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Terrifier 2 is a 2022 American slasher film written, directed, edited, and produced by Damien Leone. It is a sequel to Terrifier (2016), and is the second film in the franchise. It features the return of David Howard Thornton and Samantha Scaffidi, who respectively portrayed Art the Clown and Victoria Heyes in the first film, and stars Lauren LaVera, Elliot Fullam, Sarah Voigt, Kailey Hyman, and Casey Harnett. The story follows Art's resurrection and pursuit of Sienna Shaw (LaVera) and her younger brother Jonathan (Fullam) on Halloween night—a year after mutilating sole survivor Victoria (Scaffidi) and committing suicide upon police confrontation.

Terrifier 2
Official release poster
Directed by	Damien Leone
Written by	Damien Leone
Produced by	Damien Leone Phil Falcone George Steuber Michael Leavy Steven Della Salla Jason Leavy
Starring	Lauren LaVera Elliot Fullam Sarah Voigt Kailey Hyman Casey Harnett David Howard Thornton
Cinematography	George Steuber
Edited by	Damien Leone
Music by	Rostislav Vaynshtok Paul Wiley
Production companies	Dark Age Cinema Fuzz on the Lens Productions
Distributed by	Bloody Disgusting
Release dates	August 29, 2022 (2022-08-29) (FrightFest) October 6, 2022 (2022-10-06) (United States)
Running time	138 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$250,000
Box office	$1.2 million[1]

The film originates from a feature film concept Leone began developing shortly after filming his directorial debut short film The 9th Circle (2009). The concept of the planned film focused heavily on a heroine in an angel costume battling the Art character. It ultimately fell apart, but after the release of Terrifier (2016), Leone wanted to bring the heroine back as the protagonist—she would evolve into Sienna, someone Leone describes as the "heart and soul" of Terrifier 2. Leone spent three months writing a character-driven screenplay following criticism of the first film's perceived lack of narrative.

Funding for the film was exacting as the script was more ambitious than the first film and required a bigger budget. Leone secured finances from private investors before filming, and he launched an Indiegogo campaign with a $50k goal to film a practical effects-driven scene. The campaign was a massive success, reaching over 430% of the initial goal with a total of $250k in donations. It is one of the numerous films impacted by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic with principal photography coming to a halt mid-2020 due to the pandemic lockdowns.

The film had its world premiere at the FrightFest on August 29, 2022, and premiered in the United States on October 6, 2022. It was met with positive reviews and was a box office success, earning over $1.2 million, moving Top Gun: Maverick (2022) out of the top ten.[2]

Premise

This article needs an improved plot summary. (October 2022)

After mutilating sole survivor Victoria Heyes (Scaffidi) and committing suicide upon police confrontation, Art (Thornton) is resurrected by a sinister being later that night and he begins a hunt for two unsuspecting siblings in the Miles County area on Halloween night.

Cast

• David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown[3]
• Lauren LaVera as Sienna Shaw[3]
• Elliott Fullam as Jonathan Shaw
• Sarah Voigt as Barbara
• Kailey Hyman as Brooke
• Casey Hartnett as Allie[3]
• Samantha Scaffidi as Victoria Heyes[4]
• Felissa Rose as Ms. Principe[3]
• Tamara Glynn as Shopping Mother
• Nedim Jahić as Travis Bryant [5]
• Chris Jericho as Burke

Development

Writing

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.[7] 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.[6] 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.[6] Leone describes much of the screenplay revolving around the teenage girl.[6] He describes Sienna as his favorite character he has ever written.[6] Leone describes the screenplay as much bigger in scope than the previous film and recollects not considering a budget while writing.[6]

One of the factors during writing was establishing an adversary to Art—something inspired by the relationship between superhero Batman and supervillain Joker.[8] 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.[8] Besides Sienna, LaVera recollects the script focusing heavily on Sienna's younger brother Jonathan, their mother, and her friends—all of which play a crucial part in the story.[8]

Casting

Both Thornton and Scaffidi were confirmed to reprise their respective roles of Art and Victoria,[10] 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.[11] 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.[12][13]

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.[14] It reached a total of $250k by the end of the campaign, 430% more than the initial goal.

Filming began in October 2019.[15] 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.[16] As Sienna's costume received a positive reception[17] 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.[18] Filming quietly resumed and wrapped on July 10, 2021.[19]

Story

Terrifier 2 has taken on a fantastical approach akin to its predecessor All Hallows Eve, which portrays Art the clown as possessing supernatural abilities such as teleportation and invulnurability.[20]

"Sienna's dead artist father was linked to Art, drawing pictures of the clown and his victims in his sketchbook. Sienna's father also gave her a sword before he died, which turns out to have magical properties that the plot doesn't explain very well (or at all). Furthermore, Art has a sidekick, a little girl, one of his previous victims who is now demonic. The finale in which Sienna becomes a super bad-ass warrior wielding her magic blade to give Art a bit of his own medicine."

Marketing

A teaser trailer for Terrifier 2 was released on July 24, 2020.[21][22][23] MovieWeb's Jeremy Dick commented on the teaser, stating that "the teaser is pretty exciting to watch for anyone who enjoyed the first movie."[24] 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."[17]

It was also announced that a three issue limited release comic book series would be issued prior to the film's release.[25][26][27]

Release

Terrifier 2 had its world premiere at the Fantastic Fest on August 29, 2022, and was theatrically released on October 6, 2022 by Bloody Disgusting.[28] The film is intended to later stream on Screambox, as well as play at various "prominent genre festivals" prior to its official release.[29] Leone had previously expressed a desire to release the movie "road show style" once it is finished.[30][31]

Future

Both Leone and Thornton[32] have confirmed that a Terrifier 3 is planned, along with further installments that will slowly build on Art's background and motives. Having the heroine of Terrifier (2016) driven insane, Terrifier 2's protagonist is set to be a franchise lead and return in future films and related media.[33] Leone has also stated himself that he may have more than enough material for Terrifier 3 to warrant a Terrifier 4.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Box office

Terrifier 2 was released in 900 theaters in the United States, grossing $400,000 on its opening day.[34]

Critical response

The film received positive reviews, particularly for the performances of LaVera and Thornton and the practical special effects. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 87% based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10.[35] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on reviews from 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[36]

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."[37]

Matt Donato of IGN highlighted the performance of LaVera: "Lauren LaVera 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."[38] While stating the film has "underdeveloped subplots and themes," Donato describes it as being an improvement of the original film. Similarly, Matthew Jackson of Paste wrote that "LaVera, tasked with injecting humanity into the sequel, lives up to this task with pure star power."[39]

Trace Sauveur of The Austin Chronicle praised the "sense of physicality and comic timing" of Thornton.[40]

References

External links

• Terrifier 2 at IMDb

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