Art the Clown (played by David Howard Thornton) hunts women on Halloween night, first toying with them, then stalking and brutally killing them. The plot of the first Terrifier film, which runs just over 80 minutes and was released in 2016, doesn’t go much beyond that. The sequel, however, is like The Chronicles of Riddick compared to Pitch Black: this 140-minute horror epic tells the story of a dark fantasy battle filled with visions and fever dreams, where Art engages in a bloody fight with a girl dressed as an angel (played by Lauren LaVera), where even death doesn’t mark the final stop. Both films are incredibly brutal, a Z-grade frenzy reminiscent of 80s video nasties, which, perhaps because of this, are bold and unapologetic.
There’s hardly a better advertisement for a horror film than hearing that people vomited or fainted while watching it, and that they couldn’t sleep afterward. This reviewer caught quite a bit of flak for admitting they had to sleep with the lights on after Smile – which, while true, isn’t a movie so severe that it requires special warnings before viewing. Terrifier, however, is a whole different beast.
Typically, films like these don’t make it to the big screen. They circulate among hardcore genre fans via physical media, are shown at midnight sections of film festivals, or are picked up by niche streaming platforms. While they gain a devoted cult following, the mainstream audience usually steers clear—because they’re not prepared for this level of violence. When a killer not only murders but brutally murders their victims, it’s no surprise that the faint-hearted might actually faint this time.
It’s also no exaggeration to say that Terrifier and its quasi-title character, Art the Clown, are the brainchildren of writer-director Damien Leone. Art first appeared in short films and an anthology before Leone crowdfunded the first feature via Kickstarter. That film eventually found a financier who organized a limited release, but the sequel was truly fan-driven, with an Indiegogo campaign raising $250,000, far surpassing the initial $50,000 goal. The highly successful release of the sequel has since recouped the budget many times over. Thanks to this increased funding, Terrifier 2 allowed Leone to fully realize his vision of an epic battle between elemental evil and angelic purity. Okay, perhaps those terms are a bit grandiose, but while the first film is essentially a one-location cat-and-mouse game between Art and his potential victims, the sequel dares to dream bigger.
Not that the first movie lacked ambition: it’s framed by an interview with a woman whose face has been horrifically disfigured, and the final girl isn’t who you’d expect. Art, too, isn’t your typical slasher villain who silently stalks his prey (or teleports off-camera). He’s a playful mime, pulling faces, laughing silently, and even breaking the rules at times. In one of the film's most clever moments (because, yes, it has humor), he pulls out a gun to finish off a victim—much like Indiana Jones with the sword-wielding Bedouin. But the most memorable scenes are the kill sequences, which severely test the audience's tolerance (especially a certain sawing scene). Despite its shoestring budget, Terrifier doesn’t skimp on the effects: though the tricks harken back to the era the film pays homage to, they look impressively brutal given the constraints.
The sequel, set a year later, includes a particularly brutal scene that could easily top any splatter horror list, but Terrifier 2 isn’t remembered solely for its kills. It’s also a massive step up in terms of story. The first film was criticized for its simplistic characters, and Leone took that to heart, spending months working on the script’s character development, confidently declaring that he’d written the best character of his career. While we can’t say Lauren LaVera’s Sienna Shaw is the most complex character in horror history, she does have traumas that weigh heavily on her daily life: a younger brother obsessed with Art’s crimes and feeling outcast, and an overprotective mother, all while trying to realize herself. She dresses as an angelic warrior for Halloween—a symbolic role in her confrontation with Art.
Meanwhile, Art has his own visions, imagining a Harley Quinn-like figure who even entertains him. (Given this, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Leone compared the Art-Sienna dynamic to that of Batman and Joker.) Sienna, too, suffers from horrific, vivid nightmares, and both she and her brother can see Art’s imagined companion. The story is, admittedly, quite convoluted, and the 140-minute runtime dwells on these nightmares, with a final showdown that seems never-ending, complete with fantasy elements finally manifesting. Still, it’s an ambitious piece where both sides engage in a battle that cuts to the bone—literally, at times. Other victims fall along the way, mostly from Sienna’s circle of friends, many of whom have targets on their foreheads from the start. The cryptic humor from the first film is still here, and Art takes his pantomime performance to new heights. So while Terrifier 2 delves into a fever-dream-like narrative, it doesn’t forget its roots.
Finally, let’s address the question: Are these films really so brutal that only the strong-stomached can endure them? Yes and no. The filmmakers certainly push the boundaries of on-screen violence, executed with the help of talented collaborators. But both films’ limited budgets are evident, and the cruelty is tempered in the first film by cryptic humor and in the second by a more developed story. The Terrifier films certainly deliver some uncomfortable moments, but for fans of explicit horror, there’s plenty of joy to be found in the discomfort.
