Terrifier 2 has given the sadistic killer a whole new audience. Art is the creation of director Damian Leone, with the character being the centerpiece of 2013 anthology All Hallow's Eve. This film centered on a babysitter who watched a mysterious VHS tape that contained three tales of terror.
Art is featured in the wraparound and two of All Hallow's Eve's stories. The film received mixed reviews, but the reception to the evil clown convinced Leone to create a solo film around him; hence, the "MegaSlasher" Terrifier movies. This is also the reason Art is missing from 2015's All Hallow's Eve 2. This follow-up again focused on a woman watching a VHS featuring a selection of shorts (eight, in this case) and finding herself stalked by a mysterious killer. All Hallow's Eve 2 replaced Art the Clown with the Trickster, a slasher who dons a pumpkin mask. Sadly, both the character and the film itself lack the original's bite.
Art The Clown's Real Debut Was A Short Film
Art the Clown's screen history is slightly convoluted. All Hallow's Eve was his feature debut, but it wasn't his first appearance. Instead, he played a small but key role in Leone's 2008 short The 9th Circle. This saw a young woman waiting on a train menaced by the clown with black and white face makeup. After some light taunting, he injects the woman with a syringe and she's handed over to a demonic cult. Art only appears in the opening section, but the reception to the character saw Leone make him the star of All Hallow's Eve.
Leone also reused The 9th Circle as the first story in All Hallow's Eve but expanded with additional footage. His short film Terrifier made up the anthology's third story, which really established the tone for the franchise. In many ways, it's a condensed version of the eventual 2016 movie, where Art stalks a woman on Halloween and leaving a gruesome trail of bodies. It's a dark, nihilistic tale too, ending on one of the most unpleasant moments of the series - even compared to Terrifier 2's now infamous bedroom sequence. Looking at The 9th Circle now, it's interesting to chart the evil clown's screen evolution.
Is All Hallow's Eve Canon With The Terrifier Movies?
The success of the Terrifier films has eclipsed Art the Clown's humble origins. All Hallow's Eve is somewhat forgotten, but there's nothing to say it isn't canon with its spin-off franchise. Outside of Art himself, the films don't share any characters. The first Terrifier recycles some of the beats from the short film, but again, that might just be Art repeating his own evil tricks. The meta ending twist of All Hallow's Eve suggests the terror of the film doesn't stop just because the credits roll, which is also in keeping with Leone's twisted horror creation.
