Two years later Scarer 2 theatergoers in an uproar with its gruesome scenes, the third part in the series goes a step further. terrifying 3, which follows ruthless serial killer Art the Clown as he terrorizes a town before Christmas, had some audience members walking out within five minutes of its UK premiere.
Writer-director Damien Leone knew the first scene was so over-the-top that he would never get it financed by a major studio, and the film’s PR team confirmed in a statement that at least eleven audience members in total had left and one who has surrendered. For theaters in the US, where the film opens on October 11, the film has been labeled ‘not rated’, and France has banned minors from seeing the film in cinemas.
Leone told Yahoo Entertainment that he had to “push the boundaries” after the unexpected box office success (and swooning audiences) of Scarer 2.
“You want the next thing you do to be better,” he said. “It’s become a staple of the franchise that we really need to have delivered the goods with at least one epic murder scene… [it’s] kind built on controversy, exploitation and shock value.”
The first two More frightening films have striking murder scenes: the first involves a dingy basement and a hacksaw, and the second involves a bedroom, salt and bleach. Art the Clown does unthinkable things to people and laughs silently throughout the act. This is what the actor who has portrayed him since 2016 says more terrifying, David Howard Thornton, says his call.
“He does horrible things, but he does it in such an entertaining way,” he told Yahoo Entertainment. ‘He’s cute! I think people like the fact that he’s fun.”
With a bigger budget for Leone, a practical effects enthusiast, Art the Clown commits several barbaric murders in Scarer 3 – so much that Leone wasn’t even sure which moment would be the highlight of this film, even though he knew the first scene would be controversial.
The team released a teaser in November 2023 that suggested Art the Clown might kill a child at the start of the film – something that got some viewers up in arms, saying: More frightening had gone too far. Leone responded that he “liked to stir up controversy.”
“I like to push it to the limit, and then maybe get over it and see if I can get away with something you wouldn’t normally see,” he said. “But [I’m] Conscious not to go too far in that direction, because then you can really lose yourself in a world of extreme disgust and alienate a large majority of the audience.”
Leone said that as an artist, he doesn’t consider anything “off limits” as long as no actual harm is done because “everything is fictional.” The teaser was right: a child is brutally murdered terrifying 3, but the action itself happens off-screen.
“The audience doesn’t have to watch it if they don’t want to,” Leone said. “It’s their choice. No one ties them up in a chair like that A Clockwork Orange and force them to watch these films.”
Thornton said he constantly monitors the actors who are victims of Art the Clown’s violence to make sure they feel comfortable and safe, but as a former elementary school teacher, he’s most concerned about the children on set.
Anticipating another scene in Scarer 3 involving children – this one sees Art the Clown wreaking havoc at the mall in a Santa costume – Thornton brought all the child actors together to talk.
“I did a whole question-and-answer session with the kids so they could get to know me,” he said. “I don’t want them to panic about the makeup or anything like that.”
A horror icon is born
Thornton has been playing Art the Clown for years, but he’s still not used to seeing his heavily made-up face everywhere.
“It definitely changed my life. I waited tables for 13 years and was treated like crap every day by people over the smallest, most insignificant things like not having enough ranch [dressing] on the side of their salad,” he said. “[Now I] walk into a store and see an entire section dedicated to my character and it’s stunning.
Art the Clown first appeared in a pair of short films included in the horror anthology film All Hallows Eve in 2013. Thornton took over the character for 2016 More frightening after the original actor retired. The story of his audition is now infamous: Thornton showed up without a script, mimed the act of killing someone, tasted it and added spices, then happily skipped away.
For Thornton, it is Art the Clown’s cheerful clowning that gives him “personality and charisma.” Everything he does is a joke, but it’s still a terrifying “fusion of every iconic horror villain that came before.”
More than just a slasher
While each film takes the gore a step further, it also adds more plot and characterization. Leone said first More frightening is a showcase for Art the Clown, but the second introduces a final girl, Sienna (Lauren LaVera), who has become the “heart and soul” of the franchise in the third film and is “just as important as art,” according to Leone.
Sienna begins the second film as a high school student with a passion for cosplay. Through a series of encounters with Art the Clown, she realizes that she may be the only person who can defeat him. In the third film she is older and more traumatized, but triumphant. What Art the Clown really is and how they are connected is revealed along the way.
Just as Art the Clown has entered the canon of legendary movie villains, Sienna has become an iconic final girl. LaVera told Yahoo Entertainment that what sets her character apart from others is that “she constantly shows a lot of flaws.”
“I love a messy woman, and I love being able to bring my own messiness, which is inherent to me, into this character,” she said.
LaVera does “about 98%” of her own stunts for the More frightening movies. She has been a stuntwoman and has 20 years of martial arts training.
“I started out as an actor wanting to be Jackie Chan or Michelle Yeoh,” she said. “I like to be physical in roles, but [Leone] don’t make me do every little thing. … Some things he’s like, ‘No, if you get hurt, we’re screwed, so you don’t do this.’
Leone plans to continue the franchise for at least a fourth film, which is already in development. But it will have to be even wilder than this.
“I think the crazier things are in reality, the more cathartic release people want in movies,” he said. “So when bad things happen and people in this country are divided and hostility reaches a fever pitch, people need more intense liberation.”
Scarer 3 can be seen nationwide from October 11.
