Le voyage de Terrifier 3 vers le grand écran était unique et choquant de manière excitante.
Brad Miska was barely paying attention when he realized that a horror movie revolution was happening. The co-founder of the horror movie site Bloody Disgusting had lived and breathed horror movies his whole life, so he knows they have the power to captivate. So you can’t blame him for delivering a sequel that seemed modestly titled The Horrific 2 and going about his day. But then, what happened happened.
« I love to pay attention to movies when I watch them, but for some reason that day I was distracted and it was in the background. It took about 15-20 minutes into the movie and I said ‘there’s something special about this movie.’ ‘This isn’t what I thought it would be,' » Miska told io9. « I stopped everything I was doing, started the movie over, gave it my full attention, and the second after my initial reaction was ‘this is a masterpiece.’ It’s one of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
It was May 2022, and at that time, Miska’s task was to find movies to acquire for ScreamBox, a horror streaming service owned by the parent company Cineverse. A party happened after Cineverse acquired his website and the team there realized his years of cinema experience gave him a distinct perspective on what was great and what was not. The Horrific 2 was just one of many films under consideration. To make sure he wasn’t crazy, he asked John Squires, the current editor-in-chief of Bloody Disgusting, to validate his thoughts, and Squires agreed. The Horrific 2 was fantastic. The rest is history.
Fast forward three years and The Horrific 3 recently opened at number one at the box office on its opening weekend and took third place in its second weekend. It’s a true horror film, audacious as it is independent and not studio-released, unrated, incredibly violent, and had minimal traditional marketing. Most credit for this success goes to writer/director Damian Leone and producer Phil Falcon for nurturing the series and believing in it first and foremost, as well as allowing Cineverse to acquire and release it. But it also goes in part to Miska for noticing it that day and making a phone call.
He said, « Immediately we were all on board ». « We had to get this movie, whatever it took. » So they called Leone and Falcon and offered them the next movie to Cineverse and ScreamBox through Bloody Disgusting.
Miska said, « They already knew they had something special ». « They believed in it in their hearts. They knew the fan base was growing for them and they knew there was a devoted group of people who loved The Horrific and they believed in the movie so much that they were considering releasing it (The Horrific 2) themselves. » But in the end, they placed their trust in Miska and the team to work their magic and achieve the success of The Horrific 2 in front of as many people as possible.
And just a few months later, in September 2022, the Cineverse team was true to their word. The Horrific 2 opened on nearly 1000 screens and immediately started making a big splash and earning money. Being considered a « limited release », where some theaters only showed it once or twice a day, the unrated nature of the film was not an issue. In the following weeks, word of the film grew and grew. It captured the press, booked more and more theaters, and after a few weeks, the film grossed over $10 million on its way to over $15 million.
This success made The Horrific 3 all but certain, and while it came late in the process following The Horrific 2, Miska and the team were on board with three from the start. They were credited The Horrific 3 as executive producers.
Miska said, « What we gave (Leone) was trust ». « We let him make his movie. He knew that if the studio saw those five to ten pages they’d say ‘no’ and not allow him to do it. We were like, ‘do whatever you want to do.’ Even when we got the first cut and saw how brutal some of these things were, no one said anything. To be perfectly honest with you, none of my high-level executives said anything at all. They were extremely supportive of him and allowed him to do his work. »
Then the question became: can lightning strike twice? With The Horrific 2, the brutal bloodshed was surprising and shocking to the audience. The resulting financial success? Completely unexpected. Coming out of it with The Horrific 3, audiences had a better idea of what to expect, as did theaters. Miska believes the film sets the benchmark in its very first scene.
Miska said, « When you kill a child in the opening scene…and continue to watch the film, you’re giving the director permission to do it again. » « And you can’t complain because you sat through it…you kind of have to hem yourself into that at that stage for anything. »
And that was also the stance of filmmakers and distributors. Certainly, expectations for The Horrific 3 were higher across the board. They saw that word of mouth and viral press was helping push the second film, but when the third film premiered at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, they were taking nothing for granted.
Miska said, « We didn’t know how people were going to take it ». « People could’ve hated the movie and the situation could’ve been completely different. It was genuinely nerve-wracking and truly scary—and once everyone embraced it and loved it, (there was) momentum. You feel like, ‘Okay, at least people love this now, and the blood hits hard’. »
While there was some marketing before the film’s premiere, it was after that that the film kicked into high gear: social media, news posts, reviews, and more. But again, traditional media was very sparse. You won’t see The Horrific 3 commercials during football games. The trailer will only play in front of very specific movies. You won’t find the film’s star, Art the Clown, on a lot of billboards. But all of this was calculated.
Miska said, « There’s a group of rock stars at Cineverse who helped build all the content out really quickly and direct all that stuff and did a great job on social media. » « And yes, the fact that we have our journalism history—that was a big part, I think, of the way it managed to blow up two and three, to put it in this position where it could be launched »
And this is a key thing here as well. As a former film journalist, Miska and his team have a very unique and specific set of skills and knowledge that made the marketing of The Horrific 2 and 3 extremely focused. Miska said, « It was all just using our own toolkit that we’ve known for running websites over the past 20 to 25 years ». « We had a conversation with the marketing team and we were talking about promoting The Horrific 3, and I always try to remind them that I care about this because I’ve seen every piece of horror movie marketing material for 25 years. Literally every piece or material. I’ve seen it and know every story behind every movie. So we can look at a piece of content and immediately know if it works, if it doesn’t, and what they were thinking. You just know. »
And this is the confidence that Miska shares with filmmakers as well. He added, « They believe in themselves ». « They believe in their property, they believe in their characters. They believe in their work, they believe in their fans to a level I haven’t seen before…they believed it so much that it was kind of crazy to experience »
Additionally, this belief means that Leone and Falcon never had to sell to a studio. They own everything The Horrific which puts them in a position that Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger creators never do.
Miska said, « As long as (Leone) still owns and controls it with Phil, they can do whatever they want, whenever they want ». « They can hold onto it forever. They can do the side benefits. They can do remakes. Anything they want, and all horror fans have to do is wait until they can make another one for them. It’s like the good old days when we’d get a new slasher tool every two or three years. It was great. »
It seems that, after the success of The Horrific 3, Art the Clown and his world will continue to grow. And with ongoing rights issues for Jason, Freddy, and their friends keeping them off screens, Hollywood studios can sit back and watch film lovers like Leone, Falcon, Miska, and others pave their way to the top.
The Horrific 3 is now in theaters. The first two movies, The Horrific and The Horrific 2 are both streaming on Prime Video.
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