Terrifier 2 (2022)
Bringing a whole new meaning to cereal killer— I mean serial killer.
Directed by Damien Leone
Originally watched on October 11th, 2024
Trailer — Letterboxd — Trigger warnings
ART THE CLOWN IS BACK, BABY! And one might argue, better than ever!
…I’m not sure I’d be the one to argue he’s better than ever, but he’s no worse off than before in my books, contrary to what my rating might suggest.
Picking up immediately after the morgue-resurrection cliffhanger of its 2016 predecessor, Terrifier 2 starts by dipping us into the pool of Art’s actual lore as a being, an entity— because he’s certainly no mere mortal after surviving a gunshot to the head— than we ever really got whiffs of beyond that final moment in the first film.
It’s certainly a compelling angle to turn the audience towards following the first movie, but I’m still struggling to parse how much I actually enjoyed that part of it.
Not because the lore itself is bad, Art is far from the first horror icon to be given supernatural roots to explain his incessant return after an undeniable death, but rather because I think the delivery of the lore was a bit choppy and detracts from what is otherwise a great follow-up— if not too bloated for comfort.
Seriously, those metaphorical jeans felt tight.
But what we certainly do get for the better, inarguably, is one of horror’s finest Final Girls (and perhaps my personal favourite) in Lauren LaVera’s Sienna Shaw. If I enjoyed nothing about this movie, it’d be because Sienna wasn’t in it. If Sienna has a million fans, then I am one of them. If she has one fan, it’s me. If she has no fans, I’m dead, etc etc.
But seriously, I really did enjoy this movie, don’t get me wrong. I just think it needed some serious skinning (what, too soon?) to get to the meat of it all.
As much of a downgrade as three stars for this movie compared to my five star rating for its mommy movie (I’m officially coining this term if it doesn’t already exist) might seem, it’s not at all a bad movie by my standards. I just didn’t care for how painfully dragged out many of its scenes were. Scenes that really didn’t need to be so long.
And while I commend Leone’s desire to give us something substantial in way of Art’s character to explore and theorize upon, furthering the hamster wheel of fan interest and engagement beyond the as-always incredible gore and violence that is the series’ staple, it just felt like it wasn’t done as tightly as it could have been.
It’s not even the lore itself, per se— although the sudden pivot from gritty realism to something Sword and Sorcery inspired was rather unexpected— so much as how it was delivered.
The pacing for this movie— a near doubling of the original’s comparatively succinct runtime— really suffers from Leone getting a little lost in his own sauce here as he throws as many morsels of lore at you as are willing to stick.
And for me, not much of it did.
More often than not, it felt like it detracted from the overall narrative unfolding more than added anything of meaning to it.
So ultimately, that’s my biggest complaint. Not the lore drops themselves, but the pacing at large and how much these lore drops slow it down and feel out of place in the story. So many scenes could be sped up or chopped down without risk of losing anything all that important. A lot of moments carry on for several beats too long, and I noticed multiple times having to really force my active focus back to what was happening when it completely meandered off-track.
And seriously, what the hell is going on with Sienna’s dad and this damn magical sword of resurrection-and-evil-clown-slaying?
I had to keep reminding myself not to take it all so seriously and that it’s not trying to be anything other than goofy, gory fun— which it still is here. The tonal shift just feels so stark compared to Terrifier. Gone is that gritty realism, those stakes of mortality. Because now we know Art is effectively immortal, somehow, and that apparently so is his Final Girl. Why? I don’t know… just go with it.
I don’t think the details really matter all that much anyways, same as they don’t matter in the types of movies Terrifier pulls so heavily from. My disbelief is already suspended to hell and back, what more is a glowing, Conan-the-Barbarian-esque sword with the power to resurrect its Valkyrie wielder? It’s not much to ask for— that shifting of expectations— given the absurdist context of the movie itself. I just wasn’t prepared to have to adjust so much.
The one plot point I do have a bit of a gripe with though is the little girl in Art cosplay, dubbed The Little Pale Girl (Amelie McClain).
Does she even really exist? What purpose does she serve? Is she just some sort of insurance for Art’s immortality? Is she attached to him as some sort of trapped sidekick after he killed her? Is he a creation of his own making, hers, or something else entirely? You never really get any answers, nor do you really even get enough of her to make heads or tails of her presence. She’s kind of just there, providing convenient plot devices as necessary.
Oh well.
Other than all that, the film is in perfect form for delivering on an expansion of its previously high-set bar for crazy shit.
Leone certainly ups the ante on gore here, most especially with the big kill that actively rivals Dawn’s (Catherine Corcoran) inverted vaginal hacksawing from Terrifier, if that’s at all even possible. Well, I mean… Leone shows us its possible. He’s not afraid to get ridiculously repulsive, but are you really watching a Terrifier movie for anything other than that?
Dubbed “The Bedroom Scene” (click link at your own risk), Art pulls out all the stops on Sienna’s poor friend Allie (Casey Hartnett), scalping her, breaking her limbs, slicing her up… y’know, the usual— and then leaving. But of course, it doesn’t stop there. No no, he returns— with fucking bleach and salt in hand, sadistically sprinkling and dousing her with the combination like he’s seasoning some sort of fucked up roast dinner. It’s absolutely deranged to watch, and as it seems to never end it hits such insane levels of absurdist depravity it begins to feel like some sort of sick comedy sketch more than a serious kill.
It’s the definition of overkill.
When Allie’s mom walks in on her poor daughter in a state one can only describe as absolute nightmare fuel, Art silently laughing in manic glee at her mother’s instant hysteria as we get a full look at Allie’s physical state after all Art’s done to her, it makes Dawn’s death look like child’s play by comparison. Seriously.
It’s like Leone heard all the criticisms regarding her kill and instead of balking to them just went, “Oh yeah? Wanna see what I could really do if I wanted to?”.
That scene apparently took several days, some pickups, and the use of a literal animatronic to complete, and from a technical standpoint it’s absolutely incredible. That single scene— let alone all the others he manages throughout this movie and the last— certainly cements Leone’s place in the Hall of Fame for practical effects artists, no contest.
There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that Leone is one sick, talented puppy.
Obligatory: David Howard Thornton remains an incredible on-screen presence as Art. No notes, he’s just fucking fantastic and I can’t imagine these movies without him. Without Thornton, there’s no Art— it’s just that level of perfect casting.
Other than Art, I’ve never really cared about the quality of acting from the other characters around him. It feels a quite irrelevant metric to judge the project by when its roots are based in many a movie with equally questionable acting, and I honestly think it adds to the charm of the whole thing. I think I’d be a little bummed actually if they went too hard with the acting, I really don’t need Saw (2004) levels of dramatics here— it’d probably feel really out of place with the comedic tone of the whole thing anyways, and I like when it lives squarely in that realm of goofy.
But LaVera is amazing. She’s a super fun, dimensional Final Girl with a lot to offer in her presence, and I’m super excited to see her in Terrifier 3 (2024). She’s got levels to her performance in a sea of B-grade acting that makes her emotions feel a lot more relatable than the one-dimensional performances of Terrifier’s original girls (whom I still enjoyed, don’t get me wrong; especially Jenna Kanell as Tara), and you really feel yourself compelled to root for her. She’s unrelentingly strong, courageous, and totally badass. She fucking rocks.
And seeing Art meet his match in her is awesome. You can tell he’s surprised by her tenacity to come back for him even at her own continued risk, and the fight she puts up is nothing short of epic1 to watch. Especially in that kick-ass Valkyrie costume. Cosplayers everywhere, rejoice!
Allie and Brooke (Kailey Hyman) are also easier to care for than Terrifier’s girls, and their deaths feel even more brutal (least of all Allie’s) because of that connection to them, even if it’s only a marginal difference.
Elliott Fullam, who plays Sienna’s little dweeby brother Jonathan, is not that great of an actor here. That’s not a dig, it’s just a fact. But it’s perfectly in-tune with what I’ve come to expect of the series, so I really don’t care. What’s far more important is that you all listen to his amazing slowcore-type music ASAP, especially as cooler, darker days approach. Thank me later.
Leone’s visuals are even better than before here, losing the dark grit and grime of the original movie in favour of sharper lighting and quality (but still with the perfect amount of grain and fuzz to it), and a stronger commitment to his unique use of particular colour grading. It’s like the antithesis to the legendary Twilight (2008) blue filter, instead seeping everything in a warm-toned sepia, highlighting all the oranges and teals in a scene, of which there tend to be ample. The Argento influence remains strong.
The artistry on display with his shots in general is more prominent, and there’s some really gorgeous imagery and framing I’m still thinking about.
One of my favourite shots— the kind that feels like instantly iconic imagery— is of Art whipping Sienna with his homemade flail weapon, her bloodied face contorted in silent screams of pain as feathers from her costume wings fall around her, all in slow motion. It just looks so good… which feels like a really weird thing to say about the scene given it’s context but you know what I mean.
The soundtrack and score leans a lot more heavily into its 80’s synth inspirations here, as is immediately evident at the beginning with the synth track “The Equaliser (Not Alone)” by The Midnight playing in the background of Sienna crafting her Halloween costume in a super cool cosplay montage, an obvious mirroring to Art’s montage from the first movie. The differences are stark, but paint a perfect contrast between the pair. Where Art preps his weapons and readies for a slaughter by his own gloved hands, Sienna makes her armour, preparing to suit up for the inevitable battle to come between their respective darkness and light. It’s sick.
And really, instant brownie points for the use of Boy Harsher’s “Pain” in the Halloween party scene. Whoever was responsible for that choice is genius. Genius.
All that is to say, this film improves on a lot of its predecessor’s technical aspects, and you can tell not only did Leone get a much bigger budget to play with, but also developed a lot more confidence in his vision of recreating that 80’s slasher vibe while injecting his own spin on it all. As a huge fan of 80’s slashers, I’m generally a fan of what he’s doing to steer it in that direction.
But I maintain that it did not need to be two and a half hours long. The tension starts to fumble at that point, and it began to take the wind out of my sails of enjoyment, much to my dismay.
The last 40-ish minutes felt more like “classic” Terrifier to me. There was tension, stakes, and the cat-and-mouse energy of it all really works to engage a lot more than the wandering through half-ass lore and hollow plot points does. It’s something I can only hope Leone continues to improve upon with Terrifier 3.
Speaking of Terrifier 3: do not miss the after-credits scene for this movie! It’s a great addition to the movie that really kicks up the hype for what’s to come with Terrifier 3 when we pick this story back up.
All in all, I really did enjoy this movie and had some good, terrifying fun with it, and I’m sure that enjoyment will only grow on a rewatch with my now properly aligned expectations.
And in the meantime, I’m hype as FUCK for Terrifier 3, with huge hopes for what’s to come assuming we can only go up from what we get here.
I can’t even remember the last time I used the word “epic”. I was probably like twelve. That’s how serious I am here.