Demonic black and white clown Art has become a cult horror icon in the last few years, but the clown from Terrifier debuted in the 2008 short The 9th Circle. Despite clowns being designed as lighthearted figures of fun for small children and families, they can often inspire fear and unease. Filmmakers and novelists have been quick to capitalize on this, with one of Stephen King's most popular villains being IT's Pennywise the Dancing Clown, while everything from Batman villain The Joker to 2014 creature feature Clown have used clowns as figures of terror. Art the clown from Terrifier 2 and Teriffier feels to some like the newest killer circus performer on the horror block. However, Art the clown has been around much longer than many fans of his antics realize.
One of the most recent icons of the horror genre, featured in The 9th Circle, is Art the Clown, an evil black and white clown best known for the Terrifier movies — most recently 2022's vomit-inducing Terrifier 2. Art the Clown was created by filmmaker Damian Leone, and his unsettling monochromatic design was inspired by a clown seen in The Twilight Zone episode "Five Characters In Search Of An Exit." While Art is mute like other slasher characters like Halloween's Michael Myers, he's shown to take a great deal of delight in terrifying his victims before killing them. Here's a rundown of The 9th Circle, the 2008 movie in which Damian Leone unleashed Art the clown on the world.
The 9th Circle Introduced The Black And White Clown From Terrifier
Art the Clown has been shown to be able to withstand a great deal of damage without dying, carry out Freddy Kruger-style dream invasions, and vanish without a trace. Art the clown has changed a lot since his debut though. The black and white clown may have his own solo franchise, but he made his debut in The 9th Circle, which arrived in 2008. Surprisingly, Art the Clown's role in the short is relatively small, but he's easily the most memorable part. The 9th Circle opens with a young woman named Casey waiting on a train when Art sits across from her. Needless to say, she's quickly creeped out by Art the clown, and after tricking her with a gift, he injects her with a syringe and kidnaps her.
Art the Clown disappears from The 9th Circle following this opening, with Casey waking up underground and being tormented by a demonic cult. The second half of the short is still atmospheric, though some of the masks used for the demon characters don't hold up nearly as well as the mute clown Art's stark black and white mime-like makeup. The 9th Circle later served as the first entry in the anthology All Hallow's Eve, which also restores a previously deleted subplot where Casey meets other kidnap victims.
All Hallow's Eve's makes Art the Clown the main star. The feature-length anthology movie features Art the clown in all three shorts, as well as the background narrative running throughout which connects them. With his growing stardom eventually leading to 2016's Terrifier, and Terrifier 2. It's doubtful Leone or anyone else involved with The 9th Circle knew just how popular the black and white clown would become, but with the second Terrifier movie — with returning star David Howard Thornton — blowing the box office wide open, his cult following is only more likely to grow.
Why Art The Clown Should Make Horror Studios Take Note
The Terrifier franchise has created quite the buzz as of late, with Terrifier 2 making back over 30 times its budget at the box office. What started out as a low-budget horror endeavor has turned into a viral sensation, with Art the Clown already touted to go down in horror history with the likes of Pennywise — and horror studios should take note. The Terrifier franchise started out as a series of short films that grew in budget thanks to campaigns on Indiegogo. The black and white clown began as a figure only known by niche horror circles and has turned into a well-known source of nightmare fuel — and all on a shoestring budget. The Terrifier franchise makes its money in splatter, gore, and inventive kills, all with Art the Clown leading the way. Marketing for the Terrifier movies has been especially viral, with reports of audience members fainting and vomiting in theaters at a particularly gruesome Terrifier 2 scene. Damien Leone has even gotten the approval of Stephen King, who gave Terrifier 2 a big thumbs-up. Art the Clown proves that it doesn't take a Hollywood-sized budget to bring on the scares. Rather, it takes ingenuity, creativity, and a whole lot of blood. The 9th Circle was only the beginning, and audiences are sure to be terrified by Art the Clown for many Terrifier movies to come.