The Doctor’s Diagnosis: B-
Terrifier 2 is being distributed by Cinedigm Entertainment Group and I would like to take a moment to marvel at the massive set of balls on this company. I don’t know how they did it, but they booked the uncut, NC-17 (officially unrated) version of this movie into 800+ theaters. Not a one-night event, not a Fathom Events screening, but just playing regularly in movie theaters. I’m not even a big fan of the original Terrifier (which wasn’t released to theaters), but I felt it my moral and social obligation to go see this when it popped up in my local theater listings. You just don’t see this kind of thing anymore and it harkens back to the 80s when unrated gorefests like Re-Animator and Evil Dead 2 could actually play in a decent number of theaters.
It seems to have paid off, too. While my screening of Halloween Ends only had about a dozen people in attendance, Terrifier 2 was nearly sold out. I was so surprised by the attendance that I asked the people next to me what they were there to see, as I legitimately thought that I might have walked into the wrong theater. The multiple reports of people vomiting and passing out during screenings of the film certainly didn’t deter audiences, though I am upset that my theater wasn’t handing out the Terrifier 2-branded vomit bags that I’ve been hearing about. I wanted my novelty vomit bag, goddamn it.
For the uninitiated, Terrifier was released in 2016 and chronicled the brutal killing spree of Art the Clown on Halloween night (Art the Clown actually first appeared in the horror anthology All Hallows’ Eve in 2013). I don’t particularly like the first Terrifier, largely because of the non-existent plot and the mean-spirited nature of it (both Terrifier and All Hallows’ Eve aren’t for the faint of heart). I love gore, but I love fun gore and Terrifier is often just torture without the fun (the infamous hacksaw scene being the epitome of this).
Despite being an absurd 2 hours and 18 minutes long, making this the Dr. Zhivago or Gone with the Wind of killer clown movies, the plot of Terrifier 2 is still pretty minimal. Set one year after the original, Art the Clown returns on Halloween and sets his sights on a new group of potential victims. This time, his efforts focus on the teenaged Sienna and her little brother Jonathan. Sienna and Jonathan’s deceased father had visions of Art the Clown and drew sketches of the madman as well as a warrior woman that was supposed to kill him. The connection between the father and Art is never really explained (maybe in Terrifier 3?), but finally leads to a showdown in an abandoned in an abandoned carnival.
For a movie this long (the only longer horror movie that I can name is The Shining, which clocks in at 2 hours and 26 minutes), that isn’t very much plot. Surprisingly, though, the movie doesn’t drag too much because of the stronger-than-expected performances and the totally expected brutality of the violence. Sienna is one of the best final girls in a long time, as actress Lauren LaVera’s performance creates an intelligent and endearing character that comes across as a tougher version of Laurie Strode (from the first Halloween, not counting the various other multiverse versions of her). She’s like a strong female character from the era before they had to constantly tell you that she’s a strong female character. For bonus points, she also spends the second half of the movie looking fucking gorgeous in a warrior outfit that makes her look like something out of an issue of Heavy Metal or Cry for Dawn (note: Lauren LaVera’s age is currently a mystery and the subject of internet debate, so I preemptively disavow this sentence if she is a teenager). Elliott Fullam is also excellent as Jonathan, a role that could have easily just been an annoying brat. Like LaVera, Fullam brings a surprising level of depth and empathy to the character. These aren’t marvels of character development, mind you, but far more than I expected from this movie.
But you’re not going to see Terrifier 2 for character development. You go to see Terrifier 2 to see Art the Clown slaughter people in the most gruesome ways imaginable and you won’t be disappointed. While nothing here surpasses the hacksaw scene in the original Terrifier or the disturbing amputee reveal in All Hallows’ Eve, Terrifier 2 is still a legitimate NC-17 slasher film as Art slashes eyeballs, breaks bones and scalps heads. This is easily the goriest movie that I’ve seen in a theater since The Green Inferno in 2015 and the practical effects are great. No CGI blood here, just good old-fashioned blood and guts. And lots of ‘em.
Despite the gore, Terrifier 2 is also more fun than the oddly mean-spirited original. With the exception of one kill that goes on for way too long (you will know it when you see it), this feels more like an 80s slasher film than something like Hostel (or, more specifically, Hostel 2). The violence is prevalent and often extreme, but it feels more like a haunted house attraction than it does a snuff film. Art even has a little girl sidekick this time around, resulting in several funny moments and what I expect to be a shit load of Halloween merchandise next October.
As I write this, news broke that Cinedigm Entertainment has submitted Terrifier 2 for Oscar consideration. Not because they expect it to win, but just so that the academy is forced to watch it. Have I mentioned the size of the balls on these people? Thisis far from a perfect movie, I still have issues with the length and a plot that is somehow both generic and nonsensical, but I can only nitpick this so much. Terrifier 2 is a true throwback to 80s slashers and all the bloodshed and fun characters that came with them. They don’t usually make ‘em like this anymore.
Image By: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrifier_2#/media/File:Terrifier_2_Poster.jpg
