Damien Leone's grisly slasher sequel Terrifier 3 expands upon the lore of Art the Clown and his demented universe, and one hellish revelation confirms Art's connection to the ultimate evil. In Terrifier 3, Art expands his murderous capabilities by adding his acolyte Victoria Heyes to his blood-soaked rampage across Miles County, but Vicky is far more than just a tag-along. The ending of Terrifier 3 reveals that both Vicky and Art are much more than resilient murderers, and that their supernatural invulnerability may be a product of Hell itself.
In the aftermath of Art's final confrontation with Lauren LaVera's Sienna Shaw, there is a conspicuous reference to Art's cinematic origins, which doubles as a reference to Satan and his demon-infested eternal dwelling. While it won't be immediately obvious to all moviegoers, those familiar with Art the Clown from before the vomit-inducing violence of the Terrifier franchise will recognize it right away. In alluding to Art's past, the reference also provides a potential clue as to where the franchise, and Art himself, are headed following the events of Terrifier 3.
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Terrifier 3's Major Character Death Explained
Damien Leone's Terrifier franchise continued with Terrifier 3, which saw one of the franchise's major characters die along with many minor characters.
The 9th Circle Book In Terrifier 3 Explained
The Quick But Conspicuous Reference Comes In The Movie's Final Scene
After Sienna manages to decapitate Vicky and nail Art to a wall with her magic sword, she turns her attention to rescuing her cousin from falling into the nightmarish pit that opens in the floor. While she's preoccupied with that, Art manages to unstick himself from the wall and flees out the window. He's next seen calmly waiting at a bus stop, and shortly after he boards a bus with one other passenger. The young woman is reading a book titled The 9th Circle, which is given a significant amount of attention as she discusses it with the bus driver.
Terrifier Franchise Key Details | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Movie | Release Date | Budget | Box Office Gross | RT Tomatometer Score | RT Popcornmeter Score |
Terrifier | 2016 | $35,000-$55,000 | $416,000 | 60% | 53% |
Terrifier 2 | 2022 | $250,000 | $15.7 million | 86% | 80% |
Terrifier 3 | 2024 | $2 million | Pending | 77% | 94% |
Interestingly, Art seems to be at his lowest in the scene, as he is still bleeding profusely from his impalement at Sienna's hands and looks tired. The scene ends shortly thereafter with a nice jump scare, and Art most likely kills the young woman and the bus driver even if it isn't shown. While the contents of the actual book that the girl is reading don't necessarily carry any meaning (the way she described it, it might have been a novelization of The 9th Circle short film), the title is of the utmost importance to Art the Clown's history.
Terrifier 3's 9th Circle Book Connects To Art The Clown's First Appearance
Before Terrifier, Art Appeared In A Short Film
In 2008, the creator of the Terrifier franchise, Damien Leone, wrote and directed a short film titled The 9th Circle. It started innocently enough, with a young woman in a waiting room of some sort, but she quickly meets a black-and-white-suited clown who seems innocent enough. The clown is the first iteration of Art, and while he is far less maniacal-looking than David Howard Thornton's Terrifier visage, seeing Art as a simple clown might actually be more disturbing. Art's true nature is quickly revealed, as he stabs her with a sedative and she passes out.
The girl awakens in a dank basement/boiler room, and flees from a massive, humanoid monster before being caught and tied up. She is surrounded by demonic figures, and witnesses a pregnant woman have her baby ripped from her womb. Her blood is used in some sort of ritual, as it is drunk by a figure with what are very clearly facial features meant to evoke Satan. The devilish figure approaches the tied up girl with malicious intent just before the short film ends with Art honking his now-iconic bike horn.
The 9th Circle was seen again in All Hallow's Eve, a 2013 independent film from Damien Leone. All Hallow's Eve features a babysitter who discovers a mysterious videotape in her young charges' Halloween candy bag, which she watches after the kids go to sleep. The video features three horrifying short movies, each of which features Art the Clown in some capacity; the first of the three is actually just The 9th Circle short film. The book title at the end of Terrifier 3 is a plain and obvious reference to Art's first two adventures.
The Real Meaning Of The 9th Circle
It's A Reference To Dante's Inferno
Italian writer Dante Alighieri's famous 14th-century work The Divine Comedy sees the writer himself guided through the three segments of the afterlife, Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, by the poet Virgil from Ancient Rome. The first part is known as Inferno, and it describes the tiered levels of Hell itself, with each tier reserved for different kinds of sinners who receive different eternal punishments in accordance with their sins. The Nine Circles of Hell worsen the deeper that Dante journeys, with the Ninth Circle representing the worst part of Hell.
The Ninth Circle of Hell is home to the ultimate betrayer: Satan himself.
The Ninth Circle of Hell is reserved for those who have committed various forms of betrayal, with different kinds of traitors broken out into different sections. Two of the most famous traitors in the Bible, Cain and Judas Iscariot, have sections named for them. The punishment of the Ninth Circle is to be trapped in ice for all eternity, which contrasts with the typical fiery depictions of the biblical Hell. The center of the Ninth Circle is also home to the ultimate betrayer, Satan himself, who betrayed God.
Terrifier 3's 9th Circle Book Indicates Art Is A Demon
In Terrifier 3, Damien Leone Seemingly Confirms What Many Theorized
Art's first appearance came in a short film titled The 9th Circle which featured him capturing a young woman in order to bring her to an actual devil. It's clear that Damien Leone intended Art to be an agent of Satan--a literal demon. Art's Clown Café from Terrifier 2 appears to be his own corner of Hell, but the underworld may be explored further in Terrifier 4. Sienna vowed at the end of Terrifier 3 to rescue her cousin Gabbie, and if the pit she fell into is actually a portal to Hell, then that's where Sienna will go next.
The religious symbolism present in Terrifier 2 and Terrifier 3 is intended to paint Sienna and Art the Clown as the dueling forces of good and evil represented in the Bible.
The 9th Circle book title reference coming on the heels of a possessed Vicky's blood opening up a portal to Hell is no coincidence in that sense. The demon that used Victoria Heyes as a vessel may have been defeated, but the demonic Art is still alive and ready to cause pain, fear, and humiliation. His ongoing battle with Sienna Shaw, who is the good angel warrior to his evil demonic clown, seems as though it will move from Miles County to the depths of Hell, and perhaps all the way down to the Ninth Circle itself.
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3/10
17 9.1/10
Terrifier 3
Not Rated
Horror
Terrifier 3 follows Sienna and her brother as they attempt to move past the traumatic events of Art the Clown's Halloween massacre. As they embrace the Christmas season, Art reemerges, intent on turning their holiday into a nightmare, continuing his reign of terror.
- Director
- Damien Leone
- Release Date
- October 11, 2024
- Studio(s)
- Dark Age Cinema , Fuzz on the Lens Productions
- Distributor(s)
- Cineverse
- Writers
- Damien Leone
- Runtime
- 125 Minutes
- Franchise(s)
- Terrifier
- prequel(s)
- Terrifier , Terrifier 2
- Main Genre
- Horror
