Rent Terrifier 2 (2022)

Terrifier 2 review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

The sequel to Terrifier certainly promises more than its ho-hum predecessor. There are plenty more kills, gallons more blood, pounds more of guts, and way more weirdness than in the last film. The improved visual effects make this an easy recommendation for the gore hound who loves an over-the-top gutting from a crazed killer. On that level, I can appreciate the film. But paced at 2.5 hours, Terrifier 2 tests the limits of how long one can enjoy the darkness of Art the Clown before it becomes a monotonous experience.

Art returns from his massacre in the previous film despite being killed. As horror sequels always tend to go, evil never dies, and some mysterious force revives Art for some unexplained reason. There’s a girl clown involved that might have something to do with it, and she may or not be a manifestation of his dark desires and other people’s nightmares. Don’t worry if you can’t piece together the addition to Art’s killing spree. She is rarely divulged in the rest of the picture. All you need to know is that she’s another clown for Art to cavort with amid his terror.

The protagonists of the film are two teenagers, Sienna and Jonathan. Sienna has been working hard on her Halloween costume as an armored angel. Jonathan is delving into the darkest parts of his family history, specifically his late father and his sketches of Art the Clown. Art haunts the two in various ways. For Sienna, she has dreams of a warped TV show in which Art proceeds to slaughter the audience. For Jonathan, he witnesses Art, in reality, playing with the dead carcass of an animal in Jon’s school. They’re soon forced to fight Art and finally find a way to kill the clown who won’t stay dead.

Until that showdown, Art goes on a killing spree throughout the suburbs, trying to find the most horrifying ways to destroy a human body. He does deserve some credit for being extra cruel while trying to put on the darkly-comedic clown act. While not as clever as Freddy Krueger in staging silly slashings, he does succeed in going hardcore with the gore. One victim gets one of the most brutal slaughters as her face is slashed, her limbs ripped off, her wounds peppered with salt, and is kept alive long enough to greet her returning mother. The punchline of using the decapitated head for a trick-or-treat bowl that nobody notices is also a decent touch.

But that’s just one kill, and the film has so many that they lose their edge after some time. In the scene where Art blows off a woman’s head with a gun, laziness sets in. After all, only so many slaughtering set pieces can assemble for 2.5 hours before they lose their luster. And it becomes evident that this is all the movie aims for with Art’s rampage, doing little to explore Art’s weird abilities to survive and constantly invade his victims' dreams. It’s a film that feels like a tale of a killer clown and more like a showcase of the slasher’s best hits. They’re great hits, don’t get me wrong, but I felt like watching a movie and not a YouTube compilation.

Terrifier 2 is better than Terrifier 1 but more for its tech upgrades than anything cohesive. Way more thought was put into how mushier the innards of a gutted-out head can look than the reasoning behind Art’s methodology or what can bring about his death. Despite being a microbudget horror movie, this film is most notable for being one of those little-horror-films-that-could for becoming a surprise hit at the box office. Those seeking some quality gore, you’ll get that thirst satiated with this picture. However, those hoping there’s a solid structure to string all those gory moments together might be let down by this all-over-the-place picture.