Victoria Heyes

Victoria Heyes is a fictional character in the Terrifier franchise. She first appears in Terrifier (2016) as a young woman who battles the enigmatic serial killer Art the Clown on Halloween night; the encounter leaves her severely disfigured, causing her descent into madness. In this film, she was portrayed by Samantha Scaffidi—who reprises the role in the sequels Terrifier 2 (2022) and Terrifier 3 (2024).

Damien Leone conceptualized her as the secondary protagonist; after the lead character, Tara Heyes, is killed off halfway through the film. He regrettably left her underdeveloped, with much of the focus on showcasing the Art character, although he intends to include her more prominently in future installments. The character appears in merchandise based on the films such as comic books and action figures.

Development
Samantha Scaffidi was acquaintances with actor Gino Cafarelli who was a friend of director Damien Leone. Cafarelli recommended Scaffidi to Leone for a role in the film. Scaffidi auditioned, and Leone liked her and asked her to choose between the parts of Victoria Heyes and Dawn Emerson. She picked Victoria because she felt more confident portraying her; rather than the comedic Dawn. She had to get a head cast for Victoria's disfigurement.

The original ending for Terrifier 2 had Art growing from the back of Victoria's head, which would have led to the character's demise. After filming it, another horror film, Malignant (2021), was released during its production and followed a similar premise. Leone rewrote the scene—leading to the birthing scene and a different direction for Victoria, who ultimately survives again. David Howard Thornton states that he and Leone are satisfied with the coincidence of Malignant having the same concept. Leone decided he did not want to kill off Victoria as he enjoyed working with Scaffidi and wanted to work with her in further installments—regretting not developing her character in the first film. The third film will feature her in a more prominent role. Scaffidi states she likes the direction of a "heroine that descends into madness."

Films
The character made her cinematic debut in Terrifier in October 2016. In this film, Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi) is a nineteen-year-old college student studying for her midterms. She receives a call from her stranded sister Tara to pick her up. The murderous Art the Clown lures Victoria into a vacant warehouse. After discovering the corpses of his victims, Victoria engages in a battle with him. After the police arrive, Art runs her over in a pick-up truck, and he eats her face before killing himself upon police confrontation, leaving her disfigured. The disfigurement leaves her mentally unstable, and upon having a mental breakdown on a controversial talk show program, Victoria mutilates the host, Monica Brown.

Victoria returns in the post-credits scene of Terrifier 2 (2022)—she is shown to be institutionalized at the Miles County Psychiatric Hospital. Despite being referred to as being docile by her nurse, her stomach begins to swell, and she bleeds profusely, writing obscenities on the wall with blood along with the words Vicky + Art in a heart. The hospital staff walks in to see her with a glowing yellow eye with Art's living head in her lap, having just given birth to it.

Future
The character will return to a more prominent role in the upcoming Terrifier 3 and Terrifier 4 which will pick up directly after the second film.

Literature
In literature, Victoria debuted in the comic Terrifier #1 (June 2021), albeit in a supporting role—reflecting her appearance in the first act of the 2016 film. It opens with a mutilated Victoria appearing on a late-night news program detailing her Art the Clown survival, and she later ambushes the television reporter after overhearing her mock her appearance. Victoria's last appearance in this issue is in a flashback of her receiving a phone call from her sister.

In popular culture
In December 2022, an officially licensed action figure of the character was released—depicting Victoria in her bloodied hospital gown.

Reception
In her debut appearance, the script describes her as a traumatized young woman struggling with her facial disfigurement. Writing for Comic Book Resources (CBR), Jon Mendelsohn describes Victoria as exhibiting traits of the slasher film "final girl" trope. He notes that she challenges the trope through her hopeless ending of having her face eaten off by Art and becoming both traumatized and murderous. Similarly, Apeksha Bagchi of We Got This Covered refers to Victoria as being a "final girl."

An analysis by Brendan D. describes Victoria as a reflection of Art—"Our most recent final girl is Victoria from Terrifier, and what makes her so unique is her post-final girl status. Most final girls appear in the sequel or following situation as a capable guide for the next group of cannon fodder to demonstrate the villain's return. Instead, the trauma corrupts Victoria; she becomes monstrous like Art, with a disfigured appearance; and the brutality of a live-show death when a talk-show host mocked her. She is not a heroine but a dark reflection of the atrocities Art the Clown committed, fit for ridicule and loathing."

Raquel Hollman Collider wrote, "Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi) is introduced as our accidental final girl who is barely allowed to survive. In reality, Art just ran out of time. He leaves her face mutilated before being taken to the morgue. By leaving Victoria’s face unrecognizable, Art essentially steals the film back from her. She isn’t allowed to become an oppositional face or force to his story, instead, she is turned into another set piece by him. Everything to Art is a performance, and he’s not letting a final girl steal his shine."