Rather recently, I had three separate people ask me on the same day: “Have you heard of Terrifier 2?” Having a mild awareness of the first movie, I wasn’t really aware that a sequel had been made. However, word of mouth clearly caught on. It apparently was something of a small passion project for filmmakers with a cult following that has allowed a movie with a $250,000 budget to make $8,876,394 worldwide on opening weekend. It’s a similar success story to the original Halloween. So, I decided to finally watch the first movie to prepare myself.

Pros

Make-up and gore effects are well done
David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown
Relatively short
Straightforward plot

Cons

Dumb horror-movie characters
Acting is rough
By-the-numbers

Plot & Thoughts

Terrifier opens with a journalist interviewing a heavily scarred survivor of an attack by Art the Clown. The survivor claims that Art (David Howard Thornton) was definitively dead and, after a pre-title sequence in which someone loses their eyes, we see Art walking down the street with a garbage bag. Two drunk women in costumes coming from a Halloween party spot him and decide to get some pizza to sober up before driving home. Unfortunately for them, Art has chosen his prey for the evening and it isn’t long before he starts kidnapping and killing people.

That’s pretty much it. Terrifier is not any more complex than that. It’s a movie about a killer clown who happens to choose a few unlucky ladies as his targets and their attempts to escape while he’s preoccupied with killing someone else. I appreciate the simplicity of it and I’m glad that a relatively small movie like this managed to garner a cult following that has supported its sequel at the box office. That being said, this isn’t my type of horror movie, so I’m not super motivated to see the sequel.

Don’t get me wrong. I think Terrifier accomplishes what it sets out to do. It’s a gory slasher movie with some over-the-top and extremely violent deaths meant to make you squirm in your seat, or laugh at their absurdity. Considering the reputation Terrifier 2 has garnered so far, it’s likely they only stepped up the gore to another level in that. The way the deaths are shot highlight their barbaric, brutality. Unlike the more creative deaths from other slasher films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Terrifier is mostly trying to shock you and make you uncomfortable. I’d say the mission would be accomplished for most people who saw this as I am deeply impressed by what Terrifier is able to do with such a small budget. The make-up and special effects are surprisingly good.

The last thing I’ll mention is that, aside from David Howard Thornton, the acting was pretty flat or stiff across the board. I was somewhat entertained by it, but it didn’t really change my opinion of the film much. Thornton’s Art the Clown, however, is definitely the best of the cast. He manages to make use of the makeup and emote his face in ways similar to a silent horror film antagonist. Whenever he’s on screen, he holds your attention. Whether he’s smiling or frowning, he’s just as intimidating. You can tell he’s having fun with this role.

Unfortunately for me, I just happen to have a different taste for slasher movies as I’ve never been too interested in horror films that have the goal to shock or disgust. That’s not to say I detest gore, because I love John Carpenter’s The Thing and enjoyed the bloody Evil Dead from 2013. I’m just not super engaged with films where the gore is the star and the tension takes a back seat. As a result, I was a little bored watching Terrifier, but you don’t have to take my word for it if you are more into this type of thing.

TL;DR

While Terrifier is not my cup of tea when it comes to slasher movies, I can still appreciate it for its strengths and achievements. The makeup and special effects are good. Art the clown is great as a villain. And the movie is not overly long. So while I was a little bored, I would also say that Terrifier might entertain you if you’re into gory slashers that aim to shock and, well, horrify you.

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