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Art the Clown is the main antagonist of the Terrifier franchise.
He is a demonic clown with mime-like qualities who appears on Halloween nights to wreak havoc and torture others. After being ressurected by "The Little Pale Girl", Art became immortal and invulnerable. The character appears in many of director Damien Leone's works, originating in the short film The 9th Circle before taking on a more prominent role in feature horror films. He is also the archenemy of Sienna Shaw and Victoria Heyes.
In All Hallows' Eve, he was portrayed by Mike Giannelli, (who also played the demonic figure in The 9th Circle.) He is later portrayed by David Howard Thornton in Terrifier, Terrifier 2, and Terrifier 3, who also played the title character in The Mean One.
Quick Answers
What is the origin story of Art the Clown in the Terrifier franchise?
What are the mime-like qualities of Art the Clown?
Why does Art the Clown kill on Halloween nights?
Appearance
Art the Clown dons the appearance of a clown dressed in black and white costume. He is often shown carrying a black trash bag, in which he keeps his various crude weapons. His face is painted pale white, while his eyes, mouth, and (fake) eyebrows are painted black. He wears a white bald cap on his head, complete with a small black hat strapped on top. It is revealed in Terrifier that Art has a normal Caucasian skin tone, along with shaved eyebrows. He is depicted as being somewhat tall and having a thin build.
Art's appearance changes drastically throughout the short films that are shown in All Hallows' Eve. In the first short VHS film, he has the appearance of a human clown. In the second and third short VHS films, his appearance has become more unsettling, with him having filthy, rotting teeth, an abnormally shaped head, deeply sunken cheeks, and an elongated, crooked nose that comes to an unnaturally sharp point (although this may be due to the usage of prosthetic facial features and makeup). Art dons this same appearance in the film Terrifier.
Personality
An exceedingly vile and dangerous killer clown, Art is a sadistic demon with a penchant for viciously slaughtering nearly anyone he encounters. His preferred method of killing and torture is through gruesome mutilation in which he keeps his victims alive just to see how much torture a person can endure. Art possesses an array of unnatural abilities, which he uses to induce paralyzing fear in his victims.
An extremely dedicated serial killer, Art stops at nothing until he corners his prey. He relentlessly chases, terrorizes, and stalks his victims, ultimately deciding whether to kill them in a slow, sadistic manner or to spare their lives, leaving them to live with the trauma he inflicted. Unlike other silent slashers, Art is highly expressive and emotional, using exaggerated gestures and facial expressions to communicate. True to his clownish appearance, he never speaks or makes any audible noises, even miming screams of pain when injured. This suggests that Art, at least within the Terrifier continuity, was born mute.
While his primary activities are torture and murder, he also has pettier habits, such as vulgar graffiti, or smearing fecal matter all over a cafe's restroom, which also implements graffiti as he wrote his name in feces. His obsession with mutilating bodies also extends to animals, although only notable example was a roadkilled racoon and rats.
Art's theatricality is evident in his killing style, as he often performs his kills in an animated, comedic manner. He silently laughs when his targets are in peril, adding a macabre touch to his sadistic pursuits. Notably, scenes in Terrifier directed by Leone often feature Art smearing feces on restroom walls, a disturbing habit that has puzzled fans.
Despite his viciousness, Art exhibits cowardly tendencies. When Tara has him pinned down, he pretends to surrender, only to draw a pistol and shoot her in the leg to regain the upper hand. When cornered by two police officers, Art opts to shoot himself in the face rather than confront them, unaware of his impending resurrection. Art's panic is evident when Sienna turns his cat o' nine tails against him. His arrogance crumbles when the odds shift to his victims' favor, revealing his tendency to cheat or panic when his victims fight back.
Victims in order
So far, Art the Clown has killed 52-57 victims in order, along with 2 animals (with 1 of them being already dead).
All Hallows' Eve
- Gas Station Worker - Arm and hand cut off by Art, then decapitated with a saw.
- Unnamed Man - Shot in the head by Art.
- Unnamed Costume Designer - Limbs amputated by Art, breasts cut off, misogynistic obscenities carved into body. (Presumably killed afterwards)
- Tia - Decapitated by Art. (Head seen)
- Timmy - Decapitated by Art. (Head seen)
Terrifier
- Steve - Decapitated, head turned into a jack-o'-lantern.
- Ramone - Fingers sliced off, stabbed multiple times in a face.
- Dawn - Sliced her body in half while chained upside down.
- Tara Heyes - Shot 7x then presumably mauled her face as her body was seen in a chair.
- Cat Lady - Breasts cut off and head scalped. (Body seen)
- Will - Head stabbed and cut off by 2 knives.
- Mike - Stomped on his head, then squashed.
Terrifier 2
- Seth Bolton - Even though he was not killed from the choke in the first film, Art brutally smashes his face multiple times with a dual head then ripped his brain out.
- Unnamed Man in the waiting room - Stabbed in the head with the mop stick. (Body seen)
- 14 Clown Cafe Patrons - Shot with a Tommy gun.
- Clown Cafe Singer - Set on fire.
- Ricky - Stabbed in the eye with a bottle then sliced his head with a hatchet and later was using it as a Halloween decoration. But eventually threw it away.
- Allie - Left eye sliced vertically, scalped with scissors, back sliced open, left arm broken, right hand vertically ripped in half down to the forearm, sliced six times, bleach poured and salt rubbed into wounds, left side of face ripped off, and chunks of her legs sawed off.
- Allie's Mother - Decapitated and head used as a Halloween candy bowl.
- Barbara Shaw - Head blown off with a sawn-off shotgun.
- Jeff - Stabbed in the crotch and genitals ripped off.
- Brooke - Face melted with acid, beaten with a makeshift mace, heart ripped out and eaten.
Terrifier 3
- Timmy Thomas - Dismembered with an axe.
- Mark Thomas - Hit with an axe in bed multiple times.
- Jennifer Thomas - Hit in the back and stomach with an axe. Arm cut off and hit in the skull.
- Juliet Thomas - Killed with an axe (Debatable).
- Officer Evans - Decapitated.
- Unnamed Nurse - Face bitten by Art the Clown's head, body shown.
- Adam Burke - Lower jaw ripped off by Victoria Hayes and scalp partially ripped off by Art the Clown's body. Shared kill.
- Unnamed Art the Clown Cosplayer - Killed by Art the Clown and/or Victoria, clothes shown.
- Dennis - Stabbed in the hand with a large nail, fingers eaten, scalp cut in half with a box cutter and head's skin ripped in half.
- Rat - Smashed apart against a table after being frozen with liquid nitrogen.
- Smokey - Shot in the head with a handgun, blood splatter shown.
- Eddie - Bled out after being shot in the neck with a handgun.
- Charles Johnson - Kneecap, hand, and half of his face bashed repeatedly with a hammer after freezing them with liquid nitrogen.
- Corey - Killed in an explosion made by an explosive present.
- Unnamed Mother - Head blown apart in an explosion caused by an explosive present.
- Three Children - Died in the explosion.
- Mia Carpenter - Breasts, hip, and arms sliced off, face cut open partially in half at the cheek, and sawed in half through the waist with a chainsaw.
- Cole Deveraux - Hand and fingers sliced off, leg partially severed and ripped off, rectum sliced in half, arm sawed off, head sliced in half, and cut partially vertically in half through the groin with a chainsaw.
- Greg Shaw - Decapitated by either Art the Clown or "Victoria", stomach sliced open, body shown.
- Jonathan Shaw - Presumably killed by either Art the Clown or "Victoria Hayes", skull shown.
- Jessica Shaw - Plastic tube rammed down her throat with a hammer, rats were put in it and forced to go down, throat sliced open by Art the Clown and Victoria Hayes with a kitchen knife. Shared kill.
Powers and Abilities
Pre-resurrection
- Brute strength: Art was able to saw a woman in half, cut a hand with a single swing of a meat cleaver and destroyed a skull and a jaw with three stomps.
- Near-Superhuman Durability: He casually survived being beaten by a plank, being stabbed in the foot and was even able to chase Victoria despite her stabbing him trough the eye, being more annoyed than affected.
Post-resurrection
- Superhuman Strength: Art cracked open a man's skull with a tiny hammer before tearing it open with his bare hands, stabbed a broken piece of a mop into a man's head. Broke and tore off a woman's arm by the elbow before tearing the other arm in half horizontally. Easily fragmented a car window with two punches while laughing tore open a woman's ribcage, and knocked a door off its hinges by smashing Sienna Shaw into it.
- Superhuman Durability:survived a point blank shot with a sawn off Shotgun,being stabbed in the head twice Only knocked him briefly and survived being sliced in the neck twice and Even after being decapitated by Sienna he gets shot twice in the stomach and is unnafected.
- Regeneration: Art The Clown has Incredibly healing skills having Recovered after shooting himself through the head (albeit after an unknown amount of time) Regenerated after having his eye ripped out with a railroad Spike. In Terrifier 3, he even reattached his head after being decapitated and seemingly healed after Sienna slashed his throat.
- Body Control: As shown in Terrifier 3, Art can still move his body despite having no head, and even continued to live as a severed head.
- Enhanced Senses: In Terrifier 3, Art could walk and move casually despite having no head, even managing to find and murder a police officer despite having no eyes. In Terrifier 2, he managed to find a laundromat just fine despite lacking an eye and having a bullet hole in his skull.
- Self-Sustenance: Art sat in a chair for five years without eating, drinking water or even blinking,yet almost instantly woke up to murder Dennis without any issue.
- Fire Manipulation: In Terrifier 2, Art while in Sienna's dream, caused a candle to suddenly burst into abnormally large flames.
Trivia
- According to Damien Leone in an interview, Art did not realize that he would come back to life before he shot himself in the head (despite this, it was revealed he was resurrected).
- Contrary to the character himself, Art's current actor, David Howard Thornton, has been described by cast members as being very fun and friendly to work with, and he remains good friends with the actors in both films.
- While working on the laundromat scene in Terrifier 2, someone had called the police when they saw David Howard Thornton walking down the street covered in fake blood.
- Thornton had taken major inspiration from his late friend, Stefån Karl Stefånnson, whom he understudied playing Robbie Rotten.
- In order to promote the film Terrifier 3, the Twitter account Bloody Disgusting set up a phone number where anyone could call Art the Clown himself. Art of course never actually says anything, instead opting to just honk a clown horn several times, however several people who have called Art later received a single cent from him on Venmo.
- It is unknown if Art will actually ever die in any Terrifier film, as the next person who interacts with him in the endings is prepared to be his next victim in the next sequel.
- David Howard Thornton revealed in an interview with The Direct that while Art is perfectly fine with murder and torture, one crime he'd never commit is rape. This is not because Art is morally against it, but rather he is entirely asexual and has no interest in sex at all.
- Although, at least two of his murders are arguably sexual assault, as he bisected Dawn via the groin first, and he emasculated Jeff when he was urinating. Perhaps not an intentional action, however, there is a rape implication by Victoria being forced to birth Art's head that magically manifested in her womb.
- Art the Clown was originally created trying to be the opposite of Pennywise. In fact, the former does not have hair unlike Pennywise and does not dress in bright colors. However, Art seems more like a mime (despite technically being a monochromatic silent clown) than a clown.
External Link
- Art the Clown on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Art the Clown on the Terrifier Wiki
 Villains
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The 9th Circle All Hallows' Eve Terrifier Terrifier 2 Terrifier 3 | ||