TERRIFIER 2's Damien Leone, David Howard Thornton and Chris Jericho Talk Muppets and Mayhem

Hello, my friends. Barbara here. As the temperatures finally begin to drop, horror movies are creeping into prime time and onto an increasing number of movie screens. A slasher movie, TERRIFIER 2, makes its way to theaters this Thursday, October 6. Starring the seemingly colorless Art the Clown, whose colorful kills and personality contrast with his appearance, the film uses practical effects in gloriously gruesome scenes. Certain to please fans of its predecessor, this sequel continues in the same gritty vein, with blood spurting from the wounds inflicted by the ever cheerful Art the Clown.

I had the opportunity to meet not only the writer, director and FX man, Damien Leone, but also Art the Clown, himself, David Howard Thornton, and as a bonus, the wrestling champion Chris Jericho , who appears briefly in the film. What a great return to in-person interviews after three years of phone calls and zoom chats! I couldn't have asked for a better group of guys to jump back into the fray with.

After discussing my broken AC and melting heat, I started asking questions.

Barbara: You probably had to deal with that in the costume. Is it hot?

David: Yeah, a lot of extremes. I went from hot, where my mask melts on my face, to cold, where I'm just like, "Oh my God!" Covered in blood and unable to warm up enough.

Barbara: If someone were to remake TERRIFIER 2 using Muppets, which Muppets would you like to see play?

Chris: She's coming strong.

David: Oh my God. The beaker should of course be Art.

Barbara: Of course.

Damien: I don't know. I would like to see Kermit.

Barbara: Like who?

Damien: Like Art. Why not?

David: Oh, that would be interesting.

Damien: Yeah, just the visuals. "Don't run away now."

Chris: I'm going with the Swedish chef; he already has the utensils.

Barbara: And he's sort of being small (imitating the movements of the Swedish chef). I love it. Chris, how did you pitch this project?

Chris: We were saying earlier it was quite the opposite because I was a big Terrifier fan. I walked downstairs before a lot of people knew it. I was really spreading the word as much as I could, because I thought it was such a great groundbreaking horror movie. We hadn't seen a character like Art in thirty years. That's how it all started. I met David, then I met Damien, and then I started pushing them. I'm like, "I have to be in the next movie."

Damien: It didn't take much.

Chris: Whether I was in it or not, I really believed in this franchise. When Damien said he was going to do a second one, it felt like I was going to support him in any way, shape or form that I could. Being in the movie was just a bonus, which was great, because we had so much fun. When you see TERRIFIER 2 and it looks a little grimy and gritty, it's because the place, at least my scene, was grimy and gritty. So yeah, that's basically what it was - some sort of mission to be involved in some way.

Barbara: Damien, what comes first for you? Do you imagine the murders first, or do you sort of invent the scenario and the plot first?

Damien: It really depends. A lot of times I just get a character or a visual, and I'll just say it has to be in a movie. I have to find a way to create a story around it. Usually starts with an image. Ironically, Art the Clown started with an idea. I just had this idea of ​​a killer clown terrorizing a woman on a city bus, just one of many weird little horror ideas I had when I was much younger. When I decided to put this in a short, and I said, "Okay, I've got this clown. Now I have to figure out what he's going to look like." I say all the time that I have to thank Tim Curry's Pennywise because I wanted Art the Clown to be as opposed to him as possible because there's no point in stepping on his toes, or having him colored, or make him have hair and talk and be a verbal articulate prankster, all that kind of stuff. I went in a completely opposite direction, and the image I ended up creating is striking. People always tell me before they know what it was, that they would scroll through Netflix and only see Art's face. It's like I don't know anything about it, I've never heard of it, but I have to check this.

Barbara: David, from what I understand, you brought a kind of jovial thing to the character...