Damien Leone’s ‘Terrifier 2’ was something of a bright-shining, game-changing miracle for the horror community last year. It was a crowdfunded sequel running nearly two and a half hours and featuring gore that garnered buzz about puking and fainting at screenings — not your run of the mill box office success story.
But to the delight of huge horror lovers like us, we witnessed a massive indie success — $15 million nationwide on a microbudget of $250,000 — thanks to word of mouth, and a strategic theatrical push from Bloody Disgusting. Creatively and culturally, it was our little film that could, complete with a punk rock attitude and unparalleled practical effects.
That’s why we’re so thrilled to see that the next rampage for Art the Clown will get the theatrical release it should. In a feature with director Damien Leone, Variety shared that ‘Terrifier 3’ will get a wide theatrical release in North America next year, courtesy of Cineverse Corp. The film will then receive an exclusive debut on Screambox, the horror streaming platform from Bloody Disgusting and Cineverse. Taking the independent rather the studio route will make for an uncut, no-holds-barred approach. In other words: the same extreme horror experience fans love about the first two films.
As part of the announcement, Leone shared his appreciation for the Cineverse partnership, and the creative freedom it’ll allow not just for the ‘Terrifier’ films, but hopefully for the horror genre more broadly:
“Many studios are unwilling to take that sort of a risk these days whereas Cineverse not only took it but embraced it. It’s pretty clear that we’re now entering a slasher genre renaissance; perhaps the biggest one since the 90s. Filmmakers like myself are gonna have to keep pushing the envelope so it’s encouraging when a company respects a director’s vision and understands what makes a certain type of film successful.”
We can expect a fall 2024 release for the slasher threequel, with a full 360 marketing campaign, Bloody Disgusting / Cineverse shared. We can only hope this is the start of a new era for indie horror success and visibility.
