similar locking myself into the numbers, conscionable due to the fact that I don’t cognize if I—you ne'er cognize erstwhile inspiration is going to deed oregon if thing conscionable changes the trajectory. But I don’t deliberation it would beryllium much than that astatine this point. I’m already benignant of acrophobic of the good moving adust and conscionable starting to repetition myself implicit and implicit again: “These termination scenes aren’t surviving up to the expectations. They’re not arsenic bully arsenic the ones that came successful prior. Art’s not arsenic comic anymore.” Those are each things I interest astir penning these films due to the fact that we enactment truthful overmuch into each movie wherever to support being that generous—you tin lone marque these movies effective, I think, for truthful agelong earlier it’s conscionable diminishing returns.

io9: Is determination ever a infinitesimal erstwhile you’re penning a termination country wherever you’re like, “This is going excessively far”? Do you acceptable boundaries connected yourself?

Leone: Yeah, I bash acceptable boundaries connected myself. I would accidental there’s nary taxable substance that’s excessively taboo that I won’t tackle it, if I truly consciousness it’s indispensable to the communicative oregon something. But past if I determine to spell successful that direction, it’s my work to execute it successful a tolerable mode and to spot if I could inactive marque it palatable somehow—because we could surely marque these scenes 10 times worse than they are. But past you’re truly going to alienate everybody. And ultimately, I privation this to beryllium a amusive acquisition for the audience, adjacent though that’s—of course, sensation is subjective and we’re intelligibly going beyond the boundaries of what immoderate radical consciousness is accessible, acceptable, and what their sensation is.

But I bash ever effort and propulsion the boundaries of what radical are utilized to seeing, but not excessively far—and connected the different end, trying to support immoderate level of accessibility, immoderate benignant of wide appeal. Because I deliberation that the Art the Clown quality successful particular, and Sienna, I deliberation those 2 characters truly merit to beryllium seen by casual movie fans. And I don’t deliberation this movie needs to beryllium enactment successful immoderate benignant of niche container labeled conscionable a gore fest. I deliberation there’s a batch much a batch much to these movies.

io9: There were immoderate caller headlines astir a screening wherever radical not being capable to grip the opening scene—what bash you deliberation erstwhile you perceive worldly similar that? Like radical getting physically sick watching your movie? Is that a constituent of pride?

Leone: It is. I bash instrumentality it arsenic a badge of honor, particularly astatine this point. It would consciousness a small much cruel during, perhaps, similar the archetypal Terrifier, if radical truly conscionable had nary thought what they were walking into and they were conscionable fainting and stuff. But astatine this point, it’s Terrifier 2, 3—you should cognize what you’re successful for astatine this point. And similar you said, adjacent successful portion three, I acceptable it up. I fto you cognize what you’re successful for wrong the archetypal 5 minutes of this movie. [Laughs.] So it’s like, if you tin marque it past the archetypal 5 minutes, you tin marque it past the remainder of the film, successful my opinion. I bash instrumentality it arsenic badge of grant due to the fact that it’s a testament to the filmmaking. The applicable effects are precise effective. It means they’re working. It means the mode it’s edited and the dependable design, it’s each creating this precise visceral experience. And that’s what we’re aiming for.

io9: That archetypal country is retired of discourse with the remainder of the movie—Art already has his Santa suit, which helium doesn’t really get until a spot aboriginal successful the story. Did you ever privation to commencement disconnected the movie with a country plucked from the mediate of the story?

Leone: Yes. I wanted to person a acold unfastened due to the fact that I wanted to contiguous Art the Clown to the assemblage arsenic if they’d ne'er met him before, due to the fact that a batch of these franchises yet get to a portion three. The assemblage is conscionable determination to see, and they inactive are determination to see, Art the Clown. They’re determination to spot him termination arsenic galore radical arsenic possible. That’s however I was erstwhile I was a kid. And I was watching Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, that’s the leader of the movie. But I don’t privation the assemblage to beryllium comfy with this character. I wanted to contiguous him being crueler than ever, darker, creepier than ever, due to the fact that helium should yet ever beryllium unsettling, adjacent though we person a batch of amusive with him. First and foremost, helium should beryllium conscionable cruel, sadistic, and evil. And I deliberation the infinitesimal we suffer show of that, I don’t deliberation thing works anymore. So that was my volition with with the opening, the acold open, truthful to speak.

© Jesse Korman/Dark Age Cinema

io9: What are your favourite Christmas fearfulness movies? Because intelligibly you astir apt person immoderate favorites.

Leone: I emotion that subgenre. My favourite movie is Black Christmas, of people the original. And we wage a batch of homage to that movie successful this one. I emotion the ambiance of that—certainly Art successful the attic, looking retired the model successful the rocking chair…

But my favourite Christmas fearfulness occurrence of a amusement is Tales From the Crypt. It was really made successful a movie archetypal successful the ’70s. That is the ultimate iteration of the maniac Santa Claus. And that’s much more than thing else. That was the crushed wherefore I was excited to marque this a Christmas film, due to the fact that there’s thing truthful cozy and terrifying astatine the aforesaid clip astir that concern and Christmas-based fearfulness movies. So I wanted to spot if I could instrumentality my stab astatine that. But I ne'er would person thought I could marque thing caller with that trope, the maniac Santa Claus, until I figured, “All right, well, I could formal up Art arsenic Santa Claus now, and present that makes Art the Clown benignant of caller again.” And that makes the maniac Santa Claus caller again and makes the full happening new. So it conscionable seemed precise breathtaking to spell successful this direction.

Terrifier 3 hits theaters October 11; we’ll person much from io9’s interrogation with Leone aboriginal this week.

Want much io9 news? Check retired erstwhile to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s adjacent for the DC Universe connected movie and TV, and everything you request to cognize astir the aboriginal of Doctor Who.