The evil clown, also known as the killer clown if their character revolves around murder, is a subversion of the traditional comic clown character, in which the playful trope is instead depicted in a more disturbing nature through the use of horror elements and dark humor. The modern archetype of the evil clown was popularized by the DC Comics supervillain Joker starting in 1940, and again by Pennywise in Stephen King's It. The character can be seen as playing on the sense of unease felt by sufferers of coulrophobia, the fear of clowns.
Johannes Roberts is a British filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He is known for directing horror films such as The Other Side of the Door, 47 Meters Down and its sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Night and Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.
All Hallows' Eve is a 2013 American horror anthology film written, directed and edited by Damien Leone, in his feature film directorial debut. The film is presented as a series of shorts that two children and their babysitter discover on an unmarked videotape on Halloween night, all of which feature a homicidal clown named Art the Clown. The film stars Katie Maguire, Catherine Callahan, Marie Maser, and Kayla Lian, with Mike Giannelli as Art the Clown. It incorporates footage from the 2008 short film The 9th Circle, as well as the 2011 short film Terrifier, both of which were also directed by Leone and featured Art the Clown.
Terrifier is a 2016 American slasher film written and directed by Damien Leone. The film stars Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, David Howard Thornton, and Catherine Corcoran. The plot centers on partygoer Tara Heyes (Kanell) and her sister Victoria (Scaffidi), who become targets of the enigmatic serial killer only known as Art the Clown (Thornton) on Halloween night.
Jack Attack is a 2013 American short holiday horror film about a babysitter, her charge Jack, and parasitic pumpkins, written and directed by Bryan Norton and Antonio Padovan, who were also responsible, respectively, for special make-up and mechanical effects, and set design. The short was selected by more than a hundred festivals internationally and won more than thirty awards, and was selected for two anthology films in the US: Seven Hells (2014), and All Hallows' Eve 2 (2015).
Creepshow is an American horror anthology television series that was released on Shudder in 2019. The series serves as a continuation of the 1982 film of the same name and features seventeen episodes with two horror stories per episode. The series premiered on September 26, 2019.
Samantha Scaffidi is an American actress, writer, and director. She began her career in short films before becoming known for her role as Victoria Heyes in the Terrifier film franchise—appearing in Terrifier (2016), Terrifier 2 (2022) and Terrifier 3 (2024). Additionally, she had a leading role as Luce in Demon Hole (2017). In addition to acting, Scaffidi is known for directing the RAINN public service announcement Wait (2019).
Art the Clown is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the Terrifier franchise and related media. Created by Damien Leone, he first appeared in the short films The 9th Circle (2008) and Terrifier (2011) before making his feature film debut in All Hallows' Eve (2013). In these early appearances, he was portrayed by Mike Giannelli before his retirement from acting. He was replaced by David Howard Thornton, who portrayed Art in Terrifier (2016), Terrifier 2 (2022), and Terrifier 3 (2024).
Terrifier 2 is a 2022 American slasher film written, directed, edited and produced by Damien Leone. A sequel to Terrifier (2016), it is the second film centered solely around Art the Clown and third feature-length film to feature the character. It is the fourth installment and sixth overall installment in the Terrifier franchise. It includes the return of David Howard Thornton and Samantha Scaffidi, who portrayed Art the Clown and Victoria Heyes, respectively, in the first film, and stars Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, Sarah Voigt, Kailey Hyman and Casey Hartnett. The plot follows Art's resurrection and pursuit of teenage Sienna Shaw (LaVera) and her younger brother Jonathan (Fullam) on Halloween night—a year after the events of the first film.
Sienna Shaw is a fictional character in the Terrifier franchise. Sienna first appears in Terrifier 2 (2022) as a teenager interested in cosplay who battles the enigmatic villain Art the Clown. She is portrayed by Lauren LaVera, who will reprise the role in further installments. Sienna's creator, Damien Leone, invested a lot of time into fully developing her as a character as he regretted leaving the first film's heroine Victoria Heyes underdeveloped. The character originates from an abandoned film Leone was developing in the late 2000s, featuring the concept of a Valkyrie-angel warrior attired heroine battling Art.
Damien Leone is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer known for writing and directing All Hallows' Eve (2013), Terrifier (2016), and Terrifier 2 (2022), each of which feature his character Art the Clown. He is currently working on Terrifier 3 (2024).
Saw X is a 2023 American horror film directed and edited by Kevin Greutert and written by Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg. The film is the tenth installment in the Saw film series, serving as both a direct sequel to Saw (2004) and a prequel to Saw II (2005), starring Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith who reprise their roles from the previous films, acting alongside Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Renata Vaca, and Michael Beach, who play new characters. The film sees John Kramer (Bell) travelling to Mexico in hopes that an experimental procedure may cure his terminal cancer. John later discovers that the operation is a scam, prompting him to kidnap those responsible and subject them to his trademark death traps as retribution.
Stream is an upcoming American horror film directed, co-written and co-produced by Michael Leavy. It stars Jeffrey Combs, Danielle Harris, Dee Wallace, Tim Reid, Mark Holton, Felissa Rose, Tony Todd, Daniel Roebuck, Dave Sheridan, Terry Alexander, Damian Maffei and David Howard Thornton. Several producers and crew members for Stream, including director Leavy, were previously involved with the productions of the 2016 film Terrifier and its sequel Terrifier 2, as well as upcoming Terrifier 3.
All Hallows' Eve 2 is a 2015 American horror anthology film. The film is a standalone sequel to All Hallows' Eve (2013). The film was released on VOD and digital on October 6, 2015, and had a DVD release on February 2, 2016. The film grossed $30,658 in home sales.
Lauren LaVera is an American actress, stunt performer and martial artist. She is primarily known for being the leading actress in several horror films, which has led to her being called a "scream queen" by both critics and audiences. LaVera has received accolades for her performances, such as a Fangoria Chainsaw Award.
Terrifier 3 is an upcoming Christmas slasher film written and directed by Damien Leone. It stars Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, David Howard Thornton, and Samantha Scaffidi, who reprise their roles from prior films. The film is a sequel to Terrifier 2 (2022) and will reintroduce possessed survivor Victoria Heyes in a more prominent role.
Victoria Heyes is a fictional character in the Terrifier franchise. She first appears in Terrifier (2016) as a young woman who battles the enigmatic serial killer Art the Clown on Halloween night; the encounter leaves her severely disfigured, causing her descent into madness. In this film, she was portrayed by Samantha Scaffidi—who reprises the role in the sequels Terrifier 2 (2022) and Terrifier 3 (2024).
David Howard Thornton is an American actor. He is known for his role as Art the Clown from the Terrifier franchise, a role in which he appeared in Terrifier (2016), Mistress Peace Theatre (2020), Terrifier 2 (2022) and Bupkis (2023) and is set to reprise in Terrifier 3 (2024). He has had other various roles in film, television and video games, including Two Worlds II: Pirates of the Flying Fortress (2011), Ride to Hell: Retribution (2013), Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom (2013), Gotham (2017), The Bravest Knight (2019), The Exigency (2019), Alma's Way (2021) and starring as the Mean One in The Mean One (2022).
The Twisted Childhood Universe, or The TCU, is a British multimedia franchise and shared continuity of independent slasher-horror films, each serving as a dark reimagining of various public domain children's fairy tale media characters. It was conceived and created by Rhys Frake-Waterfield, and produced by the filmmaker's Jagged Edge Productions film studio. The plot centers around beloved childhood characters, and through the storytelling lens of these characters becoming dark murderous monsters.
