'Terrifier' Director and 'Evil Dead' Creator Officially Team-Up For New Horror Nightmare

4 hours ago 3

Published May 29, 2026, 1:35 PM EDT

Hannah has been writing about horror, sci-fi, and all things nerdy since 2021. At Collider, she covers news and conducts interviews, along with contributing features that dive deep into genre storytelling and why it works. If there’s something lurking in the shadows, she’s probably already writing about it if she's not too busy watching a tape from her VHS collection.

Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) may still have one more New Year's Eve-themed rampage ahead of him, but Damien Leone is already looking beyond the killer clown that turned him into one of horror's biggest modern success stories. Following years of growing success with the Terrifier franchise, the filmmaker has officially lined up his next nightmare.

Lionsgate has announced it has acquired Tortures of the Damned, Leone's next horror feature and his first original project following the rise of the Terrifier series. Leone will write, direct, and produce the movie after completing Terrifier 4, which is currently in pre-production. Plot details are being kept tightly under wraps. The project also brings together an impressive group of horror heavyweights behind the scenes. Leone will team with legendary producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, who are producing through their Ghost House Pictures banner. Scott O'Brien and Pavan Kalidindi will oversee the project for Lionsgate, while Romel Adam and Jose Cañas will oversee for Ghost House and executive produce.

Sam Raimi and Ghost House Bring Even More Horror Pedigree To 'Tortures of the Damned'

'Tortures of the Damned' announcement image

Leone's partnership with Raimi and Tapert only raises expectations for the project. Through Ghost House Pictures, the duo has helped shepherd numerous horror hits over the years, while Raimi himself remains one of the genre's most influential filmmakers thanks to classics like The Evil Dead and Drag Me to Hell. Raimi recently returned to directing with Send Help, one of the best horror movies of 2026, and he is also attached to direct and produce a remake of Magic for Lionsgate. His collaboration with Leone feels like a natural pairing of two filmmakers who share a love for practical effects, crowd-pleasing scares, and pushing horror to memorable extremes.

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Erin Westerman celebrated the partnership in a statement accompanying the announcement.

"We're incredibly proud and excited to be partnering with Damien Leone on his first original film after the beloved Terrifier series. I join the huge contingency of horror fans — and Damien fans — inside Lionsgate who have been following his work and cheering him on. Damien is a true genre auteur with a singular vision, and we're thrilled to help bring this bold new project to the screen while continuing to build on the incredible connection he has with fans around the world."

No release window has been announced for Tortures of the Damned, and with Terrifier 4 still ahead of it, audiences may be waiting some time before Leone's latest nightmare arrives. Even so, a new horror movie from the creator of Art the Clown, backed by Raimi, Tapert, Ghost House, and Lionsgate, immediately becomes one of the genre's most intriguing projects in development, so stay tuned with Collider for future updates.