Terrifier 2 (2022) Bloody Disgusting/Horror RT: 138 minutes No MPAA rating (extremely graphic bloody violence and gore, language, brief nudity, drug use) Director: Damien Leone Screenplay: Damien Leone Music: Paul Wiley Cinematography: George Steuber Release date: October 6, 2022 (US) Cast: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, Sarah Voigt, Kailey Hyman, Casey Hartnett, Amelie McLain, Chris Jericho, Leah Voysey, Johnathan Davis, Charlie McElveen, Samantha Scaffidi, Felissa Rose, Tamara Glynn. Box Office: $10.9M (US)/$15.3M (World)
Rating: *** ½
I certainly hope writer-director Damien Leone hired more than one guy to mop up at the end of each day’s shooting for Terrifier 2. It’ll take a whole team of mop jockeys to clean up the bloody mess left behind by Art the Clown, the sadistic killer first introduced to the world in the 2013 anthology horror film All Hallows’ Eve. He returned three years later in his own movie Terrifier which gained notoriety for its gruesome OTT kill scenes. Due to that film’s popularity among horror fans, Leone has resurrected Art for another go-around. He outdoes himself with this super-sized sequel. If you thought the first Terrifier was super-gory, wait until you get a gander at Terrifier 2. This movie is freaking INSANE!
As cool as the first movie is, there’s no denying it’s lacking when it comes to plot (threadbare at best) and character development (none at all). Leone fixes these things in Terrifier 2 by giving us a story with some substance and characters that aren’t just lambs for the slaughter. We actually get to know a little bit about some of the characters before they meet their fate at the hands of Art. That’s especially true of the heroine of the piece, a troubled teen named Sienna (LaVera). She’s still recovering from her father’s death the year before. It hit her hard because they were close. The other members of her family have issues too. Younger brother Jonathan (Fullam) is obsessed with serial killers while the mother’s (Voigt) behavior towards her children borders on abusive. I wouldn’t quite call them dysfunctional, but they’d definitely benefit from a few family therapy sessions.
As with any great horror movie killer, Art (Thornton) isn’t content to stay dead. In the opening scene, he comes back to life in the coroner’s office and smashes the medical examiner’s head open with a skull hammer. He then takes himself to the laundromat and puts his bloodstained costume in the wash. While waiting, he interacts with a creepy little clown girl (McLain) best described as his Mini-Me. When he’s done there, he drops out of sight for a year. He reappears the next Halloween to terrorize a new group of victims. That, of course, would be Sienna and her friends and family.
Obviously, the events of Terrifier 2 lead to a final, bloody confrontation (in an abandoned funhouse at a closed-down carnival!) between Art and Sienna. It’s just one of many cool things about this awesome sequel. Leone doesn’t clown around. He goes completely balls-out bonkers in every respect. Tell me, what comes after over the top? What term tops OTT? Whatever it is, that’s how I’d describe the kill scenes. WOWSER! Are they ever nasty! We get to witness stabbings, beheadings, dismemberments, scalpings, whippings, eyes being ripped from skulls and a mass shooting. ALSO, a woman’s face is shot off and another is burned with acid. One poor dope is repeatedly stabbed in the groin by Art who then proceeds to rip his dick off. The topper is an extended scene of a girl being mutilated beyond recognition. Art really goes to town on her. His predilection for repurposing severed heads continues as well. This time, he uses one to hold candy that he hands out to trick-or-treaters that come knocking at a victim’s door.
Once again, Leone goes old school with the FX. There’s no CGI to be seen in Terrifier 2. It’s all practical effects! We’re talking latex, prosthetics and gallons of fake blood. Alana Rose, a true artist, does it the way it used to be done, the way it ought to be done. Her incredible work helps give the movie a real 80s vibe. It’s obvious that’s what Leone is going for here. One might even say Terrifier 2 is a salute to 80s horror movies with its many nods to classic titles of the genre. An extended dream sequence is right out of a Nightmare on Elm Street flick. The party scene is like the one in Halloween 5. There’s a mid-credits hospital scene reminiscent of Halloween II. That’s right, a mid-credits scene, so don’t just up and leave when the end credits start.
One could also argue that Terrifier 2 is an epic (of sorts) with a running time of two hours and eighteen minutes when compared to the original’s RT of 84 minutes. Although a few scenes run too long, the movie itself doesn’t feel long. Leone successfully holds the viewer’s interest by fleshing out the story of Art the Clown and his apparent nemesis in movies to come. He also lets his imagination run hog wild by introducing a supernatural element (i.e. a magic sword) to the narrative. I hope I’m not dropping a spoiler in telling you there is a lot more story to tell. Leone leaves a few things like the creepy like clown girl and the dead father’s connection to Art unexplained.
I can’t call the acting in Terrifier 2 Oscar-level work, but it’ll do. We’re talking about a splatter flick here, not high drama. Thornton is perfect as Art, a wordless boogeyman whose funny antics and gestures make his killer tendencies even scarier. LaVera does fine work as Sienna, a girl worried for the little brother that wants to dress as Art the Clown for Halloween, not knowing she will soon face off against the real deal. That is, after Art dispatches her friends. NOT a spoiler, that’s the way it always happens in slashers. BTW, look for cameos by 80s horror stars Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp) and Tamara Glynn (Halloween 5).
It looks like I’ll have to add Terrifier 2 to the list of great 2022 horror movies. It’s FREAKING AWESOME! It’s a total bloodbath that gets crazy super-weird in the final act. I don’t how Leone will ever top it, but I’m sure he’ll try. He might even succeed. Either way, I can’t wait to see what’s next for Art the Clown.
