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Toys on Film: Damien Leone's Terrifier Franchise
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What better way to transition from the Halloween season to the Holiday Season than with the latest horror icon (and one that dons a Santa Suit in the latest movie)? That's right, this week we're talking about Damien Leone's Terrifier franchise, Art the Clown, and all the toys coming from ultra-violent indie horror darling in the latest edition of Toys on Film!
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Toy Collecting
00:00:03
Speaker
Are you ready, kids? Get your parents' permission, check your mailbox, and grab your shopping cart. It's time for the Adventures in Collecting podcast. I'm Eric. And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture, and halls, along with our journeys as collectors.
From Halloween to Holidays: Horror Franchises
00:00:28
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting. Hi, everyone. I'd honk a clown horn, but I don't i don't have one. It's early in the day. It's early in the day, but what better way to, to come off of that Halloween high and hand it heading into, you know, the holiday season by, by talking about a ah horror franchise in this edition of toys on film that, uh, has, has started to kind of bridge that gap. Uh, they, they were today we're, we're, we're back with toys on film. If that's not graduated from Halloween high school.
00:01:10
Speaker
yeah if If that's not been ah obvious enough by the title of the episode and the and then the art card and everything art i We are we are going to talk about toys on film today the Terrifier Franchise so we're not doing one movie or two movies or even really three
Terrifier Franchise: Art the Clown's Rise
00:01:28
Speaker
movies. We're just gonna talk generally about the franchise um it is This Generation's ah horror icon, Art the Clown. ah Very toyetic, disturbing, but very toyetic character. And he's had a couple of of action figures made already. He's got got one on the way, but as we usually do with toys on film, we're gonna talk a little bit about the ah the movie itself first, or in this case, like I said, the ah the franchise. So... um We're talking about Shane Douglas.
00:02:03
Speaker
brown brown el now and um It's one of the greatest ah greatest entrance entrance musics of music music of all time. Yeah, yeah fantastic. but ah So if you are if if you are not familiar with the the Terrifier franchise, ah the story follows Art the Clown, ah who is a... How would you say, Dave? a a um clown um yeah but a supernatural super i think we're still trying i think we're still like learning that as the movie yeah it's definitely inhuman we'll say inhuman um serial killer clown does not speak it's kind of the antithesis of of pennywise right like pennywise doesn't shut up has those bright colors um is terrifying for a different you know set of reasons he's a mime
00:03:01
Speaker
Yeah, he's he's a mime, but don't call him a mime or he's going to do something terrible to you. Uh, like he does in the movies. Um, but yeah, follows follows, uh, uh, art, the clown portrayed by, uh, David Howard Thornton, um, as he, uh, he runs rampant, uh, through the, uh, the fictional town of Miles County, uh, New York. Um,
00:03:30
Speaker
cool cool little thing about this franchise as it's now grown into this pop culture you know sensation where yeah that these low budget films are making a ton of money and have been very successful for you know for everyone involved. But um this actually started off as like kind of a throwaway side character in the ah the writer and director's film, um The Ninth Circle, I believe it was called.
00:03:55
Speaker
ah Art the Clown i made a a kind of cameo in it play portrayed by a different actor, um did not have all of kind of the crazy exaggerated features and you know kind of the finalized makeup that we're you know we're used to seeing now with him, but was a black and white clown, um was clearly some form of of demon in that movie as well. ah But he he kind of graduated, so he went from being a ah bit part in in that movie to then having i two shorts made about him one that were featured then in um All Hallows' Eve, was the name of the the movie, where art was actually ah trapped inside a VHS tape that was ah tucked away inside some some kids ah candy stash from from Halloween. Yeah, I think both of the short films with art are the ones in the movie. Yeah, yep they are they are the ones in All Hallows' Eve, correct.
00:04:53
Speaker
um But the the character continued to increase in popularity as he as he continued to develop. um And then writer, creator, director, Damien Leone i launched a ah
The Success Story of Terrifier's Kickstarter
00:05:10
Speaker
Kickstarter. It was a GoFundMe, excuse me.
00:05:13
Speaker
um to get a feature length film made for Terrifier. And they made it on a really a shoestring budget. It was like $35,000, the first Terrifier film. And while it does feel like a low budget you know indie horror movie, it accomplishes quite a bit on that ah on that budget, Dave. um With with one of one of the grossest kills I think I had ever seen in a movie up until that point.
00:05:42
Speaker
um Which I guess we should we should address this now. Spoiler alert. i if you are If you have never seen these films, you might want to pause this here. Yeah. Go watch them. um they're Currently, Terrifier 3 is in theaters. um Terrifier 1 and 2 are both streaming on Prime um at at this time, as of the recording of this episode.
00:06:12
Speaker
I believe they're also on screen box and screen box. Yeah, it's definitely watch them first ah So that's that's spoiler warning number one spoiler number warning number two is we're gonna talk about a purchase they can be purchased at your preferred digital movie purchasing locations vendor retailer um Warning number two is we're going to talk about some stuff that's pretty gross. Um, the, the thing that, um, the Terrifier franchise is known for is pushing the envelope in terms of, of onscreen violence and the, the kind of, uh, pun intended, the art quote unquote of the kill. Um, they are a gory,
00:07:03
Speaker
Set of films yes that rely heavily on practical. um Almost entirely on on practical effects which is awesome to see in in twenty twenty four. um And they are. Gross and absurd and. First two movies Damien Leone did the effects himself.
00:07:25
Speaker
There we go. um Very, very gross, very ah very intense, and and sadistic. I mean, that the the ah whole kind of draw to Art the Clown is that he is um this just absolutely heinous, malevolent force.
00:07:44
Speaker
um And Damien Leone clearly drew a lot from his love of like Grindhouse film um to to this, like Grindhouse and exploitation films um to this franchise. it's It's almost, I guess you could go as far as to say it's a love letter to those types of movies um because the the the gore and the the violence is is full tilt. Like, oh,
00:08:13
Speaker
overly indexed on. So if that's not your cup of tea, maybe don't watch these movies. um Because what I was about to say is in the first movie, ah one of the grossest things I have ever seen in a film up until that point, um a young a young woman gets ah hung upside down by her ankles and sawed in half vertically, um starting between her legs. I think that's the the nicest way that I can... Yeah, that that won't get us demonetized. Yeah, and and he does it while her best friend is ah is duct taped to a chair watching it happen. And one of the things, you know, we mentioned that that art isn't mine.
00:08:58
Speaker
um He doesn't speak at all. So when he's attacked, when he's, um, when he's committing these acts, there is no sound whatsoever. But like a mom, his, his, uh, expressions are overexaggerated. So the way that he kind of like laughs and mocks and, you know, kind of has fun with the whole thing, uh, makes it even more kind of a disturbing, but, um, yeah, I mean, he is.
00:09:29
Speaker
he He is definitely rising through the ranks of like of like horror icon iconography at this point. Yeah, I would say he's become quickly become one.
Art the Clown: A Pop Culture Phenomenon
00:09:38
Speaker
um Very highly featured as well at ah at Spirit Halloween this year. I was going to say, there were a couple people at Comic Con as well.
00:09:48
Speaker
Yep, we saw it we saw a bunch of Art the Clown cosplay at New York Comic Con. They have a life-size Art the Clown ah animatronic at at Spirit Halloween. They have all sorts of costumes for both kids and adults. So um there's that. But ah but yeah, so so. I mean, they had like Freddy Krueger costumes when I was a kid, so. Absolutely. They still do. I mean, they you you could put your baby in a Chucky costume. Yeah.
00:10:16
Speaker
But i'm I'm just saying that that's a sign of true success, right? True breakthrough. Yeah. Breakthrough whatever they're breaking through. Yeah. and and And outside of the mainstream breakthrough. There you go. That's that's the word. It's early. Outside of just kind of the the cultural breakthroughs, though, these movies have been financially you know Hugely successful, especially yeah, they've they've certainly turned profit. That's for sure Yeah, so as we mentioned the the first film um Cost like under $50,000 to make and it it made you know It went into the millions. I think it was a million or two the first one um I have numbers in front of me because I wanted to Now granted this is according to Wikipedia. Okay, I
00:11:09
Speaker
Take that for what it's worth. The budget of the first movie was somewhere between 35 and 55K. That's $1,000. And it made 419, just over $419,000. So that is if you take the must make back double what it costs. Yeah, you're you're doing all right there. Yep. Which is the Cinematic rule of thumb to make back all the money that it cost and like advertising and all that stuff.
Terrifier 2: Acclaim and Success
00:11:42
Speaker
Yep Not to mention whatever the streaming deal is I'm sure is is good they've they've made Probably some a fair amount of money there, too
00:11:55
Speaker
So the the first film, you while we're kind of talking about the the financials of it, um you know the first film was was pretty quiet. like I actually completely missed it you know ah in terms of i had heard of it when it came out. um I had seen the cover of All Hallows' Eve with Art's face on it and recognized that scrolling through things like 2B and you know kind of the free streaming services.
00:12:24
Speaker
um Yeah, I'd heard of it. I kind of stay on top of, you know, what's, what's going on in horror, um, as it is a favorite genre of mine. So I was, I was aware of it, but the first one had a claim, but it wasn't like, it didn't have the claim to did. Um, you know, it was like, Oh, this is a horror movie.
00:12:51
Speaker
So did you see two when, when it, or one when it initially came out, or was it one of those things where like once two came out and kind of lit the industry on fire that you went back and saw one? So once two, like, I think you actually saw two before me, one of the two. Um, I, uh, I went back and watched all, I watched all three of them, um, all Hallows' Eve,
00:13:20
Speaker
Terrifier and Terrifier 2. So I had seen, like I said, I had seen All House Eve just kind of thumbing through the the the digital tiles on one of those streaming services. Yeah, it was one of those things I was aware of. um Again, i had heard ah i hadn't I had heard it was, you know, it was fine, but very like the effects were the highlight.
00:13:44
Speaker
Yeah, so I like when two came out, um which it was a little bit delayed because of the pandemic. I think it it ended up coming out in like 2022. I think that's right. 2022 somewhere around there.
00:13:57
Speaker
um And immediately started making waves. I was like, okay, I remember this character from All House Eve. Let me go back and watch the first one. Watch the first one and went, Oh my God. Um, I can't believe they just did some of this stuff on screen. This movie was super weird. Loved it. Had like that supernatural twist at the end where the entire movie you're thinking like, Oh, this is just a guy in a clown suit. And then.
00:14:21
Speaker
um You know, he he has the the Usual horror movie slasher, you know sits up from the dead at the end um And then what's neat is Terrifier 2 picks up like literally moments after that happens. So you're right back. in Yeah, it's from the end of the first movie yeah, and I think like I really do like it's and This isn't a knock on Terrifier. I mean, you know, like I have seen far worse $55,000 independent horror movies, but it's an end it is very much an independent slasher film. Yep. Yeah. Terrifier 2 instantly had more polish. It had more, like the storytelling was tighter. The the the actual pacing of the movie was tighter than the the first one. Like it it felt, it went from going from like a really independent movie to like... For a movie that's damn near twice as long, yes. It's somehow tighter. Yep.
00:15:21
Speaker
yeah um But yeah, also like an extra, it's it's kind of like, a oh, this is what an extra 200 grand will get you. like And even still, I've seen horror movies that have been made for $250,000 that look like $250,000 horror movies. Terrifier 2 does not, very much so. Yeah, Damien Leone did a did a miraculous job. And i'd honestly, like,
00:15:49
Speaker
They made that they made that money like whatever they probably used every cent in it, but they they made that money They made that money work for them like yeah, and and it's it's an ambitious move in both films to be honest Yes, yeah, but the second movie like it's that movie is ambitious like there's things happening in that movie that is people try to accomplish in multi-million dollar movies and and you know either don't stand it looks far worse short yeah exactly that's I mean exactly um which speaks to the power of good practical effects you know if you're not for as much as I love like an ant-man um quantum mania nothing in this movie looks like modok like yep yep yeah and and I mean and I really liked quantum mania so
00:16:41
Speaker
the the other thing that the second
Gruesome Kill Scenes in Terrifier
00:16:43
Speaker
movie does is it also dials up you know you watch the first one and you're like whoa I can't believe that they did some of the things they did in this movie from like a violent standpoint you know and again like that art of the kill um And then some of the stuff they do in the second one, you're like, whoa. There's a particular scene that I'm not going to go into detail that involves ah bleach and salt that I still think, even after seeing the third one, which we'll get to that shortly, um I still think is the grossest thing I've ever seen in a movie.
00:17:13
Speaker
like, kill-wise, like that entire sequence, starting from when that happens to how it ends with the trick-or-treating scene that follows it. Like, it to me, it is one of the great one-two punches in, and like, slash. Is it weird that I didn't think it was that bad? Like, or I, you know, I i definitely think it was, like, wild, but, like, I actually thought sawing somebody in half was way worse.
00:17:44
Speaker
You know, you're not wrong. I think it was like it was crazier in a kind of I'll say torture sense. That's kind of like it didn't. Like I kind of I it takes a lot for me to to cringe during a movie. It's usually like compound fractures, to be honest. OK, which there's one of in that scene.
00:18:12
Speaker
ah in three There is no in two. I mean he takes her arm and he like Steven Seagal's it oh I mean like if it not when somebody's just ripping somebody like I mean like Like if you rip somebody's arm off you rip somebody's arm off you're I mean like all in a bone is coming out. Yes sort of thing. Okay. All right. All right. Gotcha like in the descent I almost threw up but um ah Yeah, that's another rough one I ah But yeah, it was like it was It's a more difficult scene, but I think the kind of grosser Effect To me was one and three Yeah, there is there is a part is one and it's not even the one that from that scene that people talk about that one's like almost like a
00:19:12
Speaker
a sillier version of the first movie. It's what happens before that. To me, that's like worse. Yes. I think I know what you're talking about. We'll see. Yeah. Great. we'll get we'll get We'll get to three shortly. So um two was the one that made $2 million. dollars that That was where I was getting the the million dollar um profit mix up. It made way more than that. It made like 15. 15. OK. There we go then.
00:19:37
Speaker
it's so There's a two million somewhere, we'll eventually get to it. Maybe that was the budget of the newest one? Yes. There we go. Knew there was two million dollars. um Yeah, so it it again, you know huge profit on you know a couple hundred thousand dollars, it it made millions, so um yeah know definitely. Let's just say this franchise is printing money thus far. Yep, yes it is. It also got like an immediate Maybe not in immediate, but it also got like a theatrical release like right out ah out of the gate. Yes, the second one did. Yeah. um So second one also, you know, ah they had opened up the funding for a crowd fund. One other thing, the other thing that I appreciate in the first one that they don't do in two and three, obviously, is they do that little
00:20:34
Speaker
Like sometimes horror movies can do it successfully, where it's like the the old psycho switcheroo, where you think the movie is about one person, but it's really about someone else. Yes. Yeah, it's true. there There is a very distinct, like, moment where it switches to being... Where it's like, oh, all bets are off now, like... Yep, yep. Yeah, it doesn't follow the normal, like, Final Girl um archetype at first. Honestly, not at all. Until the second one. um Yeah, I would say the second one is kind of more standard than that.
00:21:08
Speaker
Which, speaking of which, our final girl, Sienna. We're introduced to her in part two. Awesome character. they Fantastic the character. Really, really great. I mean, like, right right in the the ballpark of, you know, your other huge harrowing characters, like your're your, um you know, your Nev Campbell's in Scream, your Heather Langenkamp.
00:21:34
Speaker
Yeah, you'd say Nancy. Yeah, Nancy and and Sydney. um That's true. um yeah Yeah, I would say she's kind of more of like an evolved Nancy than anything. Yep. Yep. And, and she's, ah she's got a really well developed backstory. um You know, she is not a one dimensional character at all, which is awesome. You know, you you'd love to see, you know, that kind of forward momentum and storytelling. Yeah.
00:22:03
Speaker
And she's awesome. Also, Toyetic is all hell in that by the end of that second movie. um Yeah, I'm surprised that they haven't done that. Yeah, would would love would love a sand figure. I would get that figure. um but ah But yeah, they ah they they do a great job of developing the protagonist in the second one and in carrying her you know in into the third. um also we develop Lauren Lavera is the actor's name.
Strong Characters: Lauren Lavera as Sienna
00:22:33
Speaker
What was that, Dave? Lauren Lavera is the actor's name. Lauren Lavera, yeah. Yeah. um um Also just got like, I think just signed on for a movie with Dijman Hansu, and that's gonna be directed by Darren Lynn Boseman. Yep, I did see that, I did see that. um Which is, ah that's like, I mean, that's a big, big deal, I think, like the guy who directed the majority of the Saw movies.
00:23:02
Speaker
and And repo the genetic opera. Yeah. Criminally underrated movie, repo the genetic opera. Yeah, I like that one a lot. But ah what was I going to say? Oh, yes. So so Sienna, um we we we now have a ah protagonist, which is which is awesome. um And also the thing that that part two does is it really starts to establish the lore of what's going on. um Yeah.
00:23:28
Speaker
There's something that's kind of traceable through all of Damien Leoni's work so far, which is this kind of like good versus evil, like heaven versus hell situation. So, um you know, we're really getting into kind of like demonology and angels to the point where, um you know, Sienna's father in the film dies of, ah you know, he he he takes his own life, but prior to that, he has a ah brain tumor um and he starts envisioning kind of these things with, you know, a character with angel wings that he draws for Sienna, ah that that he's a comic book artist in the in the film.
00:24:06
Speaker
Um, but he also starts seeing visions of art and you know, all of kind of the things to come. So there's this almost kind of like destiny sort of who's played by Jason Patrick in the third movie. He was, I noticed that. Yeah. We didn't see, you don't see him in the second. You don't see him in two.
00:24:22
Speaker
But um yeah, he ah there there's this very distinct pull between you know kind of demons and and hell and you know kind of the worst of the worst, including like visual elements of like falling down a deep pit into like a ah nightmare zone type area in the yeah second one. um you A flaming sword. There's there's a lot of like really cool imagery to kind of help tell that that lore.
00:24:50
Speaker
and it It may sound kind of silly as we're talking about, you know, the kind of the juxtaposition of like this intense like gory violence combined with almost like fantasy elements to ah to a degree. But yeah, the works like there's there's some, there's definitely some, um I would say for Zeta.
00:25:11
Speaker
Yes, big time, big time. I don't know if that's, I would assume it's intentional. I haven't heard Damien Leone talk about it you know directly, but yeah, there's definitely yeah ah ah a Frazetta vibe with some of the fantasy elements that are happening here. And um you know all the way to the end, you know you get this massive fight between Sienna and Art at the end of the second film that's just like,
00:25:39
Speaker
it Feel like I feel like it goes on for like a good like five ten minutes of them like Brutally beating each other. Mm-hmm. Um, and it's it's awesome. Like it's just it's so it's so epic Yeah, there's definitely some like, you know the the vibe of the fan of their family You know the the younger brother all that stuff Yep um Again, you the the the the violence ah upturned to the max and in that movie. um their Their mom gets gets a really raw fraud deal ah in in that movie, um as well as one of Sienna's, or but both of Sienna's. Really all of her friends? Yeah, all of her friends.
00:26:22
Speaker
which um You know, you you find out at the end of the movie that, you know, art is going to continue. There's a stinger that actually ties back to the first film in a way that I think a lot of people weren't expecting. Yeah. i saw Although, based off of the beginning of the movie, it kind of yeah that had to go somewhere, right? um feature the thing The thing that Well, go ahead and talk about Chris Jericho. Yep. I was going to say featuring a a cameo from AEW, uh, current AEW wrestler, um, pro wrestler, Chris Jericho playing Ring of Honor world champion, Chris Jericho. Yep. The the learning tree two time, uh, featured at the end of this film and in a, in a, in a fun cameo that again, carries over to part three, which was, which I thought was, was really cool. So yeah, but pays off in the third one. Yep.
00:27:13
Speaker
And now, a word from our sponsors.
00:27:21
Speaker
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00:27:38
Speaker
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00:28:03
Speaker
And now, back to the show. The thing that And I don't know if this is going to come back or not, but I feel like it like.
00:28:16
Speaker
I don't know, I guess it does, but it would it wasn't even like it. Was mentioned in the third one, like but ah the the like basically. Female art, the the pale girl of the little er girl, yeah yeah, the one who you're introduced to as she has diarrhea in a. ah in a laundromat in a laundromat. Yeah. um But it's like a vision only. Yeah. Only art can see.
00:28:45
Speaker
um Great little character, though, which I get. Maybe that's who they met like. but we're We're getting into like deep lore here. But I think in the third one, that's the child that they mean. And I have a feeling it's going to factor into the fourth one based of ah off of how the third one ends. Yeah.
00:29:05
Speaker
yeah I mean, it can't just be one of those things where it's like, yep, this didn't happen. So it seems like, okay, so that would be, that would be too in the horror movie for that to happen. So I, I think at least in my head cannon, I have an explanation for this. So This takes us to the third one, so Terrifier 3, which is out in theaters now, instead of taking place on Halloween, like the first two, this takes place on Christmas.
Terrifier 3: Christmas and Demonology
00:29:33
Speaker
So art spends the majority of the movie in a stolen Santa costume. I would say the second half. Yeah, well, let's just say the holiday season. It takes place around- Oh no, I meant the second half of the movie. He's in the Santa suit.
00:29:52
Speaker
Yes, yes. Yeah, but you'll you'll see that in like the poster and all of the It's in the market work. Yeah. Yeah So this they pick up right where number two ends And they jump right into kind of the demonology of it has a neat little cold open Yes, we'll leave it at that there is a neat little cold open if you've seen the trailer you kind of yeah, yeah um those sounds on the roof were not reindeer. Uh, so I'm looking at like a description of the plot and it explains away like. Well, they, they say in the third movie that that it's kind of like a power of two situation that there's a possession. Yeah. Victoria. And that's the pale girl. Exactly. There you go. So the, okay. And they connect, they connect the dots there.
00:30:51
Speaker
with the kind of glowing yellow eyes. So as um the little girl is walking away in the the second one with art's head in in tow, um you see that kind of glow of her eyes. But as they get into kind of more of the demonology stuff in part three, they kind of tell this story that like art will always be able to live as long as this demon cohort can embody a person. So you know you're led to You're led to then kind of connect the dots yourself that the little girl in part two was that that demonic cohort. And now it's it's Victoria who was his victim from the ah you know the first film. The first movie. um who is you know Her face is completely deformed. she She's the one that kills the talk show host and ends up in the insane asylum that we we see at the end of of part two.
00:31:44
Speaker
um And then she becomes that that kind of demon cohort, yeah you know, throughout the third film. um what's What's really cool about the third movie, you know, again, much like the first two, you know, the production value goes up, the storytelling and kind of polish gets enhanced a little bit and um and also the the ah hyper-violence.
00:32:11
Speaker
Continues to ratchet up there. There's some some truly Remarkably foul things that happen in in part three um And and and art becomes a ah kind of do-it-yourself scientist too as well. It's only about 13 minutes shorter We see we see art ah in his laboratory building building some ah a Pretty wicked device. Yeah Um, and tests it out apparently tests it out on a rat. Um, RIP rat. Uh, yeah. And I think the other thing too, for, for part three, so part three, I know we kind of have
Is Terrifier 3 an Improvement?
00:32:53
Speaker
differing opinions here. Um, we have, we both thought it was good. We both liked it. Um, yeah, I think it's fantastic. It's a, you know, basically like, okay, this is,
00:33:05
Speaker
What would they can do with even more money? Like it's, you know, we've reached a point where it's definitely not an independent, even though it isn't independent horror film, it's not. yeah We're beyond that now. Yeah. As far as the quality and everything that they do. Um, it's funny at a, at a crisp, almost two hours and 20 minutes, I thought two moved more than three.
00:33:35
Speaker
Um, I guess because they're like there's so much lore and there's so much going on into that You know, it's just you're you're kind of It's all coming in What's what's the word? Um exposition? There's a lot of exhibition in in three more more so than much very much so um, um, there's a lot that happens off camera it's it's almost and apparently intentionally off camera. But yeah, like deleted scenes like are not the stuff that you don't see. um That's been like said in interviews by Damien Leone. I forget where I read it yeah on one of the movie sites on the internet. But um yeah, like the deleted scenes are not stuff that didn't, that
00:34:33
Speaker
Like you it's not the uncle, it's not the brother, like that just happened off camera. yeah So it's as bad as whatever you think. like And I mean, that that's also to a degree, it works. And I'm fine with that. yeah like I don't care if stuff happens off camera. I do think the brother deserved an on-camera death, the big character, yeah the uncle, fine. But i i deserved he deserved to like go out in person yeah i i thought that that was an odd choice that that was the one it works for what they're it works for what they do in the movie yeah how they use it in the in the in the story does work because a little swerve yeah yeah it's a it's a little bit of a head fake head literally um but yeah like ultimately i didn't even do that on purpose but literally
00:35:28
Speaker
just fell out of my mouth, but I'm gonna claim ownership. Ultimately though, I think the character deserved an onscreen death. Yeah. I just i just think there was there was more,
00:35:48
Speaker
a lot of the story is told, not shown, whereas a lot of it is shown in two. Yeah, because they had they already because it's already established now. We're just kind of like adding to it. Yep the thing that I Love so it could have been it it could have been a tight like 110 and binge it and been way better See the thing that I like the most about three is I love the
00:36:22
Speaker
So so first of all throughout all of them David Howard Thornton as our oh, he's fantastic. He's incredible three and I mean that that's taking like a Cutting five or ten minutes out of this movie makes it from like a seven to a hot ten like a So it three is my favorite of, of, of the three.
Art the Clown: Comedy Meets Horror
00:36:46
Speaker
Um, because one of the things that I love about horror movies, especially when there's an icon in it, like an art, the clown or you know like a Freddy Krueger is a great example. I mean, he did it kind of first. There is this fine line between like terror and comedy. And I think David Howard, Howard Thornton's performance in three.
00:37:13
Speaker
There were points were fantastic where I was laughing out loud in the theater and then immediately felt weird about laughing because of what was happening on screen that I was laughing at, but because his performance is so subtle. And there's one scene that he actually does technically nothing wrong yet.
00:37:32
Speaker
like Technically that will that literally made me laugh so hard that scene is very funny though I couldn't breathe when those two college kids were talking about him, and he was like I a room over listening and it kept cutting to him, just making facial expressions as he's listening to them talk about him as like a celebrity. And he's like, hold on a second. I'm not going to go anywhere. I'm just going to lean here and like soak this in. I, it was so funny and so, um, nuanced that I was like, this, I could watch this dude do this movie forever. That's fantastic. Yeah. Like it's just,
00:38:15
Speaker
He's just, every time he's on screen, ah your eyes are glued to him, whether he's, whether you want them to be glued to him or not. Um, he's, he's just so good. And apparently he like genuinely loves doing this too. Like he's not one of those guys. It's like, Oh, I gotta put them, you know, prosthetics on again and do this again. Like he genuinely eats this stuff up. Um, which is, which is awesome. I mean, that's why, you know, you, he's known for.
00:38:41
Speaker
you know, especially this recently, like going to cons in the costume, going to spirit Halloween stores and like scaring people and taking pictures with them. Like he he, he, he really is like, you know, kind of living his best life through, through this role. And it's, it's awesome. Like he, he is, he's this generation's Robert England. Um, yeah, yeah, I would say that that's fair.
00:39:05
Speaker
You know, I really think he's he's reached that point in the span of these three movies now. And and it's almost, I mean, it's it's a guarantee. with this This movie has already cleared, I think it's like how how many million? I was reading it the other day. It's in the fifties. Yeah, it's ah ridiculous. Like we're talking $50 million dollars on ah on a $2 million dollar budget that we're getting part four. And of course there is a ah cliffhanger in in three. Yeah.
00:39:33
Speaker
again, more more and more lore in this. Like, you know, ah Dave, you actually said it first, but ah the next one... It's got It feels like they're going a very Dream Warriors direction, which I'm fine with. Yeah. Me too. But yeah, like, there's... I think the thing that...
00:40:03
Speaker
i Think one of the things that was and no pun intended a little overkill was like you don't you didn't have to like continually revisit that the everyone thinks CN is like crazy Yeah, well I the the aunt and uncle were a bit much ah Mostly the uncle. Yeah, like you could have taken a couple of those out and been like, all right there's a couple minutes right there like I think that I
00:40:35
Speaker
In an effort to build this lore, there was just so much of just like, whereas the lore exists now and we're just adding to it. Some of the stuff was pounded home a little too much. Well, now you know, you're not going to have that problem in the next one though. Depending on what this next thing is. Like, you know what I mean? Yeah. What this other world is and whatever the case may be.
00:41:05
Speaker
Well, I think whoever the next person is, or is it going to be a fight to like new nightmare than the little girl? Like I, and who knows, right? Yep. So dream child, the little girl, my, my favorite little yeah dream child makes more sense. Yeah. My, my favorite little Easter egg as we kind of wrap up just talking about these movies as as a whole. Um, I read recently that Damien, no, granted I, it's a fantastic movie and I shouldn't,
00:41:36
Speaker
I went in with so high of expectations.
00:41:43
Speaker
Maybe an unfair set. I don't know. I thought it delivered. I thought i thought i felt it actually over delivered, but just shy for me, like just shy. And I think if, if it was a little tighter, I think it would have been a 10 like easy 10 because two is like a nine to me.
00:42:04
Speaker
Yeah, see I have it. I have this at like It it's this is this is like seven or eight depending on how I feel that day for me It's it's marginally better than two like I would give to like a nine and for me It's marginal and marginally not as good because I don't want to say marginally worse because again, that's that's not the opinion I want you to think I have it's just that I enjoyed Too so much. I mean it's that I wanted this to be better and it was by a by an eyelash. Um, so I, when I went to go see it, I actually saw the double feature, which was awesome. Um, some theaters were showing two and three back to back. Um, I thought I had picked the right theater to also see the 15 minute ice nine kills video that they did for, um, for, for Terrifier. Uh, if you like ice nine kills, it's another fun horror song, but they,
00:43:02
Speaker
They got Art, you know, ah David how and thorn Howard Thornton to reprise his role as Art for the music video. it It's fun. I guess in the Terrifier universe, also System of a Down no longer exists. If this movie if the music video is canon. I don't think it's canon. I don't i don't think the move the music video is canon. I mean, it could be. nothing Nobody in the movie is in it. So it could very well be.
00:43:28
Speaker
That's true. yeah He just rolled up at a concert, killed Ice Nine Kills and Shavo from ah System of a Down and called it a day. but but yeah i saw And Thomasine Nicholas.
00:43:40
Speaker
yeah yep rib ah So i I thought that I was seeing that ah that music video in between the two. That was only at AMC's. I ended up going to a Cinemark. So while I did get to enjoy both films on on the screen, um which was awesome, i i didn't I didn't get the music video. I had to watch that at home. But ah yeah, I think that the the kind of really cool thing that that ends um Terrifier 3 is a callback to the character's origin. So I was reading recently that
00:44:12
Speaker
Um, the carrot, the idea of the character came to Damien Leone and kind of like a nightmare where he had a nightmare about this clown that, uh, the, uh, most people do a woman is on a bus and bus pulls up to a bus stop.
00:44:27
Speaker
This clown gets on the on the bus and the bus is empty except for her in the clown but the clown decides to sit directly across from her. And all over the span of their bus ride the clown goes from being you know kind of antagonistic and like making fun of her to you know becoming more intense and more you know. um kind of scary and threatening and violent. And that's how this movie ends, which I thought was was a lot of fun. You know, him getting on the bus completely covered and in blood and viscera with his this black trash bag just sitting across from a... And the bus driver is one of the producers of the film. Oh, I didn't know that. That's pretty cool.
Terrifier Toys and Collectibles
00:45:05
Speaker
But, um, yeah, so from the movies to the toys, uh, as we mentioned something that I think we both would love to see, uh, is a Sienna figure. We have, we have only thus far gotten a series of, of arts. So, um, I have, I have the first one that came out here. So this is the, uh, the five inch trick or treat studios retro style art. Um, very, very cool figure. Is that the blood bath variant? It is the bloodbath variant. So if you put this in the freezer or just, um, it actually got cold and enough in my office the other day with this weird New Jersey weather that I came upstairs and he was, he was red, um, which was really cool. But of course this is from the first film. So he comes with the weapons that he needs, uh, from the first movie. So we've got the hacksaw and then, um, garbage bag right really cool feature. The garbage bag actually opens and, uh, and he's got a little knife and, uh,
00:46:01
Speaker
while he seems very, very unamused to have to use it, um, a little, a little pistol as well. And everything fits nicely into the trash bag and he can hold it. It's, it's a great figure. Um, trick or treat studios appears to have the primary, i don't I don't want to go as far as to say like primary license for it, but they were the first to license it. So, um, they have also have a one sixth scale, um, almost sideshow esque, uh, cloth.
00:46:30
Speaker
art that is um unavailable from their website at time of recording. Yeah, um it was before Terrifier 3, so it goes to show you the power of when a movie does well in theaters. Yeah. There is also a series of masks and costumes, like we mentioned, um adams animatronics from... ah This plastic injection mask looks awesome. Yeah, there's there's a ton of ah of masks and stuff. um And then Just a couple days ago, Mezco, 112 Collective, Art the Clown, went up for sale on Entertainment Earth. If you want to preorder that for yourself, it is, honestly, it's incredible. We saw it at Toy Fair, or not Toy Fair, Comic Con. Comic Con. It's a little bit of Terrifier and a little bit of Terrifier 2 together, based on the weaponry that he comes with. I mean, he comes with the Cat on Nine Tales, he comes with the
00:47:29
Speaker
um the table leg with all of the stuff ah stuck in the end of it. um he's He's permanently bloodied, comes with a couple of different face sculpts. He comes with the the carved head from from the first Terrifier film um from the from the ah the Pizza Place. yeah He's got an actual functional little black trash bag that you can you can open up and fill with stuff and sling it over his shoulder, which is ah which is awesome.
00:47:58
Speaker
Um, yeah, uh, that, like I said, that is up on, on entertainment earth. Um, AIC podcast forward slash links. You can grab like for it right there. I don't want something between that and the five inch. So this is my, this is where the wants come in, right? I would absolutely love because I i have a ton of their horror stuff. You know, obviously ghostface, Michael Myers, Freddie Jason, I would love an art that scales with the rest of my neck of stuff.
00:48:28
Speaker
um Yeah, that would be that would be the target like if I could have one company make like once like seven ish in share Heart, I would love for them to make all and scale that scale because I'd say he's like shorter than I would say he's like Freddie height Yeah, he's I mean he's pretty tall Like just thinking about how he is in the movie um in the movies, but you know regardless I want that scale. I think that the official is like one tenth one tenth scale and But yeah, I would love a NECA Ultimate art. um you know They just do such a good job with their their horror stuff. they're They're the best out there at that. you know I think it's hard to argue. But ah you know right now, I'll have to have to settle for the Mezco 112. Hopefully, it doesn't take too long to ship. you know Sometimes with Mezco, they say that it's going to come. Supposedly, this is coming between February and April of 2025, which isn't terribly far away.
00:49:25
Speaker
but You know, um, we've seen that before and sometimes it ends up being February and April of the following year. So fingers crossed that, uh, that that timeline is, is legitimate. But, uh, yeah, I'm just looking something up real quick. I'm looking up heights. Hopefully more, um, just in general, more, more terrifier, uh, toys, you know, I, again, like,
00:49:54
Speaker
I would love a Sienna and her Terrifier 2 outfit. Okay. He's got, he's got about four inches on Robert England. Yeah. I was going to say he, he looks tall, like in the stuff that I've seen of him. So, um, Dave, if you could have one figure from a Terrifier franchise, what would it be? Just one? Yeah, just one. If you had to pick one.
00:50:23
Speaker
Well, I guess since I already have that same bloodbath art, a Sienna in that scale, but like I'd really want like something like similar to what you're saying, like a NECA style or if trick or treat could do it or what have you, yeah um, of art and Sienna, like. Yep. Yeah. I think if I, if I'm, if I'm picking one today, knowing that I have the Mezco coming,
00:50:51
Speaker
And Sienna in like the costume at the end of two, not like street clothes Sienna. Yeah. With the sword and everything. Like I need, I need something where I could put it on the shelf as that like fight. Yeah. And, and, and that's why my pick is if I could snap my fingers and have a figure tomorrow, it would be a retro style Sienna to go with us. Just because this figure is super cool. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and I really do enjoy it. But yeah, I would agree with you then. That's. Yeah.
00:51:20
Speaker
Like, get get him a pair. You know, somebody to to pair him up with. Or, honestly, or the the little girl. The, the ah like, no little girl Terrifier to go with him from Terrifier. No, I want, like, that would be cool. Or even, you know, a Vicky, but, like, Sienna's the toy they have to make. Mondo Sofubi.
00:51:49
Speaker
Art the Clown.
00:51:53
Speaker
That would be cool. They could do it as like a ah ah vessel, a nightmare vessel. I was just about to say, I'm i'm on my my nightmare vessel kick, and I'm i'm looking at my my Michael Myers. Oh, that's the other head, bleeding eyes? the So the three heads are non-bleeding eyes, bleeding eyes, and then Ben Tramer. And Ben Tramer, yeah. Yeah.
00:52:11
Speaker
um
00:52:22
Speaker
nightmare vessel, make it a ah make it a severed head. so um Sorry about that, my microphone was off because I was coughing. i Yeah, I think with that- Which totally defeats the purpose of turning it off to cough. Whoops. um I think with that, i this is a fine way to transition ourselves out of spooky season and into holiday season. i Yeah. Go see Terrifier 3 if you're into horror. It's awesome. Yeah, lots of, I mean, if you've never seen any of them,
00:52:50
Speaker
I would say watch the first one. See if it's for you. yeah Yeah. You really can. You can kind of skip. You can skip all Hallows Eve. Yes. Yeah, definitely. Yes. I mean, granted, you can get it for under 10 bucks if you want to. It's fine. um Go back and watch you as an Easter egg after you're done with the yeah watch it later. Like, yeah, it's it works like the movie works. Yeah. Yeah. Save it for next Halloween.
00:53:21
Speaker
Like, that's a good, like, Halloween movie. All Hallows' Eve. I guess. You know, the little anthology situation, yeah. it's got It's got, like, the trick-or-treat vibe to it, sure. Yep. Well, with that, this has been Toys on Film, uh, the Terrifier franchise. Dave. yeah Send us, uh, send us home.
00:53:44
Speaker
That's me honking a horn.
00:53:48
Speaker
Thank you, dear listener, for hanging out with us today. Subscribe, rate, and review us wherever you listen, and then tell your friends to do it. Thanks also to Joe Azari, the golden voice behind our intro. Our music is Game Boy Horror by the Zombie Dandies. Find more about them both on our show notes. Follow us on social media at AIC underscore podcast on Instagram and Twitter. Stop by and say hi. Show us your toy hauls and share your toy stories. Maybe we'll talk about it in a future episode.
00:54:19
Speaker
don't try this at home vowa prohibited in some assembly required each sold separately not a flying toy consult a physician if your toy run exceeds more than four hours
00:54:28
Speaker
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