Terrifier 2 has some wondering if horror is always a box-office winner. The frightful film has been a surprising success with audiences. 2016’s Terrifier was not a huge success, but its sequel seems to be resonating with horror fans on a deeper level. The movie features the further adventures of Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton), a silent, black-and-white clown with a penchant for gore. This time around, he’s chosen to terrorize teenager Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera), a plucky heroine with a dysfunctional family.
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In a post on Twitter, Flanagan praised Terrifier 2 and LaVera’s performance, dubbing the film the start of a new sub-genre known as the MegaSlasher. “Terrifier 2 is wild. Very ambitious and deeply disturbing. Practical FX are off the chain,” Flanagan wrote. “@LaurenLaVera is quite terrific and Art the Clown is downright ghastly. Seems to have invented a new subgenre: the MegaSlasher. Big respect to all involved.”
With Terrifier 2 performing well at the box office on a $250,000 budget, there are probably going to be quite a few films coming out in a similar vein: small-budget films with ultra-gory kills. That’s likely what Flanagan is referring to by his “MegaSlasher” moniker: the film is incredibly gory and violent. Some have reported that audiences are vomiting and fainting during some of the scenes in the movie. Given that the first Terrifier features some gruesome sights like a woman being chainsawed in half, that’s probably a pretty high bar to clear.
Art the Clown may live up to his name, but he’s not one of the silliest horror movie villains around. He does appear to take an odd delight in his kills, but he’s also characterized as quite sadistic. His jokes come across more as toying with his prey than trying to entertain them, unlike other horror movie clowns like Pennywise.
Terrifier 2 even hints that Art the Clown is a terrifying eldritch monster. It introduces the Little Pale Girl, also known as Emily Crane (Amelie McLain), who appears to be some kind of demonic spectre dedicated to bringing Art back to life. His backstory is slowly unfolding on screen, and it’ll probably be deeply twisted when his full story plays out.
Terrifier 2 is streaming on Screambox.
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Source: Mike Flanagan/Twitter
