Imagine that you have gone back to 1997. You go to the video store on the corner and search among the horror tapes to find one in the false bottom that looks like no one has rented in a long time. When you put the VHS at home you discover that their argument is the least of it next to offal, gushing blood, livers and dismembered bodies. Now imagine the same thing but on the big screen and for two and a half hours. If the proposal interests you, you’re in luck: ‘Terrifier 2’ is the movie you wanted to see.
Go go go!
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a movie with the absurd amount of gore that ‘Terrifier 2’ has on the billboard: Enough to cause gagging in neophytes of the genre and to satisfy those for whom ‘Guinea pig’ becomes routine. But the film’s charisma does not come from its hemoglobin in abundance or from its slasher plot with supernatural overtones, but from the real star of the show: Art.
During the 80s, the psychokillers of the slasher sagas They ceased to be the villains to become the public’s claim and heroes. We all remember that Freddy Krueger, between murder and nap, dedicated himself to recording records and television series, unleashing a true Freddy mania that was only disputed by Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Caracuero or Chucky. But The years (and the aftermath) passed and the fashion for psychopaths faded.
There have been attempts to resuscitate her, of course, and some of them managed to give iconic characters, such as Jigsaw or Victor Crowley, but none has revived the charisma of the serial killer like this saga. The figure of Art the Clown grows in this second installment entering his damaged psyche and his hallucinations, and with an absolutely captivating visual styleas heir to Buster Keaton as to a saja-raja butcher to use.
this is art
‘Terrifier 2’ follows the course of its first part but stretching out over an endless two and a half hours that could have easily been cut short without ending up turning the carnage into pure routine. Seen an open head, seen all. In the end, after 148 minutes of grimacing and stabbing, the offensive ceases to be offensive and takes its place. a bloody parsimony full of characters with the only personality of victims but in which, for some reason, they try to force an unnecessarily complex subplot about her relationship with Art.
However, no one can say that this sequel does not deliver what it promises: It’s more of the same, but with much more bestiality, shredding, sadism and black humor. And, furthermore, with a new partner of Art who appears in a fabulous scene in that laundry room where you can almost smell the stale detergent and see the grain of the tape. ‘Terrifier 2’ drinks from many movies but it is never obvious in its references: like it more or less, it has its own personality at all times.
Whether this charisma and the originality of his murders make up for the two and a half hours of sprawl and a non-interesting plot, depends on the viewer. A viewer who, as was pointed out in its US premiere, you have to go in with a party spirit and a mind in Z Series mode. Art has never tried to be more than that: don’t let your massive premiere catch you off guard, because this film is born from fun and offal, never from terror and, much less, about the always misnamed “high terror”.
I can’t sleep, the clown eats me
The big change that this sequel introduces is that of fantasy. If in ‘Terrifier’ everything happened in a world full of rust and reality, in its second part, not only bodies and brains open up, but also Damien Leone’s imagination, which raises authentic nightmares worthy of Elm Street with the broadcast of a children’s program that ends up being deliciously macabre. His unreality -he never tries to make that filming set look like anything else- mixed with a fabulous use of color make one almost wishes Art would leave the physical world more often to unleash his killer instincts in the subconscious.
‘Terrifier 2’ It is a worthy heir to the movies you watched as a teenager with your friends where you booed the plot and applauded each murder, with more laughter for each extra cruelty, but even the biggest fan will end up jaded and wishing for a pause button in the cinema that would make them leave a goings-on that starts out as a gore fantasy and ends up being a boring procedure as simple as hemoglobin. Like riding a roller coaster: two minutes is a lot of fun, but two and a half hours later not even the craziest double spin at 50 mph is going to cause you to yawn.
If you’ve seen ‘Terrifier’ and enjoyed it, you already know what’s up: video store, dirt, killings and a surprising attempt at charisma. If you haven’t, it’s your decision, because it can leave a very strong impression on people who are more squeamish or who enjoy less the bloodiest horror movies. Not all of us feel as good about a refreshing dip in a pool full of blood courtesy of Art.