Anyone expecting the camera to cut away as Art the Clown swings his weapon of choice onto someone’s head is watching the wrong movie.
As I write this review, Terrifier 2 plays in over 700 theaters nationwide. Over 300 more theaters are expected to add the movie for the upcoming Halloween weekend. So far, the film has made over $5 million against its $250,000 budget. To say Terrifier 2 has been a massive success is an understatement. For a low-budget horror movie with no advertising budget, word of mouth has been effective. Especially helpful have been news reports that the film has provoked audience reactions including fainting and vomiting. In at least one instance, emergency services had to be called to a theater. Whether or not any of that is true, it sure makes people want to see what all the fuss is about.
A sequel to 2016’s micro-budget slasher, Terrifier, this new movie once again features Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton,) a completely silent, but maniacal murderer. This time, though, there’s a story line to accompany the gruesome trail of victims that Art leaves behind. Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and her brother, Jonathan (Elliott Fullam,) are dealing with the recent death of their father. It’s been one year since Art the Clown committed the “Miles County Massacre.” As Halloween approaches, Sienna intends to dress up in a Valkyrie-like warrior costume designed by her dad. Jonathan, however, wants to don a costume inspired by Art the Clown. Jonathan and Sienna find their father’s sketchbook that hints at a connection between the costume he’d designed for Sienna and the murderous Art.
Mysteriously resurrected after the events of the Miles County Massacre, Art appears to Sienna in a dream and then begins to pursue her in real life. He also appears to Jonathan at school and causes an incident that gets him suspended. For some reason, Art seems to be toying with the siblings. Of course, along the way, Art gleefully murders more people in his comically sadistic style.
Terrifier 2 successfully elevates Art the Clown into the same iconic realm occupied by Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees. While its appeal remains limited to fans of splatter and slasher movies, the movie serves up almost too much of a good thing. With an unusually long running time — 2 hours and 18 minutes — Terrifier 2 may have benefited from a few edits. Believe it or not, though, those edits would be to eliminate extraneous characters, not the ultra-violence. Yes, this may be the first slasher movie with too much character development.
But it is the ultra-violence that makes Terrifier 2 so popular with fans and it serves it up in giant globs of brain matter and body fluids. Anyone expecting the camera to cut away as Art the Clown swings his weapon of choice onto someone’s head is watching the wrong movie. Anyone expecting the scene to stop after he pounds that head into a pulp is also watching the wrong movie. Gore-hounds, you’re in the right place.
Damien Leone, who is credited for writing, directing, make-up effects, sound design, and editing, could teach a a master class on stretching a film’s budget to the extreme while still delivering a quality product. For what a major Hollywood studio probably spends on one film’s food services, Leone has made a far superior horror movie than Halloween Ends. It’s scary, full of gross-out kills, and includes plenty of humor as well.
While David Howard Thornton’s performance as Art the Clown garners the most attention (and deservedly so), I was most surprised by Lauren LaVera as Sienna. Yes, she’s beautiful but her performance defies the usual horror movie substandard. Her character may be conflicted, but LaVera’s performance is not. She’s given a wide range of emotions to convey and she does so with aplomb. I’d love to see her in more films in the future.
Terrifier 2 is the best slasher movie I’ve seen in a long time. It’s over-the-top, gratuitously violent, provides some creative kills and features a truly creepy villain. What more could a fan of the genre ask for?
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
