Brad Miska was barely paying attention when he realizedhorror movie history was happening.
I got somewhere like 15-20 minutes into it and I was like Something is special about this movie.
This isnt what I thought it was going to be, Miska told io9.
Director Damien Leone and Art the Clown on the set of Terrifier 3.Image: Jesse Korman/Dark Age Cinema
This is one of the best horror films Ive ever seen in my entire life.
The rest is history.
But its also partially because, that day, Miska took notice and pitched up the phone.
© Jesse Korman/Dark Age Cinema
Immediately we were all hands on deck, he said.
We had to have this movie, whatever it takes.
They knew they had something special already, Miska said.
Leone and co-star Elliott Fullam. – Jesse Korman/Dark Age Cinema
They believed it in their heart.
In the subsequent weeks, word of the film just grew and grew.
Hes credited onTerrifier 3as an executive producer.
© Jesse Korman/Dark Age Cinema
What we gave [Leone] was trust, Miska said.
We let him make his movie.
We were just like Whatever you want to do, you do it.
© Jesse Korman/Dark Age Cinema
They were super supportive and just let him do his thing.
The question then became, could lightning strike twice?
WithTerrifier 2, its wanton gore was surprising and shocking to audiences.
The resulting financial success?
Coming off that withTerrifier 3, audiences had a better idea of what to expect, as did theaters.
Miska thinks the film sets that bar in its first scene.
That was also the attitude of the filmmakers and distributors.
Sure, expectations forTerrifier 3were bigger all around.
We didnt know how people were gonna take it, Miska said.
People could have hated the movie and it would have been a whole different situation.
You could feel like Okay at least people like it now and the gore is hitting.
But, again, very minimal traditional media.
You arent going to seeTerrifier 3commercials during football games.
The trailer will only play in front of very specific movies.
You wont the films star, Art the Clown, on lots of billboards.
But that was all calculated.
Thats a key thing here too.
Literally every single piece or material.
Ive seen it and know every story behind every movie.
Thats a confidence that Miska shares with the filmmakers too.
They believe in themselves, he said.
They believe in their franchise, they believe in their characters.
They believe in their work They believe in their fans on a level that I have never seen before…
They just believed in [it] so much that it was a crazy thing to experience.
Plus, that belief means Leone and Falcone have never had to sell to a studio.
They could keep it canonized.
They could do spin-offs.
They could do remakes.
Its like the good old days when we got a new slasher every two or three years.
Terrifier 3is now in theaters.
The first two films,TerrifierandTerrifier 2, are both streaming on Prime Video.
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