Banned horror film that made viewers ill is now available to stream

The film was a major box office success despite the controversy

Terrifier 3, one of the year’s most controversial and talked about horror films, is now available on streaming just months after causing hysteria in cinemas.

The slasher movie, which follows the exploits of the sinister Art the Clown, played by David Howard Thornton, was a major success when it was released earlier this year, earning more than $87m (£69m) at the box office, against a modest budget of just $2m (£1.5m).

However, controversy surrounded the release as its excessive gore earned it a rare ban in France, while there were reports that the film caused some viewers to “vomit” in theatres.

Now the film is available on streaming, meaning those who weren’t brave enough to see it in cinemas but are still curious to see what all the hype was about, can now watch it at home.

The film can now be purchased or rented on various platforms including Amazon Prime, Apple TV and YouTube for £15.99. Meanwhile, Bloody Disgusting reports that a physical media release for the horror will come out on 17 December.

David Howard Thornton in ‘Terrifier 3’ (AP)

The movie debuted with an impressive Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 94 per cent and even outperformed Joker 2, as it romped to the top of the US box office.

Director, Damien Leone, says that the success of the film had prompted a major studio to reach out to him with the intention of rebooting the franchise for a more mainstream audience but on the condition that he tones down the violence.

Talking to Total Film, he said: “They wanted to reboot it for a wider audience. That’s not what I was interested in. They would say, ‘It’s gotta be rated R, it can’t be as gory as you made it.’”

The 42-year-old director added: “I knew they’d never let me shoot the first 10 minutes of what I wanted to do [in Terrifier 3]. So I thought, ‘Let’s just stay true to what this franchise is.”

David Howard Thornton in ‘Terrifier 3’ (Bloody Digusting)

The previous film was released in September 2022 in limited cinemas across the United States but word-of-mouth led to more screenings being announced across the country.

The success of the film did generate some controversy after people on social media claimed that they had passed out while watching the gory flick.

Naturally, a contingent of people have been wary of these reports, with some suggesting that they have been planted by the film’s producers in an attempt to make it more successful.

Leone went on to deny these reports, writing on X/Twitter: “To everyone saying that reports of people fainting and puking during screenings of Terrifier 2 is a marketing ploy, I swear on the success of the film it is NOT. These reports are 100 per cent legit.”