“Terrifier” actress Catherine Corcoran has filed a lawsuit against Damien Leone and producers over breach of contract while making other allegations about filming the horror film first released in 2016…
Catherine Corcoran, the actress who played an infamous part in Art the Clown’s first truly brutal kill scene in the original “Terrifier” movie, filed a lawsuit against creator Damien Leone and producers over breach of contract while also making allegations about extreme working conditions and sexual harassment on set.
The lawsuit, which was filed in California Federal Court on Sunday, details allegations that Corcoran claims she agreed to a backend deal where she was entitled to one-percent of all profits from the horror franchise.
The original “Terrifier” was shot on a tiny budget of just $35,000 before earning over $421,000 at the box office. But the real success of the franchise took off with the second and the third films in the franchise with the “Terrifier” films earning around $100 million at the box office, not to mention the huge profits from merchandising where Art the Clown has become a horror icon over the past few years.
Corcoran claims to date she’s been paid less than $8,400 in royalties.
“The producers of the film paid Corcoran her royalties for a brief period of time several years after the release of the film, but when the film series’ success started to grow exponentially and exceeded the producer’s original expectations, the royalty payments became more and more sporadic and dwindled to amounts nowhere near commensurate with the revenues generated,” the lawsuit alleges.
In addition to Corcoran’s claims about breach of contract, she also outlined allegations of extreme working conditions on set as well as accusations of sexual harassment.
The original “Terrifier” features an iconic scene where Corcoran’s character is captured and hung upside down by Art the Clown before being hacksawed from groin to skull in a rather gruesome and gory ordeal. Corcoran alleges she was paid just $100 per day under a SAG-AFTRA agreement for ultra low-budget films but she claims she was promised a bigger payday if the film ended up becoming a success.
The lawsuit also alleges that producer Phil Falcone took photos of her nude body without permission while she was “glued” to a piece of plywood so a silicon cast could be made of her for the infamous death scene. Corcoran claims she wasn’t told prior to shooting that she would be required to be fully nude for the production, which is a violation of SAG rules where actors are required to give permission in those instances.
Corcoran also claims she suffered physical damage from shooting her infamous death scene where she was hung upside down during a production day that allegedly lasted for 10 hours. She claims after being hung upside down that blood pooled in her head and allegedly resulted in cranial swelling and eardrum damage.
Corcoran claims when she confronted Leone and the producers over her cut of the profits, she was “brushed off” and told that the production “doesn’t keep records.”
“Were it not for Corcoran’s willingness to take a risk on this production and receive her compensation on the back-end, the series would not exist as it could not have been made on a shoe-string budget otherwise,” Corcoran’s attorney writes in the lawsuit “However, when it came time to pay what was owed, the producers chose to cheat her.”
In response, Leone and Falcone’s attorney Larry Zerner issued a statement to the Hollywood Reporter vehemently denying Corcoran’s allegations.
“Damien and Phil deny the claims in the complaint and will vigorously defend this lawsuit,” Zerner said.
