Damien Leone‘s Terrifier has become something of a cause célèbre since it’s release in 2016. Made on a shoestring budget of $35,000, it took the slasher film to the goriest of heights (or depths), and in its sadistic antagonist Art the Clown came the first villain in a long time that may just chance of ending up in the pantheon. Six years later Art is back. Terrifier 2 is bigger, bloodier, and much, much longer. It’s also gearing up for its UK release amidst numerous reports of audiences vomiting and fainting during its US run. Even with a sceptical eyebrow raised at the potential hyperbole, it’s easy to see why.
Picking up immediately after the events of the first film, Art (David Howard Thornton) returns to life after his apparent suicide. After killing the morgue attendant, he sets his sights on sister and brother Sienna and Jonathan (Lauren LaVera and Elliott Fullam). Why he’s drawn to Sienna is unclear, but it may have something to do with some drawings made by her late father, and a sword that he bequeathed her prior to his suicide.
Terrifier 2 leans into the supernatural nature of Art in a way that the original film never did, as that film functioned almost like an extended show reel for Leone’s incredibly visceral practical effects work, with little heed for its antagonist’s origins, or even much resembling a plot at all. Here, the writer and director begins to tease at an extended mythology, even though by the end of its gruelling runtime it’s still fairly unclear what’s actually going on.
What is clear is the ambition Leone has for his creation. What he’s achieved with a still tiny budget of $250,000 is impressive. Every aspect is grander; the effects are even better, the performances are more assured, and the production design during the extended third act has enough psychotic carny energy to give Rob Zombie sweaty palms. The filmmaker has also taken some criticism of the original on board.
The original film received brickbats for perceived misogyny, mainly for one infamously gratuitous murder with an unpleasantly sexualised edge. In Terrifier 2, Art is much more of an equal-opportunities offender, although there is one instance of sickeningly protracted, calculated brutality against one young woman that feels jarringly nasty compared to the heightened, carnivalesque tone of the rest of the film. Weirdly however, it also forces the viewer to see the victim as an actual human being – far from common in the slasher genre – but one imagines this wasn’t Leone’s intention as he, literally, rubs salt in the wounds. What ever his intention, it’s a genuinely upsetting sequence.
The gore will undoubtedly remain the main attraction, but with a protagonist like Sienna Terrifier 2 is a more satisfying watch than its predecessor. LaVera gives a terrific performance, matching the frankly terrifying Thornton’s uncanny silent psychopath all the way. Special mention also to young Amelie McLain as ‘The Little Pale Girl’, a victim of Art’s brought back from the dead as something of a sidekick. In her own way, she’s every bit as disturbing as her mentor.
While Terrifer 2 is undoubtedly a little too long – at nearly 140 minutes it’s like the Sátántangó of slashers – it’s both more ambitious and polished than it’s predecessor, although some will cling to the grungy nightscape of the original as a plus; New York rarely depicted in such a seedy, dangerous manner since Frank Henenlotter made Basket Case. With the world of Art opened up however, he’s an even scarier prospect. Sure to expand the cult of the clown even further, Terrifier 2 is unlikely to disappoint fans of the original, and may even convert a few who took against the original. Be warned however, while the reports of fans swooning like a Georgian debutante with a tight corset may be exaggerated for hype, it’s still for the strongest stomachs only.
Available on VoD and Blu-ray from Mon Oct 24 2022