On Halloween night, Tara and Dawn (Jenna Kanell, Catherine Corcoran) leave a party and realize that they’re followed by an intimidating clown (David Howard Thornton).

Art the Clown originally showed up in a 2008 short that was subsequently incorporated in an anthology film, All Hallow’s Eve (2013). Thanks to a crowd-funding effort, Terrifier was produced and this became the horror character’s breakthrough.

He’s the best thing in this simple but entertainingly grotesque film, a pantomime figure balancing between human and monster.

2018-U.S. 86 min. Color. Written, directed and edited by Damien Leone. Cast: Jenna Kanell (Tara Heyes), Samantha Scaffidi (Vicky Heyes), Catherine Corcoran (Dawn), David Howard Thornton (Art the Clown), Pooya Mohseni, Matt McAllister. 

Trivia: Premiered at Telluride in 2016, before its general release two years later. Followed by two sequels, starting with Terrifier 2 (2022).