Terrifier 2became a horror phenomenon in 2022. A movie made on the kind of budget that most blockbusters would balk at the low-budget nature of the sequel invoked memories of Wes Craven’s originalA Nightmare on Elm Streetwith its ingenious and quite frankly sickening special effects, and a central entity that became an instant horror icon in Art the Clown. Having made a huge profit at the box office, and instigateda re-release of its predecessorand the movie that originally brought the gleefully silent and sadistic killer to life, it is not surprising that things will be getting bigger for the for the next instalment. However, writer and directorDamien Leonewould love to work with two other huge genre icons.
Although the writers and actors strike is now wreaking its own kind of havoc in Hollywood,work onTerrifier 3began earlier this year, with plans to expand the universe Art inhabits thanks to it’s expanded seven-figure budget, an impossible-to-comprehend leap from the $250,000 that the two and half hour gorefest ofTerrifier 2was made on. However, as well as continuing Art’s story, Leone would love to be able to do his own take onFriday the 13th, and wouldn’t mind seeing Art go up against a certain knife-fingered dream demon as well. He toldMad Monster Party Arizona:
“If I could make or reboot or have my crack at one of the classic films, I would love to take a shot at Friday the 13th. Jason was always my number one as a kid. We get asked a lot if we could have Art “team up” with somebody or fight somebody. I would love to have him team up or fight Freddy because I feel like their sense of humors would work really well together.”
Based on the current legalities around both of those franchises, plus theFriday the 13thprojects already in development, it seems unlikely that we will be seeing Art vs Freddy in anything other some pieces of fan artwork.
Related:Art the Clown: The True Story Behind the Terrifier Villain, Explained
Terrifier 3 Could Be Great if it Remembers its Roots.
Terrifier 2was a huge leap from the 2016 original, which itself came off the back of previous short appearances by the malevolent character of Art the Clown as far back as 2008’sThe 9th Circle. Having built a creepy mythology intoTerrifier 2, which took the sequel much further than the very straight-forward slasher story of the first film, there is a lot of expectation onTerrifier 3to continue to build on that but it cannot lose sight of the low-budget way of thinking that madeTerrifer 2such a great movie for horror fans.
Many comparisons have been made betweenTerrifierand theEvil Deadfranchise, and there are many notable similarities between the paths of the two movies. Damien Leone’s franchise has the ability to be this generation’sEvil Dead, a movie that has managed to shock in an unshockable age but now has the task of outdoing itself once again without ruining everything it has laid down previously.
