Art the Clown is a fictional character in the ''Terrifier'' franchise and related media. He first appeared in the short films ''The 9th Circle'' (2009) and ''Terrifier'' (2011) before making his feature film debut in ''

All Hallows' Eve Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

'' (2013). In these early appearances, Art was portrayed by retired actor Mike Gianelli. In the

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

''Terrifier'' film series,

David Howard Thornton David Howard Thornton is an American actor. He is known for his role as Art the Clown, a role in which he appeared in ''Terrifier'' (2016), ''Mistress Peace Theatre'' (2020), ''Terrifier 2'' (2022) and ''Bupkis (TV series), Bupkis'' (2023). He h ...

was cast in the role; portraying Art in ''

Terrifier ''Terrifier'' is a 2016 slasher film written and directed by Damien Leone. It stars Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, Catherine Corcoran, and David Howard Thornton. The film follows partygoer Tara Heyes (Kanell), who becomes the target of a se ...

'' (2016), ''

Terrifier 2 ''Terrifier 2'' is a 2022 American slasher film written, directed, edited and produced by Damien Leone. A sequel to ''Terrifier'' (2016), it is the third feature-length film to feature Art the Clown. It features the return of David Howard Thor ...

'' (2022), and '' Terrifier 3''. Created by

Damien Leone Damien Leone is a 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 Art the Clown is ...

, Art debuted as a background character for his directorial debut short film to test out different concepts to see what would work. Audiences highlighted Art and Leone wanted to develop the character into a recurring slasher franchise villain, which took a decade of work. Art became a popular culture figure after the critical and commercial success of ''Terrifier 2''. The character's background remains ambiguous—although all his appearances show him possessing

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

capabilities. Art has archenemies in the form of

final girl The final girl is a trope in horror films (particularly slasher films). It refers to the last girl(s) or woman alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The final girl has been observed in many films, including '' ...

s Sienna Shaw ( Lauren LaVera) and Victoria Heyes (

Samantha Scaffidi 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'' (202 ...

). Leone wrote Sienna and Art with

biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

undertones to reflect

good and evil In religion, ethics, philosophy, and psychology "good and evil" is a very common dichotomy. In cultures with Manichaean and Abrahamic religious influence, evil is perceived as the dualistic antagonistic opposite of good, in which good shoul ...

Appearances

Film

The character made his debut appearance in the short film "The 9th Circle" (2008), which follows his pursuit of a young woman named Casey (Kayla Lian) in an empty train station on Halloween night. Merely a supporting character in this film, Art abducts Casey and brings her to a satanic cult for a sacrifice to

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...

. Art's second appearance was in the short film "Terrifier" (2011), where he stalks and torments a young woman who witnesses one of his murders at a gas station. The character made his feature-film debut in ''All Hallows' Eve'' (2013) which incorporates the prior two short films as segments on VHS tapes that the film's protagonist Sarah (Katie Maguire) watches with the children she's babysitting on Halloween night. Art enters the real world and murders the children for a terrified Sarah to find. Art's second feature-film appearance was in the slasher film ''

'' (2016). In ''Terrifier'', Art inhabits the fictitious Miles County and pursues partygoer Tara Heyes (

Jenna Kanell Jenna Kanell is an American actress, director, writer, and stunt performer. She gained recognition for her portrayals of Tara Heyes in ''Terrifier'' (2016) and Kim Hansen in ''The Bye Bye Man'' (2017)—both horror films in which she performed her ...

) and her sister Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi) on Halloween night. After killing Tara, he targets Victoria, the lone survivor. She fights against Art until he runs her over with a

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

and eats half of her face off, leaving her disfigured. Before he can kill her, the police confront him at gunpoint, and he commits suicide. In ''

'' (2022), a sinister entity known as the Little Pale Girl resurrects Art and accompanies him in his pursuit of Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) and her younger brother. Their father was an artist that died from a brain tumor. He envisioned Art and his victims in his sketches before they happened and drew Sienna as an angel-warrior-attired heroine designed to defeat Art and gave her a sword before his death. Sienna, who made a Halloween costume based on her father's sketches, battles Art in an abandoned

carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

. Art is defeated after Sienna decapitates him with her father's sword. However, he is brought back to life after Victoria Heyes, who is in a mental hospital, gives birth to his living head.

Literature

Art was featured in a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

retelling of the 2016 film that told the story over three books.

Concept and creation

Leone's idea of Art originated from his concept of a woman getting off work and taking the city bus home, where a clown gets on and sits across from her, taunting her. He envisioned Art as a combination of being uncomfortable and comedic to viewers—but with the character becoming "progressively more intimidating and aggressive." Art got incorporated into Leone's directorial debut, the short film "The 9th Circle" (2008), merely as a background character, as Leone states, "I threw in everything, clowns, witches, demons, monsters, everything up against the wall hoping something would stick." Art appeared next in Leone's follow-up film, the short film ''Terrifier'' (2011), which followed Art's pursuit of a costume designer that witnessed one of his murders at a gas station; he had a more substantial role in this film after people who viewed the "The 9th Circle" expressed interest about him to Leone. Film producer Jesse Baget, who saw the short films on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, approached Leone about including them in an

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

. Leone saw this as an opportunity to direct a feature film of Art, and he ultimately agreed. It would evolve into ''All Hallows' Eve'' (2013) and included a wraparound story of a babysitter that becomes the target of Art after one of the children she's watching receives a VHS tape depicting Art after

trick-or-treating Trick-or-treating is a traditional Halloween custom for children and adults in some countries. During the evening of Halloween, on October 31, people in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "trick or treat". The ...

. This anthology film would further implicate Art being a supernatural entity, although his background remains ambiguous. Actor Mike Giannelli, who is a friend of Leone, portrayed Art in all of these appearances before retiring from acting. After the release of ''All Hallows' Eve'', Leone wanted to create a feature-length film focusing solely on Art—as he believed the 2010s lacked an iconic horror villain, particularly an original clown character. He consciously continued the goal of making Art the opposite of

Pennywise the Dancing Clown It is the titular main antagonist in Stephen King's 1986 horror novel '' It''. The character is an ancient, trans-dimensional evil entity which preys upon the children (and sometimes adults) of Derry, Maine, roughly every 27 years, using a va ...

from the ''It'' franchise both in characterization and design-wise; Art is bald, dressed in black and white makeup and attire, silent, and uses weapons. Following Giannelli's retirement,

was cast in the role. Leone describes the difference in casting as, "Mike may as well have been a guy dressed as a clown, whereas David is a clown. If you know him in person, he is a walking cartoon. He is

Roger Rabbit Roger Rabbit is an animated anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in author Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel, ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' In the book, Roger is second banana in a popular comic strip, "Baby Herman". Roger hires private ...

in real life, and you'd never believe that he's Art the Clown, but he knows how to flip the switch and bring it to a dark place." Thornton saw a posting on Actors Access for "a tall, skinny comedic actor that had experience in clowning and comedy." As he was familiar with Art the Clown through ''All Hallows Eve'', Thornton asked his agent to submit him for it, and after improvising a kill scene during his audition, he got cast in the role.

Reception

In a positive review for the magazine '' Starburst'', Sol Harris wrote "Art is a truly enigmatic and memorable villain. He frequently veers into the territory of being genuinely unpleasant to watch, which makes him feel somewhat separate from the stable of horror icons such as

Freddy Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...

and

Chucky Chucky may refer to: *Chucky (name) *Chucky (character), a fictional character in the Child's Play (franchise), ''Child's Play'' franchise **''Chucky: Slash & Dash'', a 2013 video game **Chucky (TV series), ''Chucky'' (TV series), a 2021 TV series ...

. Special acknowledgement should be given to David Howard Thornton for a truly wonderful performance and one that easily stands toe-to-toe with the likes of

Curry A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included. There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in tradit ...

and Skarsgård." In a more middling review, the blog

Film School Rejects Film School Rejects is an American blog devoted to movie reviews, interviews, film industry news, and feature commentary. It was founded by Neil Miller in February 2006. The site was nominated for Best News Blog by ''Total Film'' magazine and na ...

praised Thornton's portrayal and use of body language but panned ''Terrifier'' and deemed the character a misogynist with a deep hatred for women.

Popular culture

In 2018, apparel company Terror Threads released an ugly Christmas sweater of the character. American rapper and singer

Ghostemane Eric Whitney (born April 15, 1991), known professionally as Ghostemane or Eric Ghoste, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He has released eight solo albums and three collaborative albums under his Ghostemane moniker, primarily mer ...

cites the character as influence for his studio album '' ANTI-ICON'' (2020). David Howard Thornton later reprised the role of Art the Clown in the 2023 television series, '' Bupkis'' in the episode, "Show Me the Way".