Creator of ‘goriest’ $90,000,000 horror slammed for refusing to make franchise political

Damien Leone, the creator of ‘one of the scariest horror villains’ in Terrifier, is facing backlash after declaring the franchise apolitical.

Terrifier, released in 2016, was the first feature-length introduction of the maniacal Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) and the bloodthirsty character has proved a continued success.

The fictional killer has hacked his way through the fictional Miles County for almost a decade, with the 2022 and 2024 sequels causing cinemagoers to vomit and pass out due to the ‘excessively gory’ scenes.

In fact, Terrifier 3 got a rare under-18s ban in France for its graphic content as it landed 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The unexpected popularity of the indie horror series meant it raked in $89 million (£71 million) at the global box office and already has a fourth movie update.

But now Leone has found himself in hot water from all sides of the US political spectrum after releasing a statement following the film’s lead stars’ outspoken online posts.

Thornton has been vocal about his opposition to returning US President Donald Trump and Tesla billionaire Elon Musk on social media.

‘He’s going to get us into WW3,’ the actor said about Trump in one post on Threads.

In another, he wrote: ‘I grew up around Germans that stayed silent. I learned from them what happens when one stays silent. That is why I continue to refuse to stay silent. If you don’t like that, you can keep scrolling. It’s as simple as that.’

And lead-co-star and queer actor Lauren LaVera has also been clear about her anti-Trump stance over the years.

After Trump supporters voiced their anger at the lead stars’ views and the associated franchise, Leone took to X in this ‘ugly political climate we’re living in.’

The statement was captioned: ‘Hopefully I never have to bring up politics publicly ever again but this desperately needed to be said on behalf of the Terrifier franchise.’

As he wrote: ‘I’m all for freedom of speech and expression. That being said, Terrifier is NOT in any way shape or form a political franchise.

‘I did not get into filmmaking to become a politician or promote any politcal agendas or ideologies, especially through a killer clown movie.

‘I fell in love with horror movies as a form of pure entertainment and those are the films I like to make.’

He explained that since the first movie the cast and crew has consisted of ‘both republicans and democrats’ and said ‘anyone is welcome’ no matter their political affiliations ‘as long as they’re decent human being’.

He concluded: ‘If this doesn’t sit well with any fans or cast/crew members that is your right and I respect it.

‘You don’t have to buy a ticket and you don’t have to work on these films. Thank you and I recommend you don’t let toxic rhetoric on either side of the political spectrum deter you from being a Terrifier fan.’

Meanwhile, Thornton took to Threads to announce a break from social media, writing: ‘I’m ok. Just taking a mental break from the ensuing madness of the world right now. Thanks for the support.’

Leone’s statement, however, has sparked a fury from many unhappy by his claim that the franchise will remain non-political.

‘I feel this is in response to some of the LGBTQ advocacy that DHT has been standing up for lately on his platform, which would not make this response a great look.

‘Playing both sides atm just isn’t a good take when one side is advocating for the rights and lives of minorities and the other side is celebrating seig heils and the splitting up of migrant families across the country,’ @browsehorror argued.

Leone replied: ‘It’s definitely not since I agree with his stance on that. Who do you think hires all of our LGBTQ cast n crew members? They are loved, respected and encouraged to work with us.’

Another user @kryptkeeper21 shared: ‘A LARGE following of the Terrifier franchise are the LGBT community…I’m gay and I would never want someone condoning treating me like I’m not worthy..sigh.’

And Leone quickly replied: ‘Why would we condone that? All I’m saying is my team who killed themselves bringing everyone Terrifier is made up of both republicans and democrats and this franchise doesn’t promote hatred for either as long as you’re a good person.’

‘You really can’t ride the coat tails of grindhouse and indie horror, have a queer actress as your lead, and then say it’s fine Nazis like your movie,’ anshulmaha shared.

‘We really gotta bring media literacy back, because horror is political, regardless of whether or not it has a political affiliation.

‘Who dies is political, who inflicts the violence is political, and every choice in between. The fact it’s able to be made and viewed is political,’ @writeonsteph argued.

‘It probably would have been best to say nothing at all tbh,’ @carouselshotgun shared.

‘Extremely gross and weird to post this when it’s clearly targeted at your two leads, who have always been outspoken about protecting human rights for everyone, and standing up against fascism. horror has and will always be political, whether you like it or not,’ @bloodxrxge argued.

‘Hopefully, I never have to bring up politics publicly ever again” is such a red flag. Why wouldn’t you want to talk about pressing issues if the times call for it, especially as an artist? Why would you want to stay silent, huh?’ @andrewj626 noted.

‘A genre so well known for its exploration of queer topics and prominence of women should NOT be an “apolitical safe haven” for alt right people, @merveilles wrote.

The latest controversy comes just days after Leone offered an update on the fourth instalment.