Art the Clown is back! Following the events of the shockingly brutal first film, the hell clown is still ticking and eagerly prepping for the next Halloween. Damien Leone’s first Terrifier rose above the conventional bits of mainstream horror and created a new spot filled with exactly the brutality that the genre has been lacking.
Terrifier 2 follows Sienna (Lauren LaVera) as she prepares for Halloween by handcrafting a costume that will make her into a Valkyrie warrior. Sienna’s home and school life are very much filled with anxiety and unease. She can generally feel that something isn’t right and that feeling just gets more dread-induced as Halloween approaches. That paranoia and anxiety just doubles down when she believes that she is actually seeing Art the Clown around town. As Halloween ramps up so does a blood-soaked night that will leave mayhem and viscera in its path.
Sequels tend to want to outdo the film previous. Terrifier 2 is no exception. If you go in thinking, “there is no way to beat the brutality of the hacksaw scene,” you are wrong. Leone and team orchestrate pure pandemonium and unforgiving kills. One kill, in particular, is so intense and such a long sequence that, it goes from the purest form of shocking viciousness to hilarity and then straight back to outright disturbing. Terrifier 2 makes death sequences as artistic and throughout as those of Final Destination. These aren’t scenes they are full-on brutal sequences and they are brilliant.
The second film opens up not only the valves on the fountains of blood but also the mythos surrounding Art. There are a lot of unanswered questions that get posed, that go way past Art being a dude simply dressed as a clown who just loves killin’. There are bizarre setups that feel like acid trips that point out a bigger Art the Clown origin story. It adds richly deserved meat to the narrative and setups nicely for a hugely anticipated sequel.
David Howard Thornton is brilliant in his role. Think the art of Chaplin and Buster Keaton combined with the homicidal tendencies of Hannibal Lecter. Thornton is able to turn huge moments from big laughs to slicing terror in a single bound. A lot of great work goes into Art’s movements and pantomimes. He Is able to chill you to the bone with a dead-eyed stare and able to get huge laughs with these joyous moments of ecstasy when Art the Clown is at his most happily homicidal.
Leone and team are great at making this film exude Halloween. Everything from the dried leaves to the costumes and holiday color-coordinated design make this film as Halloween spirited as Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat. A lot of films set on Halloween attempt to make their film bleed spooky season on screen, but most fail. Terrifier 2 does a fantastic job of creating the mood, air and sights of the season.
Lauren LaVera is a true Valkyrie in her role as Sienna. She takes the methodology of a badass final girl and turns it up to eleven. It takes a brave and hard-as-nails hero to go up against Art the Clown and LaVera exceeds that at every turn. It is also fantastic that Sienna isn’t just immediately, unexplainedly a badass. We get to watch her transform over the runtime of the film from an anxiety-filled young woman to an absolute ass-kicking and name-taking Valkyrie. LaVera has my vote for final girl of the decade without question.
Terrifier 2 earns its place as the best Halloween movie being made today. Damien Leone has created a gory, gnarly experience that is an incredible spooky season event and a terrifyingly fun ride. This movie is what horror needed. Art the Clown proves that he is this generation’s Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees in one evil package.
Terrifier 2 is in theaters on October 7.
