Terrifier 3 Santa star reveals “awful” behind-the-scenes secret

Daniel Roebuck takes on the role of Santa in Terrifier 3, and with Art the Clown vying for his position, some pretty “awful” things go down. 

Damien Leone has delivered the goods with Terrifier 3. Not only is it the goriest horror movie of 2024 but it also expands the story as we find out more about Art’s backstory. 

Following Terrifier 2’s success, Leone and his team had a bigger budget to work with, allowing for even more horrifying moments, including a kill set to rival that bedroom scene and an opening sequence that caused walkouts at a screening this week.

Ahead of the new movie’s October 11 release, Dexerto caught up with Santa star Roebuck, who shared a little behind-the-scenes secret. Even though the poster spells it out, let it be known that there are mild spoilers ahead. 

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In the poster, Art can be seen wearing Santa’s face around his neck. Although we won’t share all the gory details here, Roebuck teased that what happens to his character is “so awful,” they had to make replicas of him.

The actor told us that he knew the effects were going to be intense as he “had to be scanned and they had to make molds” of him. 

“When I saw the effects happening, I stood back and watched as the symphony was taking place. What they do to me is so awful that they couldn’t actually use me to do it,” Roebuck said. 

“So there are other versions of me. And it was like, ‘What?’ I remember us going, ‘What is the matter with you that you would think of this? How do you think of this?’ Crazy!”

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When asked about how Terrifier 3 differs from its predecessor, Roebuck used a rather creative metaphor. “I think it differs in the same way as how Beethoven’s fifth was better than Beethoven’s fourth,” he explained. 

“You know what I mean? Beethoven was like, ‘This one’s okay, but the fifth is going to blow your mind!’ Terrifier 3 is a maestro working with a full orchestra. 

“The other movies are admittedly low budget, and you see the budget, from one to two. And both are entertaining, but with a little more money, it’s a little more grand. 

“Damien brought in special effects artist Christien Tinsley, who’s one of Hollywood’s most sought after effects guys. I’ve worked with him a number of times over my 40 years. He’s amazing.

“And so when his company was brought in to make Damien’s insanity a reality, I mean, it’s gonna blow people away. So just get ready for Ode to Kill. You know, that’s what it’s going to be… It’s a bloody symphony.”

Terrifier 3 drops in cinemas on October 11. Until then, check out our ranking of the best Terrifier kills so far, read about how Vicky star Samantha Scaffidi’s fave kill is in the new flick, and find out how Leone shot Terrifier 3’s shower scene.