I’m terrified. Again.

Terrifier was a fantastic movie and a lot of its charm comes down to two men; David Howard Thornton and Damien Leone. Terrifier 2 is an even more fantastic movie and a lot of it comes down to three people; David Howard Thornton, Damien Leone, and Amelie McLain, the latter of which has a long career ahead of her in horror films, I think. At the very least, she 100% deserves to have a long career in Hollywood because this movie should be front and center on her portfolio trailer.

Terrifier 2 has a special place in my heart because it’s one of those films that cranks real the dial. And on that note, I don’t quite view Terrifier 1 or 2 as horror movies. Terrifier 1 I do more than the sequel, but still not really. I view them as spectacles, it’s a film to show off two things; the acting chops of Thornton and McLain and the practical effects of director Damien Leone. And it does both of those things quite well, but I have a hard time viewing Terrifier as a horror film because I never quite feel like it’s trying to scare me.

What really sets Art the Clown apart from other slasher villains is that while the original and the sequel do introduce supernatural aspects to his character, he never feels like he’s not human. He walks like a human, emotes like a human, and reacts like a human. A complete psychopathic serial killer, but human. The first movie has him putting on his costume and makeup and the second movie starts with him doing his laundry in a laundromat.

Freddy moves in supernatural ways, Michael walks and emotes like a terminator robot, all of the demons and ghosts act like demons and ghosts, you’ve got your vampires and zombies, and guys like Tony Todd in Candy Man have a smooth cadence that resembles Bela Lugosi Dracula. Art feels closer to a more supernatural Ghostface killer from Scream, he routinely gets his ass kicked over the course of the films and mostly gets the upper hand because he’s the guy with the weapons.

But what makes Terrifier so enjoyable to me and not a horror movie is how the series has cranked things up to 15 on the gruesome scale. Damien Leone is really talented with his practical effects, but in making the films so in-your-face disgusting it actually tips the scale in my brain and becomes unrealistic. Maybe it’s because I really enjoy seeing practical effects in movies that any processing power that would have gone toward being grossed out or scared is overwhelmed by the analytical part of the brain piecing together how they got that prosthetic to look so good. The budget for Terrifier 2 was reportedly $250,000, and it’s another sign of how disgustingly bloated Hollywood budgets have become.

David Howard Thornton was custom built by God to play Art the Clown, and I haven’t seen a match between a character and an actor like this since Shelley Duvall played Olive Oyl in the Popeye movie. The movie wouldn’t quite be the same without his acting chops, using his expressions and mannerisms to bring together this character. Art is unique, not the least bit in how he doesn’t sneak in the shadows for most of the film. He’s just a dude walking around, interacting with the world around him. He openly taunts and mocks his victims, spends time brutalizing them, and then plays with their bodies like a madman.

And Amelie McLain joins in as “the Little Pale Girl” and just like Art has absolutely no backstory to explain why she’s there. McLain is the perfect sidekick for Thornton and is just as creepy as the little girl clown demon thing. The protagonists of the film are Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) and her little brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam). You’ve got to love actors that do so well of a job that you genuinely dislike their characters, and Elliot Fullam is up there with Tom Felton’s Draco Malfoy. Jonathan is a whiny annoying dweeb throughout the movie, but nowhere near as grating as his mother played by Sarah Voigt.

Terrifier 2 has its fair share of incredibly annoying characters you can’t wait to see get killed off in brutal fashion, complimented by characters you hope will make it through the film but ultimately don’t. Like seeing Charlie McElveen’s Jeff get stabbed in the dick until he dies from being stabbed in the dick.

Am I done praising Terrifier 2? For now. It’s a masterpiece, and you should watch it.

Rating: A+