'Terrifier 2' Review: Director Damien Leone Pulls No Punches In This Slasher Epic
The slasher subgenre is truly a staple within the confines of horror. There is something so profoundly simplistic within the nature of a slasher that feels understated in its popularity. You have a menacing figure hunting down victims for sport with a clear motivation or an ambiguous one, as well as a group of friends with the impending doom that they are the next to be executed in the killer’s game looming over them. While the murderous cat-and-mouse game ensues, there is usually a final girl to unveil the killer’s true identity, oftentimes receiving a shocking reaction from the film’s audience, whether it’s a grizzly, creative and inventive kill, or a twist seemingly pulling the rug completely from the film’s audiences. What thrills creatives the most is being able to witness a horror spectacle with a crowd. Jordan Peele even recently showcased this concept with his recent film, Nope, as well as the idea of “spectacle” being a main thematic narrative within the film. While Peele creates discussion surrounding that idea, horror filmmakers, within the confines of their own art, still merely attempt to make films digestible for an audience. Thus throughout the history of cinema, slasher horror icons such as “Ghostface”, “Michael Myers”, “Pinhead”, and “Freddy Krueger” and among others have paved the way throughout the genre’s legacy, and often, have stood the test of time.
And this brings us to writer/director Damien Leone. The independent horror filmmaker behind the first Terrifer film and the film All Hallow’s Eve. Leone is a filmmaker about making his horror icon, Art the Clown, more publically known. However, the disconnect comes down to the film’s accessibility. Terrifier is a gnarly and nihilistic, truly gory and dreary in presentation with a massive kill count that will leave audiences queasy. Now, Leone is back telling the story of Art the Clown with a few tricks up his sleeves. The film stars David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, and Elliott Fullam among others. The sequel picks up where the first film left off in which being resurrected by a spiritual entity, Art the Clown returns to Miles County to hunt a teenage girl and her family all during Halloween night. As mentioned previously, the first Terrifier film is brutal and thus creates a divisive reception from horror fans, but fans are open-minded toward a sequel. In the opinion of this writer, I was fairly mixed on the first film, but I was excited to see where Damien Leone would take his grindhouse-level of scares further in his career.
It is tough to talk about Terrifier 2 without discussing the major addition to the film, its runtime. The film clocks in at nearly 2hrs 30mins, which is unheard of especially for the horror genre. As previously mentioned, David Prior’s The Empty Man is similar in length, but where the two compliment one another is that this allows both filmmakers to explore an extensive amount of ideas. And Leone takes full advantage of this and delivers an intense, gory, but also feels psychedelic. Formally akin to the horror slashers of The Slumber Party Massacre and Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, the film is presented as an ode to 80’s shot on video slashers with overly-bombastic dialogue, creative lighting, and cinematography, but also Leone is not afraid of bringing his violence. And this violence is all complimented by the incredible practical effects created by Leone, himself. The kills here are brutal and definitely not for the squeamish, but it is awe-inspiring to see a horror slasher nowadays letting loose with its imagination. While feeling tamer in comparison to the previous film in terms of violence, this sequel is still a bloody mess. What makes other horror sequels so fun is how some feel self-contained in terms of narrative. For example, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, while playing some homage to the original, it is accessible for audiences to understand the story and Freddy Krueger’s mythology. Terrifier 2 is within that same vein; while answering questions left by the first film, Leone is not afraid of being silly and campy and thus the fantastical elements of the film do not feel farfetched and attainable for audiences unaware of the previous film. Leone is not afraid of being campy, going as far as saying he wears that trademark like a suit of armor throughout this film. While the film does have an extensive runtime, I was constantly riveted throughout its entirety due to the amount of imagination and love for the genre placed all in Leone’s hands into one singular film, it feels weird to call a slasher film and epic in scope, but here we are! David Howard Thornton and Lauren LaVera are wonderful. Thornton feels like he is having a delight with this film and watching him working his silent film approach towards comedy as Art the Clown was so fun and refreshing. LaVera carries the film through and through, being placed in the thick of it all and displaying such an emotionally powerful, but stoic performance that has not been seen in recent slasher films.
While many will argue about Terrifier 2’s length and other perhaps detrimental aspects of the film, Leone certainly displayed the purity of his vision. His direction is sharper than Art’s plentiful weapons, the acting by Thornton and LaVera shine, it’s oozing with style, yet it still has so much substance to unpack while also feeling riveting and playful. If there is a recent slasher to watch from this year to kick off the Halloween season, it is Terrifier 2. If I can watch Art the Clown dismembers his victims in campy and unhinged matters while all in service towards Leone’s love for the genre, then I will be in the theatre opening night.