Damien Leone Explains Why Terrifier 3s Time Jump Was Essential

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Art the Clown, played by actor David Howard Thornton, smiles maniacally while wearing a Santa Claus costume and novelty glasses in Terrifier 3.

Editor's Note: This article contains spoilers for Terrifier 3.

Terrifier 3 gave a solid amount of breathing time to its main characters following the traumatic events of the film that came before it. When the main plot picks up, it’s been 5 years since Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and her younger brother, Jonathan (Elliott Fullam), fought for their lives against Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), and a lot has changed for all parties involved. While Art was in full hibernation mode, Sienna and Jonathan were trying to piece their lives together and recover from the insane trauma that they underwent. So, when we reconnect with the characters, not only have their day-to-day lives changed — with Jonathan now in college — but their relationship with one another has also shifted.

During a recent chat with Collider’s Nate Richard, franchise helmer Damien Leone shared why he had no choice but to put a handful of years between the second and third installments. While special effects and the magic of Hollywood can take things pretty far, there’s not much you can do with a teenage growth spurt. Leone explained:

“ I didn’t even want there to be a time jump with this movie . But we started shooting Terrifier 2 in 2018. And by the time it came out, I don’t even remember at this point, it may have been 2022 or something like that. And Jonathan, Elliott Fullam just grew so much . He got so much older and it just wouldn’t make sense. I would have had this take place the Christmas directly following that Halloween. But it just wouldn’t make sense because he grew up so much.”

Despite this not being the original plan, everything sort of just fell into place for the rest of Terrifier 3’s plot, with Leone adding:

“So I decided to have this time jump, which also has the movie finally land in real-time because we were dealing with a time frame that was keeping us years back. So it just wound up working out . And it also allowed me to explore what has been going on with Sienna this whole time. And what has she been dealing with? How has this trauma affected her? So it made her character richer. She’s been through more at this point. And that was an exciting chapter to explore with Sienna’s character, albeit the darkest one.”

‘Terrifier 3’: ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ of Damien Leone’s Horror Saga

While it at least seemed that Sienna and Jonathan had somewhat of an upper hand by the time the credits rolled in Terrifier 2, that was certainly not the case at the end of the third film. For starters, Jonathan met, what we can only imagine, was a terribly gruesome death, and Art is now back on the loose. Spotting a place to deliver some incredibly grim and dark storylines, Leone said of the cliffhanger dropped during the final moments of Terrifier 3:

“ This one is our Empire Strikes Back , where it just has that sort of dark chapter ending for every character involved.”

He went on to add how complex and gritty the emotions of LaVera’s Sienna were meant to be at the end of the movie, explaining:

“It was a dark chapter for that character, especially where she had to be for the finale of this film was the darkest exploration and an intensity that I’ve never had to experience Lauren go through before. And it was amazing to watch, but it was also very uncomfortable because we had to spend a lot of time in that mindset. So it was interesting, but a very important chapter in her character’s life.”

Terrifier 3 is now playing in cinemas. You can read Richard's full chat with Leone below.

'Terrifier 3' Director Reveals Why [Spoiler's] Death Was Off Screen

The director also ponders whether or not Art the Clown believes in Santa Claus.

Terrifier 3

Terrifier 3 follows survivors Sienna and her brother as they attempt to recover from their traumatic encounter with the sinister Art the Clown. As the holiday season arrives, their efforts to find peace are shattered when Art returns, intent on turning their Christmas into a new nightmare.

Release Date October 11, 2024

Director Damien Leone

Cast Lauren LaVera , David Howard Thornton , Antonella Rose , Elliott Fullam , Samantha Scaffidi , Margaret Anne Florence , Bryce Johnson , Alexa Blair Robertson , Mason Mecartea , Krsy Fox , Luciana VanDette , Clint Howard , Bradley Stryker , Daniel Roebuck , Chris Jericho , Tom Savini , Jason Patric , Alex Ross , Kailey Hyman , Kellen Raffaelo , Lisa Marie Falcone , Stephen Cofield Jr. , Corrine Kelly , Joe Falcone , Peter Mitchell , Marie Maser , Jon Abrahams

Runtime 125 Minutes

Writers Damien Leone

Studio(s) Dark Age Cinema , Fuzz on the Lens Productions

Distributor(s) Cineverse

prequel(s) Terrifier , Terrifier 2

Franchise(s) Terrifier

Character(s) Sienna , Art the Clown , Gabbie , Jonathan , Victoria Heyes , Jessica , Greg , Mia , Cole , Jennifer , Juliet , Smokey , Eddie , Santa / Charlie , Burke , Bystander , Michael , Mark , Brooke , Timmy , Dispatch , Officer Evans , Bag Lady , Dean , Cosplayer , Receptionist , Dennis

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