Ultra-gory 'Terrifier 3' is using puking viewers as a marketing tool. The same hype helped 'Terrifier 2' make $15 million on a $250,000 budget.
Jesse Korman/Signature Entertainment
- The ultra-gory "Terrifier" franchise follows a demonic serial killer called Art the Clown.
- Audience members walked out of a recent "Terrifier 3" screening, and one person vomited.
- A violent scene in "Terrifier 2" helped create buzz around the movie, helping it make $15 million.
Audience members were so disgusted by the ultra-gory horror movie "Terrifier 3" that they walked out of a screening last week — which is great news for its marketing team.
Director Damien Leone's "Terrifier" franchise tells the story of a demonic serial killer called Art the Clown, who brutalizes his victims with a hideous grin on his face.
Its makers will be keen to recreate the buzz surrounding the 2022 prequel "Terrifier 2." A hideous sequence featuring a woman being scalped, which was too much even for some seasoned horror fans, saw some audience members faint and vomit during "Terrifier 2" screenings. The hype likely helped the independent movie rake in $15 million against a budget of $250,000, despite having no backing from a major Hollywood studio.
The second film establishes supernatural lore surrounding the clown and one of his would-be victims, Sienna (Lauren LaVera). "Terrifier 3," which is out in cinemas on October 11, sees Art return to get revenge on Sienna and her family during the Christmas holidays. The film is so gory that it was given an 18+ rating in France: a first since "Saw III" in 2006.
Following a UK press screening on October 2, distributor Signature Entertainment posted on X that venue staff said 11 people walked out of the film and one person vomited.
The tweet was in reply to a photo shared by the "Terrifier 3" X account. It said "don't say we didn't warn you" alongside a photo of a sign reading: "THIS FILM CONTAINS EXTREME VIOLENCE AND EXCESSIVE GORE. IF YOU ARE FEELING UNWELL, PLEASE FIND A MEMBER OF STAFF."
Matt Hudson, the host of the Spook City horror movie podcast who attended the screening, told Business Insider that he saw viewers walk out and heard someone talking about the person vomiting.
Film analyst, Stephen Follows, told BI that while news of walkouts and vomiting used to be a warning to viewers over movies including "The Exorcist," nowadays it's a challenge to attract audiences.
"How are you going to get people to get off their butts and go into the cinema? Well, you say that 'this is a moment in time.' You say 'this is a live experience like nothing else.' This is a knowing wink and a joyous promise. It's gone from being a threat to a promise. it's a challenge as well. Can you cope where others cannot?
"From what I hear 'Terrifier 3' delivers, but they're certainly ramping up the expectations to the point where people are going to be like, 'Alright, I'll see I've got a strong stomach.'"
He added that some fans might be skeptical of reports of walkouts because they are so common. "What's interesting is the cultural acceptance of it. Horror fans will smile now, 'Oh, they're doing that. Okay, so that's how they're pitching it!' It's become a meme," he said.
Hudson, who is also a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, said that audiences have been desperate for a charismatic new horror icon, and Art has filled that void.
"I don't think we've had a real icon since the idea of Ghostface in 1996 and then before that you've got the classics, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Pinhead. So I think audiences also want a new icon, somebody who they almost go to see the film for Art rather than anybody else," he said.
It remains to be seen if "Terrifier 3" will be another cult hit — and what horrors will befall the victims of "Terrifier 4," which was greenlit in September.