The Terrifier franchise is hugely successful monetarily and has become part of the cultural lexicon. These movies have elevated B-horror and taken their place in the annals of film history, with the third film becoming the highest grossing unrated movie of all time.
At the center of these movies is actress Samantha Scaffidi, who plays Victoria Heyes. Her work in these splatter films is revelatory, and I was so excited to sit down with her to talk about making it in Hollywood and being one of the faces of the franchise.
Let’s take a splattercore dive into the interview below.
– YouTube
www.youtube.com
Editor’s note: the following interview is edited for length and clarity.
No Film School: Hey Samantha! Terrifier 3 has already made independent film history as the highest-grossing unrated film of all time. What has it been like to watch this franchise grow in popularity?
Samantha Scaffidi: It’s surreal. There are so many incredibly talented artists and hardworking individuals who have worked out of pure passion and belief over the past decade to bring to life Damien Leone’s vision and to see this acknowledged is extremely validating.
NFS: As a writer/director yourself, can you think of any creative lessons or takeaways from your experiences with the Terrifier franchise, particularly considering you were able to trace the arc of your character Victoria across all three films?
Scaffidi: My greatest takeaway has been from watching Damien Leone over the years. I’ve witnessed his determination, dedication to his craft and vision, and ability to stay faithful to that vision while remaining an artist first. We live in a goal-oriented society where some aims—especially financial ones—can directly conflict with the creative process. I believe art can’t come from focusing solely on outcomes; It’s a present, fluid process that entails taking risks and sometimes venturing into unexplored territory. I’m inspired by him in that way and reminded of it when I find myself tempted to take the easy road or start editing myself out of fear.
In terms of my character, Victoria evolved organically in Damien’s mind over the last decade, and thankfully, in that time, we built such trust that I was ready for whatever direction he wanted to go in. We’d discuss her development, and I’d do the work, but when it came to stepping on set, I let that all go and just played. It was a natural, organic, and present process. A purity that I was reminded about and have brought back to my work as a writer and director.
NFS: You’ve touched on this idea in previous interviews that horror as a genre can act as a vehicle for exploring difficult topics like trauma and resilience in the face of violence. Can you expand on this?
Scaffidi: I met a woman in the UK who had nearly been killed by her husband; she told me that the genre ‘taught her to fight back’ when watching heroines like Lauren LaVera’s Sienna, which was portrayed with such authenticity, rawness, and depth. I’ve also spoken with many men, women, and even children who are big fans of the franchise and who have bravely shared with me that it brings them some sense of comfort knowing others have faced a far worse experience than what they endured in childhood, enabling a perspective that it could always be a lot worse.
These strong characters fight against external forces trying to possess them and take away their identities. For my character, Victoria, it’s a tragic exploration of what can happen when everything you love is taken from you, especially your physical identity. She can no longer look in the mirror and see herself looking back—she’s a cautionary tale. Horror holds such insane potential to make something entertaining, but within it lie deep philosophies about life and our own mortality.
Samantha Scaffidi at Stiges Courtesy of the Stiges Film Festival
NFS: In Terrifier 3, Victoria is horribly disfigured. How did the special effects makeup impact your choices as a performer?
Scaffidi: My character has only one eye, so I had zero vision out of the left eye, and out of my right, there was a little hole the size of a quarter and once filming we popped in an eyepiece, which was like looking through a straw. On camera, what looks good in the frame isn’t necessarily what feels natural in the scene. In that final sequence, in some instances I couldn’t look directly at the other actors—which forced me to stare at a stand or even the wall while delivering my lines. It forced an even deeper preparation and activation of my imagination.
In the kill scenes, I would have to be extremely cautious because even though we are wielding fake weapons, like the ‘shard of glass,’ it is still dangerous. Thankfully, we had an amazing stunt coordinator, Drew Leary, who was present to ensure our safety.
Despite all of this, it gave me an undeniable energy I could harness. When I’m in that skin or see myself in the mirror, my body naturally starts to shift, and something else feels as if it is coming through, something that I don’t judge or try to manipulate but that I can play with, and that’s when I truly begin to find the monster within. There are instances where it enables me to be out of my mind.
NFS: Your work in the horror genre extends beyond the Terrifier franchise, with your short film Open Your Eyes making its way through the festival circuit. Can you tell us about the film, as well as any other films or filmmakers that may have served as vital inspiration for the project?
Scaffidi: Open Your Eyes is an exploration of what happens when we avoid confronting our reality—when we don’t face the traumatic events in our past. It’s a cautionary tale, showing the psychological consequences of that repression.
Writing, for me, is a very intuitive process. Often, a single event, image, or, in this case, a dream sparks the film I’m writing. At the time, I was unknowingly exploring my own trauma. I wanted to serve that subconscious material and protect my imagination’s potential, so I avoided film references. It took me some time; I put the script away for roughly two years because I wasn’t satisfied with the ending. A lot of the difficulty was that it was a psychological horror, which is a genre I was new to. At one point, I had an aha moment and realized what better person to turn to than Damien for advice. He kindly read the script, and after we discussed it for a few hours, we landed on the final scene. Damien shared a scene with me that was inspired by Dream Warriors, where a character does something horrific offscreen and it is referenced, but not shown. I remember hanging up and thinking, “Hell, that’s how it’s going to end.”
Once I had the script locked and I geared up for pre-production, I watched a few references; Rosemary’s Baby being one of them. I have always been a huge fan of Yorgos Lanthimos and was specifically drawn to The Killing of a Sacred Deer. I loved his visual style and the sense of isolation he created for those characters.
NFS: I also understand you are working on your first book, I Didn’t Know How to Tell You, a collection of notes detailing your personal experiences in an abusive relationship. Can you talk a bit about your creative process with this new venture, and what kind of impact you hope the book will have on your readers?
Scaffidi: It was the first few weeks of the pandemic, and I felt an overwhelming sense of survivor’s guilt. I became intensely aware of the dangers and effects of sheltering at home, especially for individuals in abusive relationships. Film has always been my outlet, but in this case, I couldn’t go out and film anything—not just financially but also for the safety of others and to avoid contributing to the spread of COVID-19.
Through conversations with others, specifically with Brian Carmody of SMUGGLER, I realized I was also a writer and needed to think outside the box and outside directing. With his support and the support of Mitzi Akaha, Filip Ilic, Jacqy Lok, Ella Loudon, and a few others at the time, I began compiling notes from my phone from that period of my life with the hopes of creating a book that I could sell where the portion of the proceeds would go to aiding individuals during that time of crisis.
I Didn’t Know How to Tell You was an attempt at trying to immerse the reader in the unedited experience of a domestic abuse survivor [myself]. I wanted to challenge the common perceptions of what a domestic abuse survivor looks like. I hoped that anyone going through it might read these passages and connect, to feel less alone and that it would challenge others’ perceptions, as well as raise some money to aid those in abusive relationships during that time. The title is from a passage in the book; while, in that passage, I was speaking to my boyfriend at the time, it also serves as a double meaning to how I struggled to share my story with others when I needed vital help.
NFS: You’ve done amazing advocacy work with RAINN, writing and directing multiple PSAs in partnership with the organization. How has this work influenced your perspective on storytelling, particularly around sensitive subjects?
Scaffidi: What I learned when making these films is that diluting reality or reinventing it does nothing to serve the subject matter and doesn’t reach the audience as effectively. I want to present these subject matters honestly, authentically, and rawly. I see, especially in PSAs or in films, where these realities are pulled back out of some sort of fear, but those aren’t the versions I want to tell.
When I wrote those films, they stemmed from real lived experiences, and I did my best to act as a witness and present those realities and ultimately get out of the way. Especially with WAIT, I witnessed this story firsthand. I was angry that day when my friend was forced to wait for 10 hours after her assault to receive medical attention and specifically a rape kit. I didn’t know who to blame. All those years later, when we teamed up with RAINN, I understood it was a far more complicated situation. That there are people who want to help but are unable to do so due to financial constraints. That our hospitals are understaffed and underfunded, and sadly, these problems are extremely common and widespread, and when you combine those realities, the system cannot hold.
Making these films with RAINN has shown me the power of storytelling combined with an organization that can present you with a real-time solution so that individuals who watched our film can be moved emotionally to take effective action.
NFS: As Terrifier 3 releases around the world to international audiences, what would you like viewers to know about you that they may not know already?
Scaffidi: There’s more to come! I have a few projects in development as a writer/director, including one in the horror genre.
Author: Jason Hellerman
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
