The main antagonist of the Terrifier franchise, Art the Clown is a depraved and sadistic killer mime clown who terrorises the public on Halloween nights by murdering and torturing innocents for his own delight.
Actors who have played Art:
The 9th Circle - Mike Giannelli
All Hallow’s Eve - Mike Gianelli
Terrifier - David Thornton
Terrifier 2 - David Thornton
Terrifier 3 - David Thornton
Damien Leone - the writer, director, and creator of Art the Clown and the Terrifier franchise - wrote, produced and even did the makeup for a short film called The 9th Circle. Leone and Giannelli were close friends, and whilst Giannelli wasn’t an actor, he was cast to play Art the Clown. Leone needed someone who didn’t mind being in the makeup chair for at least three hours, and then to act in that makeup for another ten. Giannelli, however, hated the process. He “hated every second of it” and this caused him to turn down the lucrative role of Art in the future Terrifier films.
Mike Giannelli
David Thornto
Physical Appearance:
In the film ‘All Hallows Eve’ there are VHS tapes shown within it and Art stars in all three. In the first his physical appearance is that of a normal human clown, but in the second and third tapes his appearance becomes far more disturbing. His teeth are filthy and rotting, his head is abnormally shaped, his cheeks are deeply sunken and his unnaturally sharp and pointed nose is crooked and elongated. He later maintains this appearance in Terrifier.
Unlike other silent slasher villains e.g Michael Myers, Art the Clown is a very expressive character who uses exaggerated mime, hand gestures and facial features to communicate. He often commits his murders in a theatrical, animated and even comedic manner, during or after which he silently laughs over his victims. As he is never shown to make any noise, even in reaction to extreme pain, it is implied he was born mute or is simply physically incapable of making noise. He simply mimes his pain in silent screams.
Originally it is relatively easy to believe that Art is a human being and even though he sustains damage via major wounds, they are theoretically survivable for a human, even including drastic blood loss [although this would have reduced chances of survival]. However, at the end of Terrifier he blew his brains out to avoid police capture, before then rising from the dead at the end of the film and then again in the sequel. In Terrifier 2 **he sustains far more physical damage, far more than a human could have a chance of surviving.