Terrifer 2 (2022) Film Review

Let’s play with clowns again.

The first Terrifier is a mixture of insane kills and bad characters. The sequel promised more and it pretty much delivers.

Art the clown is one of the more interesting cinematic villains as he is simply ruthless in his attacks on people. Now, back from the dead, he is causing havoc once again in the small town.

I’m not really sure what there is to say about the plot in this one. We have new heroes (a brother and sister) and the same villain. It all comes down to Halloween night where it is clear that no one will be safe. Can Art be stopped? Do we want the heroes to win?

I think Art is an interesting villain in his sheer glee in his sadism. However, the characters he stalks and kills are not the smartest. The villain can only be as good as the victims, and Art will always suffer a bit here. The guy is clearly demented, Halloween or not, and no one seems to take him seriously as a threat. Further, his crimes are notorious at this point and no one seems to pay him any mind when he is moving around or taunting people. 

Then again, no one is watching this for the plot. We’re watching this for the gory kills and over the top violence. The film does deliver on this promise, almost to the point of absurdity. What is odd to me is how much the movie slows down between the kills. We have a ton of character moments with the brother and sister in between Art doing his thing.

There is a mixture of over the top kills, tense moments, and absolutely awful characters. I didn’t like any of the characters and my interest collapsed whenever Art was not on the screen. To be fair, Lauren Lavera makes for an interesting hero in Sienna, but she isn’t given enough to do for the first two thirds of the movie. Of all the controversy surrounding this film I did not think dullness was going to be a factor. I think they’re going for a tone feel of the poem to make us feel more invested in the characters, but it isn’t exciting enough. 

The tense moments work with Art. He is a creepy and off putting villain for sure. The film makes two steps forward and one step backward at an almost astonishing pace. Each new iteration with Art seems to be getting better, and this one is no exception. It is the best Terrifier film for sure, and the kills are something else, but I don’t think they’ve quite cracked it yet.

I’ll watch Terrifier 3 when it comes out, and honestly, I’ll be excited to. This one does way more right than the first one, but our characters are still a bit frustrating. I also am not sure anyone would survive as long as they do with the wounds Art gives them. I think my gripe with this one is it feels more like a cartoon than a true horror experience. I know some people like this sort of horror movie but it just seems too absurd with the realistic setting. In something like Evil Dead it works in the world.

I don’t know. It’s fine. The movie works and delivers on what it promised. I guess it just didn’t work for me.