Terrifier 2 is a 2022 American horror film written and directed by Damien Leone, the film stars Lauren LaVera, Elliot Fullam, and David Howard Thornton. It is a sequel to Terrifier (2018) and is the second installment in the Terrifier franchise.
Plot[]
After being resurrected by an unknown entity following the Miles County Massacre of 2017, Art the Clown murders the coroner investigating his dead body. He goes to the laundromat to clean his blood-soaked garments where he encounters a ghostly girl dressed in similar clown makeup.
On October 30th, 2018, Sienna Shaw puts the finishing touches on her Halloween costume: a warrior princess that was designed specifically for her by her late father, who recently passed away after a brain tumor brought forth strange visions. Her brother Jonathan plans on going as Art the Clown. Sienna expresses concern about this to their mother, Barbara. That night, Sienna has a dream where she encounters Art. Following the dream, a fire ignites on her dresser, incinerating the wings she had designed for the costume. A sword that had been given to her by her father remains unscathed.
The next day, it is Halloween 2018. Jonathan sees Art at school playing with a dead possum. The teachers find the possum and suspend Jonathan. Meanwhile, Sienna and her friend, Allie go to Abra-Cadabra, the costume shop, to find a replacement pair of wings. There, she encounters Art who playfully antagonizes a clearly unnerved Sienna. After Sienna leaves, Art kills the shop vendor. Barbara discovers that Jonathan has been suspended and refuses to let him leave the house for the evening, while Sienna plans on going to a party with her friends (one of whom has already been murdered by Art). Jonathan storms off, furious, and appears to vandalize the family car, calling Barbara a bitch. Barbara cleans up the mess but finds Art inside the car. Jonathan returns home to find his deceased and mutilated mother being served dinner by Art; Art then incapacitates Jonathan.
At the party, Sienna is unknowingly given molly by her friend Brooke. As the drug reacts to the alcohol and the Xanax she had previously taken, Sienna has a panic attack when she sees the little girl dressed as a clown. Brooke and her boyfriend are driving Sienna home when she gets a call from Jonathan (whose voice is actually being mimicked by the little girl), saying that he is at an abandoned carnival. There, Sienna investigates the premises, including a haunted house named the Terrifier, while Brooke and her boyfriend are killed by Art. Sienna finds Brooke's dead body in a dingy bathroom, where she also finds Art and Jonathan. After failing to kill the seemingly immortal Art several times, Sienna is stabbed in the chest with her father's sword and dies.
Art tries to wake up a comatose Jonathan and begins eating him. Sienna, meanwhile, is resurrected by the sword and decapitates Art using the same weapon. He appears dead, and the ghostly little girl takes his head and leaves. Sienna and Jonathan embrace. The post credit scene shows that Art still lives.
In a mid-credits scene, Victoria Heyes from the previous film is shown in a mental hospital where she begins to write obscenities on the wall in blood. She finishes it off by drawing a heart with the words "Victoria + Art" in the middle of it. A seemingly-possessed Victoria suddenly becomes pregnant and gives birth to Art's decapitated head, which begins to chuckle. A nurse named Samantha Emerson storms into the room and screams at the chaos occurring in front of her, as the movie ends with the sound of Victoria's maniacal laughter.
Cast[]
- David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown
- Lauren LaVera as Sienna Shaw
- Elliott Fullam as Jonathan Shaw
- Sarah Voigt as Barbara Shaw
- Amelie McLain as Emily Crane
- Samantha Scaffidi as Victoria Heyes
- Kailey Hyman as Brooke
- Charlie McElveen as Jeff
- Casey Hartnett as Allie
- Johnath Davis as Ricky
- Griffin Santopietro as Eric
- Owen Myre as Sean Henderson
- Devon Roth as Stephanie
- Mark Langston as Mr. Whalen
- Felissa Rose as Ms. Principe
- Nedim Jahić as Travis Bryant
- Leah Voysey as Clown Cafe Host
- Chris Jericho as Adam Burke
- Amy Russ as Allie's Mother
- Cory Duval as Seth Bolton
- Tamara Glynn as Shopping Mother
- Reid Richards as Shopping Son
Production[]
Pre-production[]
Writing[]
"...That was my favorite character that I ever wrote, ever. So I knew that character was always there; I knew one day I was going to bring that character back and finally make a movie with her. So she is the heart and soul of Part 2, and everything revolves around that character. So I always knew that seed was there."
Leone revealed February 12, 2019, in a post on his social media showing the cover page, that the first draft of the screenplay was complete. After writing and directing the short film The 9th Circle (2009), Leone began developing a feature length film focusing on the Art the Clown character and a heroine in an angel costume battling him. This version of the film ultimately got scrapped. After the 2016 film got criticism for its perceived lack of narrative, Leone spent three months writing a character-orientated screenplay for the follow-up film.
He opted to bring back the angel-attired heroine a decade later and adapt her into Sienna Shaw. Leone describes much of the screenplay revolving around the teenage girl. He describes Sienna as his favorite character he has ever written. Leone describes the screenplay as much bigger in scope than the previous film and recollects not considering a budget while writing.
One of the factors during writing was establishing an adversary to Art—something inspired by the relationship between superhero Batman and supervillain Joker. During a lunch with Leone and David Howard Thornton, Sienna's actress, Lauren LaVera, was told of this intended dynamic between her character and Art. Besides Sienna, LaVera recollects the script focusing heavily on Sienna's younger brother Jonathan, their mother, and her friends—all of whom play a crucial part in the story.
Casting[]
Samantha Scaffidi reprises her antihero role as Victoria Heyes from the first film, with an updated appearance.
Lauren LaVera portrays the series' new protagonist, Sienna Shaw. Both Thornton and Scaffidi were confirmed to reprise their respective roles of Art and Victoria, becoming the only returning cast members of the prior film, other than (according to IMDb) a brief voice cameo by Michael Leavy (who played Will the Exterminator who got beheaded in the original Terrifier) as the Club Announcer and DJ voice. There are also rumors of Steven Della Salla and Jason Leavy, the two cops in the original film, returning in a cameo fashion. This would make sense considering the three are also all producers on the second installment. On September 11, 2019 it was announced that actress Lauren LaVera was cast in the lead role of Sienna Shaw. On October 15, it was announced that Felissa Rose, Chris Jericho and Tamara Glynn had joined the cast in cameo roles.
Filming[]
While Leone had secured full funding for the film from a handful of private investors prior to filming, he launched an Indiegogo with a $50k goal to finance a practical effects driven scene and to attach a well known actor to the project. The campaign was a major success, grossing over $125k in the first week. It reached a total of $250k by the end of the campaign, 430% more than the initial goal.
Filming began in October 2019. While a majority of the film's main storyline has already been completed, principal photography was halted due to COVID-19, becoming one of many films impacted by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. On September 7, Leone revealed that he was in the process of working on the prosthetic makeup for Victoria's disfigured face in preparation of filming Samantha Scaffidi's scenes. As Sienna's costume received a positive reception when production stills were officially released, when asked about the attire, LaVera described liking it on the first day of wearing it but began to feel disdain for it throughout the course of filming as it was uncomfortable to wear. She even obtained blisters from wearing it. Filming quietly resumed and wrapped on July 10, 2021.
Post-Production[]
As well as play at various "prominent genre festivals" prior to its official release. Leone had previously expressed a desire to release the movie "road showstyle" once it is finished.
Marketing[]
A teaser trailer for Terrifier 2 was released on July 24, 2020. MovieWeb's Jeremy Dick commented on the teaser, stating that "the teaser is pretty exciting to watch for anyone who enjoyed the first movie." Matt Joseph of We Got This Covered also reviewed the trailer, writing "This trailer, though brief, does at least promise a bigger, bloodier and more terrifying sequel, one that should have no issue pleasing those who found much to like in the original."
It was also announced that a three issue limited release comic book series would be issued prior to the film's release.
Release[]
Terrifier 2 had its world premiere at the Fantastic Fest on August 29, 2022, and was shown on the same day at Fright Fest in London. It was theatrically released on October 6, 2022 by Cinedigm (now known as Cineverse).
While it was originally only set for a one-week limited theatrical release, audience demand lead Cinedigm to announce that Terrifier 2 would remain in theaters for a second weekend on October 12, 2022. On October 17, this run was extended for another three weeks.
Box Office[]
Terrifier 2 was released in 886 theaters in the United States, grossing $400,000 on its opening day. It went on to debut to $805,000, and then made $1 million the following weekend (an increase of 28%). Variety called the film's success a "shock" to the industry due to its low budget and limited mainstream marketing. Through its first two weeks of release, the film had grossed $3.4 million. Expanding to 1,550 theaters in its fourth weekend (an increase of 795) the film made $1.8 million, for a running total of $7.9 million, for the final days of the week, its estimated to have taken in yet another $1.22M in 1,245 locations for a domestic total of $9.8M. On November 7, 2022, it was revealed that the film made $10.1M, worldwide. On November 11, 2022, it was revealed the film made $10.3M, worldwide. On January 18, 2023, it surpassed $13M worldwide. On January 19, 2023, it surpassed $14M worldwide. The final gross of the movie is $14.1M.
Speaking of the film's box office success, Leone said "I did not expect it to make this kind of splash or play in theaters, honestly, other than maybe a few arthouse theaters. To see it snowballing, the word of mouth growing, people getting sick and fainting and it really taking off, I never expected this or for it to make millions of dollars in theaters.".
Home Media and Digital[]
The film is available to stream, starting October 31, 2022 on ScreamBox.
Terrifier 2 was released on VOD/Digital on November 11, 2022. It was also released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K on December 27, 2022.
Reception[]
Critical response[]
The film was met with generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for Thornton and LaVera's performances and many critics considering the film to be an improvement over its predecessor.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 87% based on 46 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on four critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Jeffrey Anderson of Common Sense Media described the characters as memorable, particularly Sienna, due to her character development. Because of this, Anderson states that "human life starts to matter more here than it did in the first film." Matt Donato of IGN while stating the film has "underdeveloped subplots and themes" noted it as an improvement of the original film and highlighted the performance of LaVera, writing that she "rules as Sienna in her angel-winged fantasy armor as a final girl fighting for family, facing her demons, and screaming bloody war cries in Art's mocking face." Similarly, Matthew Jackson of Paste wrote that "LaVera, tasked with injecting humanity into the sequel, lives up to this task with pure star power." Trace Sauveur of The Austin Chronicle praised the "sense of physicality and comic timing" of Thornton.
Future[]
In 2019, Leone and Thornton have confirmed that a Terrifier 3 is planned, along with further installments that will slowly build on Art's background and motives. In October 2022, Leone said he had an entire treatment for a third film but it "is getting so big that it could potentially split into a Part 4 because [he] wouldn't want to make another 2 hour 20 minute movie.".
On May 31, 2023, The Coven Films, a French distribution company and executive producer of the series, announced that filming for the third would begin in either November or December of 2023 with a "low-mid seven figure budget." Creator Damien Leone, producer Phil Falcone, and actors David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, and Chris Jericho are all slated to reprise their roles. Priscilla Smith of The Coven said of the next instalment: “There will be a much bigger budget this time around, which is intended to give the filmmakers more creative freedom, and let them be as wild as they can be. And, all jokes aside, we are going for that Oscar this year.”. Leone added, “Terrifier 3 will be another boundary pushing addition to the horror genre, continuing the no holds barred, uncompromising exploits fans of the franchise have come to expect and celebrate. If you thought Art the Clown’s reign of terror in part 2 was extreme, you haven’t seen anything yet.”.
On June 12, 2023, Cineverse announced its acquisition of North American distribution rights to the film, planning a wide theatrical release in late 2024 followed by a streaming debut on its streaming service Screambox.
In October 4, 2023, it was announced that the first trailer and poster for the sequel would debut on November 1, 2023; exclusively during a theatrical re-release of Terrifier 2.
On April 13, 2024, Daniel Roebuck was announced to be portraying Santa Claus.
Filming officially began on January 30, 2024 and concluded on April 15 the same year. An image of Thornton in Art the Clown makeup was released the previous day.
Trivia[]
- The film reportedly caused viewers watching to faint and vomit in theaters during the bedroom scene, with many even exiting mid-screening.
- This is the first Damien Leone movie to surpass $10 million at the Box Office.
- While conceptualizing the birthing scene, Damien Leone decided he wanted to keep Victoria alive and give her significant character development, as he enjoyed working with Samantha Scaffidi.