Art the Clown’s actions always speak louder than his words, and I’m pretty sure he would strain his neck muscles by how hard he’d nod in agreement that Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3 is among the most anticipated upcoming horrors of 2024 or any other year. (Check out my review here!) But it looks like even those most eager to see the new sequel did not stand much of a chance once it actually started, as denoted by reports of audience members leaving after the first five minutes.
At least that’s what went down for the film’s premiere screening in the UK, where Terrifier 3 made such an impact on its first crowd across the pond that a whopping eleven people walked out of the film and didn’t return, and nine of those exits came after the opening scene. I can only hope that those people swallowed their pride and didn’t ask for any refunds.
Someone who probably wanted to rinse their mouth out before doing any further swallowing would be the one spectator who reportedly vomited due to the very first Terrifier 3 scene, according to LadBible. I don’t really want to know how this particular detail was confirmed by anyone involved, and I’m happy to just believe that it happened sans physical proof, since director Damien Leone teased that the new film would leave fans puking even before it started filming.
Damien Leone's Reaction To The Terrifier 3 Walkouts
After the Terrifier 3 walkouts started making the rounds, representatives for the movie reached out to share how the barf-inspiring filmmaker himself reacted to learning what his film did to its UK audience. In Leone's words:
Typically people walk out of a movie because it sucks. When someone walks out of a Terrifier film, it’s a testament to the special makeup fx team. I guess we’ve done our job!
Damien Leone spoke previously about Hollywood studios reaching out to him with interest about producing a Terrifier sequel, considering the second film made more than $15 million at the box office from a budget of $250,000. But the director already knew that anyone who read the first five pages of Art the Clown's latest outing would immediately try to make him tone down the content, and that's just not the kind of creator Leone is. He knows what his audience wants, and it's here in droves with Terrifier 3.
As someone who attended the world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2024, I know exactly what happens in that opening scene, and I completely understand how it might make a more sensitive audience member want to back the hell away from it. What confuses me, however, is that anyone would walk into Terrifier 3 that isn't completely comfortable with any imaginable horror extreme. The first two movies didn't exactly shield away from fucked-up carnage.
For a taste of what early moviegoers have experienced while watching Terrifier 3, check out the fan-reaction video below!
Terrifier 3 will rock gorehounds’ socks off when it hits theaters on October 11, so get those moistened napkins ready to wipe the most vomit-ready movie on the 2024 release schedule.
