The Terrifier team don’t do half measures, and that can be seen in this behind-the-scenes video showing actor David Howard Thornton transforming into the horrifying Art the Clown.
Terrifier 3 is yet another global success, racing to first place at the US box office with an impressive $18.3 million haul from its opening weekend.
It beat out the likes of Joker 2, which is a particularly massive feat given the DC sequel cost an estimated $200 million, while Damien Leone’s horror movie threequel was made on a budget of approximately $2 million.
One of the reasons fans love the Terrifier movies so much is thanks to their creative kills, and Terrifier 3 has plenty of those – from the Vicky glass scene to the American Psycho-inspired sequence.
But one of the most significant reasons is, of course, our favorite new horror villain, Art the Clown. Thornton brings the goods with his performance, which involves no dialogue whatsoever and instead relies on expert miming.
His character design dreamt up by Leone is nothing short of perfection, with his creepy white mask and blacked-out mouth and eyes making Pennywise seem like Barney the Dinosaur.
If you’re wondering how he’s transformed from a regular guy into the terrifying killer clown, X/Twitter user @HorrorXArt has shared a sped-up clip of the process that was filmed by GalaxyCon:
David Howard Thornton's transformation into Art The Clown 🎥: GalaxyCon pic.twitter.com/TI1YtpU289
— 𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗢🩸🎬 (@HorrorXArt) October 14, 2024
As you’ll see, it starts with gluing the mask down, which already has the pointed cheekbones, hook nose, and raised eyebrows painted on.
Next, the makeup artist gets to work on the panda eyes and mouth, before putting on the costume – tiny top hat and all. The finishing touch is, of course, those hideous teeth.
Terrifier fans are sharing their praise for the team and Thornton himself, with one writing in the comments section, “His facial expressions are so top notch.”
“That smile is crazy,” said another, while a third added, “David Howard for new Freddy.” A fourth chimed in, “So iconic.”
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According to reports, the whole process takes between three and four hours. Which is why, when Thornton neatly vomited while filming one particularly gruesome scene for Terrifier 3, his makeup artist was on hand to stop him.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he said, “I, unfortunately, was not able to tag in my double because my face was shown the whole entire time in the shot, and I was like, ‘Oh, no, no, no.’
“It deals with something that I just do not like in general, and it’s something that always makes me nauseous when I see it. I feel that Damien specifically put that element into this one kill scene just to see if he could break me, and it worked. (Laughs.)
“So I almost went over the edge, but I stopped myself because I did not want to ruin my makeup,” he added. “My makeup artist had spent hours doing it, and she was standing there on the side, saying, ‘Don’t you dare, David! Don’t you dare.'”
FYI the scene in question is the American Psycho-inspired kill. Just in case you haven’t seen it yet, we won’t give anything else away here.
While we’ve all grown to know and love Art the Clown, for Sienna actress Lauren LaVera, seeing Thornton in makeup for the first time came as a bit of a shock – but that was mostly down to how he chose to reveal himself.
In a conversation with Dexerto, LaVera told us, “My first day on set (for Terrifier 2), I think I worked with Dave on my first day, and he scared me from behind.”
“I was getting my hair and makeup done and we were in this little room – it was barely a room – and there was a door with a little window in the door and he was just looking through it with this really terrifying glare.
“I’m just talking to the girls in the room who were doing my hair and makeup, and I turned and I jumped. It was such a jump scare. And he was just snickering like a little s**t. (Laughs.) It was a nice welcome to the franchise.”
Terrifier 3 is in cinemas now. For more from Art the Clown, check out our ranking of the best kills, how old you need to be to watch it, and why Terrifier 4 being the last film in the Art saga is the right decision. If you’ve seen it already, read our breakdown of the ending.
