Even though it didn’t make a billion dollars or score any awards, there’s no denying Damien Leone’s “Terrifier 2” was one of the most successful horror films of 2022. And for this special Halloween episode of The Playlist Podcast, I’m sharing a recent interview I conducted with Leone, the writer-director of one of the most successful horror films of the last year, “Terrifier 2.” Why am I interviewing a filmmaker about a movie that came out a year ago? Well, the film is actually getting a re-release in theaters on November 1, and the new version will feature a special teaser for “Terrifier 3.”
If you’re unfamiliar with Leone’s work in the “Terrifier” franchise, basically it’s a pretty simple premise. There’s this killer mime, Art the Clown, who goes around and… dun dun dun, terrifies people and butchers them in horrific ways. The first film found its footing on streaming where horror fans devoured it, reveling in the grotesque gore and the incredible character design of Art the Clown. But last year, Leone blew the roof off the franchise with “Terrifier 2,” an epic horror film that raises the bar in terms of blood and gore, but also with its storytelling, introducing a mythology and true final girl for the franchise.
And holy shit, did fans love it.
The film was released in select theaters and earned a ton of money at the box office, becoming one of the biggest hits, relatively speaking, of the year. The film had a micro budget, even smaller than those Blumhouse movies, and ended up earning more than $15 million at the box office. Keep in mind, this is a 2.5-hour, unrated, ultra-violent horror film that served as a sequel to a movie that really only existed on streaming.
So, with the re-release coming up, I was joined by Leone to discuss the last year, where he saw his upstart slasher franchise turn into a box office success story. We also dive into the creation of “Terrifier 2,” and why he decided to go much bigger for his sequel, adding a supernatural slant to his slasher franchise.
“I really wanted to embrace that supernatural element,” Leone explained. “As much as I love that Art the Clown is a human—that almost makes him scarier—you can’t really have these wonderful, intense climaxes between your killer and protagonist without your killer receiving some sort of deathblow. So, I just wanted to get that over with very quickly and explore the killer coming back from the dead but really embody that supernatural element.”
He added, “Coming into ‘Terrifier 2,’ I knew this was my time to really hone my skills as a storyteller. I wanted this film to be bigger and really have that ‘Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors’ vibe, if I was going to explore the supernatural. I feel as if that film, in particular, marries the two so wonderfully. It has that grindhouse, sinister tone of ‘Nightmare 1,’ but you bring in that more fantastical element.”
And of course, since the “Terrifier 3” teaser is a huge selling point for the re-release of last year’s film, Leone talked a bit about what fans of the franchise can expect with the newest installment.
“I like giving people 50% of what they know works and then a big gamble or something to keep it fresh,” he teased. “I always like to keep it interesting and new. So, we’re doing that again [in ‘Terrifier 3] big time.”
He continued, “We’re still going to follow Sienna and her brother on their journey. We’ll see how they responded to this insane trauma, this insane event that’s happened to them. I want to go back, tonally, more to ‘Terrifier 1.’ The first one was grittier, darker, more simplistic—a more retro slasher film. I want to be careful that we don’t go too far into the ‘Dream Warriors’ now. I like the checks and balances. I like to keep Art the Clown, first and foremost, terrifying, sadistic, and mean…Hopefully, [‘Terrifier 3’] is the scariest and darkest of the trilogy, so far.”
The theatrical re-release of “Terrifier 2” hits theaters on November 1. You can hear the full discussion below: