Terrifier 4 Gets First Major Update From Director (And Teases Art the Clown’s Origin Story)

Terrifier 4 is in the works, and writer-director Damien Leone has revealed what horror fans can expect from Art the Clown‘s next tale of gruesome slaughter. Leone took to his Instagram to reveal the script for Terrifier 4, stating that “it is shaping up to be the most epic, horrifying, thrilling, emotional and satisfying conclusion to the Terrifier saga” in his post. Leone also took the opportunity to add, “P.S. I will finally reveal Art’s origin in this entry.” Obviously, that last detail from Leone is all but guaranteed to be one of the biggest drivers of anticipation for Terrifier 4 among fans of the series, given the extreme ambiguity of Art the Clown as a character.

To date, the Terrifier franchise has only made two things perfectly clear about Art the Clown: that he is a bloodthirsty monster who delights in sadistically butchering his victims, and that he has an unexplained, supernatural backstory. While the Terrifier movies have been emphatic on Art’s bloodlust from the start, his otherworldly origins have been alluded to more gradually.

The first Terrifier introduced Art the Clown (David Thornton Howard) as what appeared to be a mass-murdering clown preying upon his victims on Halloween night. However, Art returning after his apparent suicide at the end of the movie revealed that not all was what it seemed with him. Art’s subsequent rampage in Terrifier 2 ended even more brutally for him with Art being decapitated by the franchise’s heroine Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera), only to return to life in a psych ward with his former-victim-turned-ally, the horribly disfigured Victoria Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi).

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Art, Victoria, and Sienna’s roles in the Christmas-themed sequel Terrifier 3 really pulled back the curtain on the supernatural qualities of all three, with Victoria having become demonically possessed as Art’s partner. Additionally, following Victoria’s decapitation by Sienna, her blood opens a literal portal to Hell, with Art also again surviving having his throat slashed by Sienna.

While the Terrifier movies have kept Art the Clown’s motives and origins vague, Terrifier 3 is the first to hint at him being a literal demon from Hell taking on the form of a killer clown. Moreover, Sienna is given just the opposite framing, with Terrifier 3 portraying her as a Jesus figure with such symbolism as Sienna being fitted with a crown of thorns and healing wounds in her hands. It would seem that with Terrifier 3, Leone has positioned Sienna as Jesus to Art’s Satan, with Terrifier 4 intended to pay off the supernatural (and potentially Biblical) origins of each.

Of course, the Terrifier franchise isn’t exactly one whose popularity stems from the intricacies of its plot. As the definition of an underground horror hit that has gradually blossomed into mainstream popularity, the Terrifier franchise regularly makes headlines for the sheer level of carnage Art unleashes upon his victims (to the point of even bringing David Thornton Howard himself close to vomiting). With that said, Art has clearly become the reigning king of 21st-century slasher movie villains, and the Terrifier movies have dropped increasingly overt hints that he is not of this world, so Terrifier 4 finally revealing the origin of Art the Clown will surely be another Halloween season delight for Terrifier fans.

Terrifier and Terrifier 2 are available to stream on Prime Video.