Terrifier 2 (2022) - Needs a Second Writer

With the slow rising success of the first Terrifier, director Damien Leone turned to kickstarter in order to finance the sequel. This was for more creative freedom on the project, with Leone stressing that conventional studios would not allow the amount of carnage he was after in his movies. (This was repeated when marketing Terrifier 3 (2024), and honestly, seems to be a marketing tactic to stir up drama than based on anything tangible.) Whilst fans heralded this - does the movie truly benefit from the independent approach?

Terrifier 2 (2022) picks up a year after the first film on another Halloween night, with Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) out and about again, looking for his next massacre. This time, it's entangled with a girl called Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera, who delivers a strong performance), a teen whose father left a disturbing journal behind him with drawings of both her, and Art the Clown.

This plot is certainly more interesting than that of the first film, which had very little story. By focusing on Sienna as a character with friends, family and an inner world, the film has a throughline. But, just because there is a plot, doesn't mean it's good. The movie opens a lot of questions about Art and the lore of the movies, including introducing a mini, girl version of Art and an extended dream sequences. Unfortunately, most of these questions are left completely open. It ends up feeling like a plot full of Stuff around the kills.

For example, there is an extended dream sequence featuring Sienna that lasts over ten minutes. The key purpose of the dream is to showcase Sienna's sword as a useful weapon, and burn her costume wings so that she has to buy a replacement. This is a simple thing that could have taken half the time to accomplish, and still keep most of the murder and mayhem showcased. Instead, we get a scene double the length it should be that feels like a bad Creepypasta: trying so hard to be so disturbing that it becomes tiresome.

This vibe is echoed elsewhere in the film, where quite a few scenes feel like they're trying to gross out the audience in a cheap manner - was the toilet humour necessary? Or does it make it seem like a teenager writing the most extreme story they can think of for the internet?

Because of this, a lot of the first half of the movie feels drawn out; like scenes Leone wrote separately that he's now piecing together to fit into a plot.

On the other hand, the second half of the movie is as brutal and hardhitting as most of the first movie was. This second half feels more true to form and delivers on truly terrifying and disturbing moments that are not for the faint of heart. It's impossible to stop watching, because you have to know how it ends. This second half feels like the story Leone wanted to tell, but didn't know how to get there without the meandering of the first chunk.

This feels like a problem that would be easily solved by working with a script writer. Not to mess with Leone's precious vision, but to actualise and strengthen it.

This writing problem is an issue down to the characters, too. Whislt they are more actualised than the ladies from the first movie, and Sienna does has somewhat of a relationship with her brother, Jonahan (Elliot Fullam, also delivering a strong performance), they don't have huge emotional depth.

Sienna is praised as a great final girl, but is this because she's well-written, or just because they gave her a sword and a cool outfit?

That being said, there is a genuinely sweet moment between Sienna and her mother that does demonstrate genuine emotion; the same can be said for the relationship between her and her friend in the club. There are moments of writing that are genuinely good, which mean that the scenes which aren't so polished stand out all the more.

All of this is actually fine, and somewhat expected; the Terrifier films never claimed to be highbrow. They're extreme horror movies that pay homage to the video nasties of the 80s, so it's not a surprise that story and characters are the weaker elements. The merits of the film are the creative kills, where its obvious Leone is a master of gory, practical special effects.

Every kill in this film delivers on brutality. The most intense and controversial being Allie (Casie Hartnett)'s in what's been dubbed 'the bedroom scene.' This film divides viewers down the middle between being so over the top that it's unbelievable (and therefore fun) and being so over the top that it's unnecessarily brutal (and therefore not fun). I fall into the latter category. This scene was the line in the sand for my gore threshold.

What's particularly distressing is the tone; a nasty, punishing tone for a character who doesn't deserve such a violent end. The nature of the movies is to be mean-spirited, but there is a line before it becaomes too much. This feels like it.

And it's also where the accusaitons of mysogyny began to accrew. Looking at Terrifier and Terrifier 2, audiences noticed that the kills seemed particularly gratutious, particularly mean, particularly gory when it came to the female characters. (The male victims deaths were also extreme, but still not on the level of the bedroom scene.) Pairing this with the age of the characters in the second film, there does seem to be a particular skew. It becomes uncomfortable in a way Leone didn't intend to see a scantily clad teenager getting beaten by a killer clown. (Did Sierra's costume need to be that revealing?)

Leone countered these claims by reiterating the films play into the tropes of 80s slashers. This is a true, but frustrating response, as it highlights the problem with his inspiration material. That Leone didn't take the time to examine the change in audiences, and how the over the top violence towards teen girls would come across to modern audiences, demonstrates a lack of wanting to unpack and engage in conversation. It doesn't help that the final girl he does have is "strong", with not a lot else going on. Again, allowing more voices into the writing room could have helped unpack this more.

All in all, I wouldn't say Terrifier 2 is miles better than the original. The adding of more plot, more characters and more kills is just that; adding more elements. And, unfortunately, many of these elements showcase a weakness in writing. (And knowing what to leave on the cutting room floor - this film should be half an hour shorter.) If you enjoyed Art's antics in the first one, this is more of the same.

With an end credit scene that falls back to using ludicrously shcoking elements.

(P.S: If we don't see or get told about a character's power in film, it doesn't count!)