Terrifier 2

It became clear fairly early on that I had set my hopes for this film far too high. It has garnered quite a following around it online, and that is fairly obviously due to the unique look and performance of Art the Clown. There is no denying he is a great character with a creative design, but it is not enough to expect him to carry the film on his own. The story is non-existent, and the leading lady who we are expected to root for as she evades Art is totally unlikeable and without any depth whatsoever. The VFX of the film is consistently amazing, with the gore and make-up being impressively realistic. But again, this cannot be expected to carry the film on its own. Gore without a decent story behind it is just gore, which is exactly what you'll find in 'Terrifier'.The acting from most of the cast is very poor, particularly from the lead actress and her cadre of friends. As they wander aimlessly around into Art's path they have a tendency to narrate their thoughts, feelings, and actions. This movie really needed a lesson in 'show, don't tell'. The two notable exceptions to the poor performances in acting are from the actor who plays Art himself, David Thornton, and Pooya Mohseni as an unnamed homeless woman. These two performances stood head and shoulders above the rest, with both being nuanced and suspenseful. In fact, the only genuinely scary scene of the entire film was one which featured those two appearing alone together.The soundtrack is mediocre and forgettable, featuring the same repetitive cues whenever Art appears on camera or a gruesome murder occurs. Characters frequently make stupid decisions that go beyond anything one might expect from someone even in a panicked situation solely for the sake of the plot. A recurring theme is that a character who is near death will be able to knock Art down, only to run away rather than finish him off. Inevitably, he gets back up and returns the favour ten-fold. Art the Clown is what gives this film merit, but he is not enough on his own. 'Halloween' was still a fantastic film besides Michael Myers for example, but 'Terrifier' could not even be considered an average film if it weren't for Art the Clown.

Its alright, Art the clown steals the show - dunno why but he cracks me up, he is proper off his rocker - David Howard Thornton who plays Art is brilliant. The rest of the cast needed wiping out (although they're not as annoying as certain students in some well known teen horrors of late), and he does a splendid job of doing this in some pretty brutal ways - some might say artistically? 3* - but with a bigger budget for the director/producer im sure they can make a very good sequel in the future and stretch the film run time out to nearly two hours and they will have a 4* film.

So I was a huge fan of "All Hallow's Eve" the little known yet thoroughly awesome 2013 indie Creepshow-esque horror compendium that unleashed Art the clown onto the world. I admit I had reservations about this follow up, which appeared from the trailer to be far more of a straight up slasher than the very weird, trippy, supernatural presentation of the first film. And whilst it pretty much is about ninety-five percent slasher this time around, it is done with such unashamed visceral style, wonderful stomach churning practical effects, and a quite literally mesmerising central performance from David Howard Thornton that as a genre fan, it's simply impossible not to love. The plot couldn't really be simpler, two girls on night out run into Art, who for murderous reasons entirely of his own takes a shine to one of them, and sets about terrorising them in the way a creepy, homicidal and unstoppable clown does best. And it's a terrific ride. This is something that doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is, it doesn't ram in pointless threads of characterisation beyond what's necessary, it just goes straight for viewers' jugulars with absolute authority. Art is probably the truest horror icon we've had in decades, entirely unique and entirely terrifying, yet somehow, just like the likes of Kruger and Vorhees, you just want him to show up and do this thing and watch him doing it. I think I would definitely have liked a little more of the supernaturally side that 'All Hallow's Eve' gave us. That sort of blurred line between video, folklore and reality was terrific, but if this is just "Art begins" then hopefully we'll have a load more of these to come, and I for one will be watching them with a sort of fusion of retro-delight and grim horror. Great stuff!