Terrifier 3 Director Damien Leone Revealed A Fan Complaint

Summary

Fans are divided on gore in "Terrifier" sequels: some complain it's not enough, others say it's too much.
Director Damien Leone will strive for the right balance between plot and gore in "Terrifier 4" to please fans.
Previous Terrifier movies have balanced storytelling and gore; Director aims to maintain mainstream appeal with gore.

The horror sequel Terrifier 3 told another chilling tale about Art The Clown's next killing spree, and now the writer/director is talking about some feedback that he got from fans.

As GamesRadar+ reported, Damien Leone posted on X that some fans have complained that the Terrifier movies aren't gory enough. This is surprising to hear as the Terrifier franchise is considered one of the bloodiest that has ever been made. In fact, there were even stories of audience members leaving Terrifier 3 screenings because they felt physically ill because of the gore, although a Redditor says that might not be true.

Leone wrote:

"Man, these guys aren’t making it easy for me are they? It’s either 'Terrifier has absolutely no plot and is just mindless gore' or 'Terrifier has too much plot and not enough gore'…..Gosh darn it people I’ll find that sweet spot in T4 if it kills me!"

Art the Clown as Santa in Christmas Horror Movie Terrifier 3

As Leone shared in his X post, he will "find that sweet spot" between focusing on a compelling plot and gory scenes in Terrifier 4, which was announced in the fall of 2024. Fans of the Terrifier franchise would likely say the three previous movies had a good balance between strong storytelling and bloody kills. But as Leone's post proves, it's hard to please everyone, and some people are going to want more gore and others are going to want less.

In an interview with Gizmondo.com, Leone talked about his approach to gore. He talked about ensuring that the Terrifier franchise can stay fairly mainstream and said:

"But I do always try and push the boundaries of what people are used to seeing, but not too far—and on the other end, trying to maintain some level of accessibility, some sort of mass appeal... And I don’t think this movie needs to be put in some sort of niche box labeled just a gore fest. I think there’s a lot more a lot more to these movies."

As of now, there are no plot details for Terrifier 4, and there is no official release date, either. However, the previous three movies were released fairly close together. After Terrifier came out in 2018, Terrifier 2 was released in 2022, and that sequel was followed by Terrifier 3 in 2024. Art The Clown has a cool history that started even before this slasher franchise. He appeared in Leone's 2013 horror anthology movie All Hallows Eve, which includes a story called "Terrifier" but features Art The Clown in four different stories. As Dread Central reported in 2019, Leone wanted to raise $15,000 for a movie about the memorable villain on IndieGoGo. Although he didn't reach that goal, Dread Central noted that Terrifier 2's crowdfunding campaign was so successful that the campaign met its goal when the page had been up for a couple of hours.

After seeing Leone's post, horror fans are likely even more curious about what Terrifier 4 will be like. Whether or not Art The Clown is a supernatural figure or a human being, his killing sprees aren't going to conclude anytime soon, at least not until the slasher franchise ends for good. Since Terrifier 4 might be the last movie in the franchise, fans are even more interested in seeing what happens next.