Terrifier 2 (2022) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Near the end of the 2010s, Terrifier struck a big wave in the slasher subgenre, making a new icon out of Art the Clown. With his grotesque violence exceeding what's been done before, there was no way a sequel wouldn't happen.


PLOT


2022's Terrifer 2 takes place only one year after the events of the first film. Art has been resurrected by an unknown entity following his massacre in Miles County and encounters it in the form of a little girl sharing similar clown attire. Halloween is approaching and teenager Sienna Shaw is preparing a Valkyrie costume designed by her late father. Her younger brother Jonathan however has been fixated over past serial killers including Art, due to finding sketches of the killer clown left behind by their dad. The following night, Sienna does have a nightmare where she is forcibly filming a commercial with Art and when she wakes up, her costume wings are caught on fire. Her mother Barbara (Sarah Voigt) puts it out, but is scolded of leaves candles lit before going to sleep. Surprisingly, her gifted sword was unscathed. When the following day goes on, Jonathan goes to school and becomes haunted seeing Art & the 'Little Pale Girl' playing with a dead opossum, which he gets blamed for since no teacher saw them. At the same time, Sienna encounters Art at a costume store, who harasses her until a shop vendor intervenes. Just when she leaves, the clown stays to kill the latter. He then goes trick or treating to the home of her friend Allie (Casey Hartnett), who ridicules him for trick or treating as an adult until he demands candy with the anger he shows in his face. He then maims her in her bedroom and keeps her alive long enough to traumatize her mom and kill her too. When coming home, Jonathan shows Sienna a sketchbook left by their dad that had newspaper clippings of Art and his first victim, Emily Crane, who the Little Pale Girl resembles. Because of this, he believes their dad gifted her the sword to defeat him should she ever face him again. She ignores him of this possibility and goes to a party with her other Brooke (Kailey Hyman) & her boyfriend Jeff (Charlie McElveen). She doesn't completely enjoy himself due to getting a call from Barbara that Jonathan ran away after an argument they had of the sketchbook. This led to the boy getting abducted by Art who also takes the sword before killing Barbara. Because Brooke spiked her drink to loosen up, she panics after seeing Little Pale Girl in the crowd. The same entity mimics her brother's voice on the phone, pleading for a ride home and to meet at an abandoned carnival. Sienna falls for it and gets there thanks to Jeff & Brooke driving her there. When she goes searching alone, Art castrates Jeff before killing him and bludgeoning Brooke with a table leg covered with silverware. Sienna does encounter the clown and does her best in protecting her brother until he stabs her with the sword an send her into a literal portal to Hell. Ironically, the sword would also grant her a second life and she uses it to decapitate him, officially saving her brother in the process. As they escape with their lives, the Little Pale Girl takes Art's head with her. The film ends in a post credits scene where a now institutionalized Victoria Heyes gives birth to Art's head, reincarnating him once again.


THOUGHTS


If I know slasher films so well, it's a given to say each sequel will raise the budget & stakes in order to make each kill memorably apart from the other. Damien Leone was still aware of the expectations and he surpassed them again exponentially. It's a whole new gore fest you can't go wrong with because it felt like a real story to roll along with rather than sense any kind of a rush. Whatever kind of intensity you wanted before, you get it here for sure. It's not too cruel, yet still mean for you to be surprised. That is what Leone intended with each scene he edits in order to emphasize what a menace David Howard Thornton remains as Art. Remaining silent & deadly, he remains the stuff that nightmares are made of since he continues to be in joy with the hell he unleashes. It's hard to say which death was worse between Brooke and Allie because of how relentless he goes about it, but it really goes to the latter for me because he goes on longer than he has to to prove whatever point he's trying to make. The practical effects peaked for me and it's hard to not be impressed of things like that to make authentic horror. And again, his silence does the magic here because you're never sure where he intends to direct himself until his face gives notification. You definitely won't be having a straight face when he's picking which pair of sunglasses to pick out until he prefers the sunflower themed one. The fact he's got an entity willing to back him up on his actions makes him all the more scarier. The young Amelie McLain gave the right amount of creepiness to expect from Little Pale Girl as she matches his diabolicalness with ease and makes it all the more fun for him to have unconventionally. Like any slasher flick though, you're reminded to always power through obstacles like grief in order to move forward otherwise you'll get lost without noticing. Lauren LeVara owns it as the new final girl Sienna who has to build her bravery through empathy due to sharing the loss with her family. Elliot Fullam definitely shook things up in portraying Jonathan as a boy who just struggles to express his feelings too and uses horror fixation as a coping mechanism until he learns more of his dad. While it's not fully explained how the dad knew anything about Art, it seemed clear the family had to put an effort in stopping the killer clown however they could and it was pure luck the sword was helpful for the most part since we don't know why the sword works the way it did. With Samantha Scaffidi reminding us that Victoria ain't getting any better, it will come to show how there will always be consistency when good & evil collide. This was wildly entertaining for the most part, but there were still a few moments that confused me as I watched along. For instance, I don't see the point of Art cleaning up after himself in the opening if it's trademark to leave a mess. And how come there wasn't an investigation when his body disappeared? A coroner died, so that's enough to get curious. Also even if Sienna didn't leave the candles lit, why would she have so many candles in her bedroom to begin with? I usually don't care about movie candles, but this is a case where it sure felt excessive. That was weirder than the fact she didn't recognize him at the store. Moving on, how does the head of Allie's mom not smell when Art uses it as a candy bowl? I mean I'd be a little curious even on Halloween. And if Jonathan ran away, Barbara should've put on an amber alert to make sure he came home sooner. Lastly, it was totally on Sienna to announce her brother's name just when she sees him. You know you're giving your enemy an advantage for a moment like that. Other than that, Terrifier 2 remains a bloody good time and I recommend this to those who sure love gore-fests.