Art the Clown (Bloody Santa Suit)

There's a reason Art the Clown has become adopted as the new #1 slasher, permeating the pop culture zeitgeist in such a way that he's recognizable to so many more than those who have seen the film: simplicity and cartoonishness. Art is exactly what Art is: a clown. It took Freddy multiple movies to go from scarred child-rapist-murderer to wise-cracking object of fun, the guy you can call on a 900 number, whereas Art is that without even seeing the film. What's more cartoonish than a clown? Through his specific visage, ultimately the punchline to "What's black and white and red all over?" you get a really specific avatar of horror chaos that makes for a fun Halloween costume or burlesque adaption or whatever you want. Carrying on this fine tradition, in Terrifier 3 we find Art donning a Mall Santa outfit, through which various gory gags play out concluding with him murdering a ton of children with a bomb. This is, of course, not something the majority of people will ever see, which allows these films to exist in the same kind of space as celebrating horror icon Freddy without acknowledging that he's a bigger child predator than the current president. The iconography overcomes the actual origin. You and your kids can dress up as the funny clown, or even play him in Fortnite, without having to ever think about the fact that his original movie debut was the last part of an anthology in a deeply weird and unpleasant and misogynistic short where he murders two kids and then a babysitter he calls the c-word. NECA is all-in on Art, you can tell, because it hasn't even been six months since his first figure came out, and here's a second, this one dressed as the jolly Santa Claus. Seems they've learned their lesson from all those Pennywises: don't release too many figures that look identical at a glance too close together." The suit is not much baggier than Art's normal togs, suggesting whatever unfortunate Santa he took it from wasn't particularly rotund. It's got a slightly bumpy sculpt to show what kind of texture the cloth has, and wrinkles a lot where the belt cinches around his waist. There's the usual fur on the coat, and the sleeves hang open just far enough for us to see Art's skinny pink arms inside there. He's still wearing his big floppy clown shoes, with the rest of Santa's "boot" being a part of the costume that just covers the lower leg and stops above the ankle. Like the first Art, Bloody Santa Suit Art comes with four swappable faces. In fact, they are the same four swappable faces - same sculpts, with various murderous expressions for his various murderous intents, but they're now painted with some blood on the chin from the borrowed beard he's wearing. NECA decided that wouldn't be enough of a change for us fans, though, so they've also had his eyes painted looking off to the sides: frowny face and super happy face are looking right, while the two flashing his teeth sinisterly are looking left. While we're speaking of the paints, El Santa is not flat red. His suit has darker shadows painted on the back and around the elbows, giving it a more realistic and less "toy" look. There's blood splattered on his chest and staining the cuffs, and of course it's all over the top of the beard. The beard and hair are a natural color, not the pure blank white of the suit, best seen when compared to the trim on his Santa hat (itself a removable piece that plugs into the top of the bare head). Art is plenty mobile, in the normal NECA nature: balljointed ankles, swivel/hinge knees, swivel thighs, balljoint hips, a balljoint waist that's easier to get to this time since he's wearing a Santa suit and not a giant onesie, swivel/hinge wrists, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge shoulders, a balljointed neck, and a barbell head. The joints are stiff, but in a good way: a "there aren't going to become loose and floppy any time soon" way, not a "these are going to shear off is I try to move them ever again" way. Not these days! The baggy sleeves make poses look extra-natural when tighter sleeves would not, and his hair sits far enough away from his shoulders that the head can move all over the place. As done with the previous Terrifer, this one includes a plastic garbage bag to put things in. Since hs's undercover as Santa Claus, this time the plastic is red instead of black. There's still a cardboard oval inside there for structure and stability. Art himself has no stability - in this case, that meaning "the ability to stab," because he doesn't have any weapons of that type. He has a bloody chainsaw, a bloody axe, and a non-bloody ice axe. I suppose you could stab someone with the back of that after all! Stab-bility achieved! There's also the spray tank of liquid nitrogen he used to such joy with his target, fashioned with a real bit of rope to help carry the weight. Finally, we get the beard by itself, taken fresh off Santa's face. Even though the toy's beard isn't removable. Give this to one of your other Art the Clowns for best display. In simpler, more Santa-y areas, there's a bloody glass of milk, a Christmas plate with trees, presents, and reindeer painted on it, and three chocolate chip cookies. Plus, since Art's "thing" (as far as the general, non-watching-any-of-these-films-audiences are aware) has become "wearing silly sunglasses," he gets silly sunglasses. Green Christmas trees with colorful decorations and black lenses. And top it all off with 11 hands in various gestures and poses to hold the various accessories or simply to pose evilly. The figure is sold in a usual NECA panel box with an absolutely gruesome painting of Art and Victoria sitting in Santa's chair at the mall, with the old guy's mutilated body right at their feet. And this is something Americans can find and buy at Walmart stores! They'd better hope these sell fast, so they don't have to deal with the inevitable moralistic parent complaints. Of course, leave it to NECA, the company that has let multiple seasons of The Boys come and go to great fanfare and interest without ever releasing more of the toys, to put out a character dressed as Santa at the beginning of June. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say that was done on purpose to help keep the toy away from the eyes of any under-12s who might be looking for Santa merch. Art in his bloody Santa suit is an iconic appearance even to those who will never watch a Terrifier film themselves, and NECA's made him well. -- 06/07/26 What's your favorite Christmas horror movie? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.