While Art the Clown is a memorable villain, he’s also a figure who has experienced considerable changes in meaningful ways during his appearances. Terrifier is a solid addition to the killer clown sub-genre of horror. His abilities have gradually become more otherworldly over time.
Art the Clown first appeared in two Damien Leone short films, The 9th Circle and Terrifier, both released in 2008 and 2011. His motivation has always been to drug, abduct, and torment women, although the methods he uses to do so change as the shorts and features progress.
Art the Clown is a killer who simply wears a horrific clown look in these short videos. However, in All Hallows’ Eve, the character is pushed into more exaggerated and otherworldly realm.
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In each of the anthology segments, All Hallows’ Eve alters Art’s appearance. In the first film, he retains his human form, but in the second and third films, he becomes increasingly weird and demonic. Art’s teeth are decaying, and his head and proportions have become twisted and scary, losing the human touch. Furthermore, Art is a man of few words, and his only sounds are crazy laughing. This also supports the theory that he is a demon-possessed serial killer rather than a human in disguise.
We witness a level of superhuman power and supernatural implications in 2013 are All Hallows’ Eve that weren’t apparent in his first appearance in the short flicks. This is possibly best exemplified near the end of All Hallows’ Eve, when Art the Clown’s videotape appears to achieve sentience and is able to interact with the people watching it. Terrifier, Art’s first solo feature, takes all of this a step further. He exhibits a cannibalistic streak by eating the faces of several of his victims.
The most significant change is that Art is shown to be able to reanimate himself after death, implying that he has immortal status. It’s likely that Art is an evil being who has been programmed to kill.
With Terrifier 2 on the road, it’ll be interesting to watch which direction the directors take with Art.
