In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Spencer Charnas, frontman of horror-obssessed metalcore mob Ice Nine Kills was asked to name the all-time greatest horror movie.
“Oh man, that is so hard to answer," he admitted. "I grew up on all the great Slasher films and the forefathers of that genre; Leatherface, Jason Vorhees, Michael Meyers, Freddy Krueger… The modern version of that to me is Art The Clown [the villain of the Terrifier series].
"But the movie to me that encompasses everything I love about those films and adds a comedic twist, which is my other love, is the original Scream. Still today, that’s one of the most powerful in-cinema experiences I’ve ever had. I saw it at the movies when I was 11 and it blew my goddamn mind. It was scary and vicious, but also self-referential with the killer as a fan of my favourite movies.”
Hammer caught up to Charnas after the recent release of A Work Of Art, the band's new single inspired by Damien Leone's Terrifier series and featured in the soundtrack to Terrifier 3. The third installment has proven the most popular to date, topping the US box office and earning over 55 million dollars on an approximate budget of $2 million USD.
In 2018 Ice Nine Kills released their fifth album The Silver Scream, each track inspired by a different horror movie. It proved to be a breakthrough success for the band and landed them in the top 30 on the US Billboard 200. A 2021 sequel, The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood built upon its predecessors' success and saw the band break into the top 20 in the US. But if A Work Of Art is setting up a third Silver Scream entry, Spencer is playing his cards close to his chest.
“I can’t possibly comment on that – I’ll swallow a cyanide tablet before I speak," the frontman told Hammer with a grin. "But it is the birth of… something. It mirrors the birth in the video.”
Spencer also spoke about the best horror movie he's seen recently - though the answer probably won't be a surprise.
“Terrifier 3!" he enthused. "I really do have to say it though – it’s the slasher franchise that even before we got involved with it, I’d always be talking about in interviews. It’s the greatest slasher franchise I’ve seen in decades – really. Not discounting the retreads with Halloween which were fantastic and stuff like Freaky and Happy Death Day, Hatchet... but that iconic killer who could take the torch from a Jason or Michael, you’ve gotta give it to Art The Clown.”
A Work Of Art is out now.
