Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) stand next to each other in a Halloween store in a scene from Terrifier 2
(Cinedigm/Iconic Events Releasing)

‘Be on the right side of history, coward’: ‘Terrifier’ creator just admitted the gory horror franchise has no ‘political’ meaning, and fans aren’t happy

Damien Leone, the creator of the divisive Terrifier horror movie franchise, has found himself in hot water on X following a long-winded “both sides” statement with questionable timing.

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Love it or hate it, Terrifier and its box art killer, Art the Clown, has been compared to horror greats like A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger and Friday the 13th’s Jason Vorhees, in recent years. If you’re a genre fan, you probably recognize the franchise’s grinning clown mascot from memes and Spirit Halloween T-shirts, even if you haven’t sat down to watch all three feature-length film installments (four, including the original 2013 standalone, All Hallows’ Eve).

Famed for its impressive practical effects and… creative kills, the franchise has also garnered a good bit of criticism from horror aficionados and casual viewers alike, with a resounding critique being that the films lack any real plot or meaning. Sorry to those who wasted breath defending perceived social commentary or symbolism — Terrifier’s creator himself just wholly debunked these theories on X, stating, “Terrifier is NOT in any way, shape, or form a political franchise.”

Screenshot of Damien Leone's X statement in which he defends the Terrifier franchise's apolitical stance

Leone’s statement comes after Art the Clown actor, David Howard Thornton, took to Threads and defended LGBTQIA+ cast and crew members. “All of my films have been made by talented cast and crew members of the LGBTQ community,” he said, “They exist and they matter. If you’re not cool with that, then there’s the door.” Now, this is the energy we need from allies, especially within the horror community!

Terrifier actor David Howard Thornton defends LGBTQ cast and crew members on Threads

Though no names were named in Leone’s subsequent X statement, you have to take pause at the timing of his post, which seems to be in direct response to Thornton’s claim. Needless to say, this is exactly the reason fans are now questioning the Terrifier creator’s motives and stance.

Across social media, many are dubbing Leone a “coward,” condemning not only his post’s timing but also his apparent desire to deny any political messaging present in the franchise in order to placate fans who, what, hate queer people? That’s certainly what it looks like, though Leone would have you believe this is a partisan issue. He reassured fans that Terrifier’s cast and crew consists of both Democrats and Republicans, welcoming anyone who’s “a decent human being” and imploring audiences not to let “toxic rhetoric on either side of the political spectrum deter you from being a Terrifier fan.” That is if you can call standing your ground against homophobia “toxic.”

In throwing his project’s star under the bus, Leone also inadvertently confirmed the franchise’s greatest perceived failure, reducing Terrifier as an IP to nothing but “a killer clown movie.” I don’t mean to nitpick, but that doesn’t sound too affirming coming from a creative who’s “in love with horror movies.”

As a genre, horror has always been and always will be political. You can’t look at this year’s three Oscar-nominated horror films and tell me the patterns they share with those recognized during the Reagan administration of the ’80s are insignificant. More than any other genre, I’d argue horror most masterfully attacks and dissects widespread and deep-seated fears of a given era in this way, whether it be serial killers of the ’70s, technological advancements of the ’80s and ’90s onward, or loss of autonomy over the physical body today — a theme that has echoed throughout every decade in which we’ve seen vulnerable groups, particularly women and the LGBTQIA+ community, targeted politically.

Maybe it’s a bad time to make a Devil Wears Prada reference, but, sincerely, do you think this has nothing to do with you? Even a film that rejects politics is still a product of its time, for better or for worse. I mean, it can’t all just be “pure entertainment” to Leone, right? Otherwise, he’d wind up with a 2.5-hour gore-fest in which his first female victim, wearing only a bra and underwear, is scalped, skinned, and dismembered on her bed, only for her attacker to return, douse her in bleach, then literally rub salt in her wounds, without any semblance of a plot or underlying commentary on misogyny to defend it. Oh, wait.


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Olivia Rolls
Olivia Rolls is a freelance contributor at The Mary Sue. She's been writing professionally since 2022, covering gaming news and guides at a handful of outlets. Her work has appeared at Screen Rant, GameSkinny, N4G Unlocked, and VideoGamer, but you can also find her at The Escapist. A lover of cozy games, all things horror, and the modern anthropological study that is dissecting and participating in online pop culture spheres, Olivia dedicates both her work and downtime to writing about current interests, big and small. For deep dives on everything from NPC Studio's blushing farm sim, Fields of Mistria, to women's place in the horror genre and trending talking points on TikTok, she's your girl.