After the disappointment of ‘Halloween: the end’, fans of slasher movies are in luck. For every horror flick there is always an unexpected bonus. ‘Terrifier 2’ is crazy gore like the old ones that has created an icon of the genre with Art, the killer clown, within underground cinema. The good news is that your new adventure will arrive in Spain much sooner than you think.
The story of ‘Terrifier 2’ is beginning to be one of those that studios should begin to study when they intend to address the genre. Damien Leone’s slasher epic was supposed to have a limited release of one weekend in US theaters, beginning on October 6, before launching on the small platform SCREAMBOX before hitting Digital and Blu-ray. ray. several weeks later Not only does it continue in theaters, defying all odds, but it is increasing its collection every weekend.
Produced by the website Bloody Disgusting, with ultra-independent financing, the film saw a 100% increase in box office receipts last weekend. If terror has been the genre of reference for a large part of the moviegoing public this year, with five box office number ones, and the success of ‘Smile’ still breaking any expectation, the case of the killer clown is unusual for many reasons.
An unexpected phenomenon that everyone wants to see
‘Terrifier 2’ grossed $2.1 million in its third weekend of release. It now has a total domestic gross of 5.4 million on a budget of $250,000, which is truly a remarkable feat as it fetches a whopping $2,511 on average per theater. Basically, a viral effect increased by its controversies, (with parents demanding that it be removed from theaters because it gives children nightmares) that has extended its life until the arrival of the Halloween weekend when the production company has considered it a good idea to expand its exhibition to more than 1,000 cinemas in the country.
The numbers themselves are not a record per se, other low-budget horror milestones have become real box office bombs such as ‘The Blair Witch Project’ (The Blair Witch Project, 1999), ‘Hostel’ (2005), ‘SAW’ (2004) or ‘Paranormal Activity’ (2008), but in all those cases there was a study that facilitated wide worldwide distribution and managed to pass through the MPAA filter, which gave them an R rating at best In this case, there is a 138-minute film full of absolutely bizarre gore without any cuts.
This means that it has not been rated, which for distribution purposes in the United States it is like moving a pornographic film, which leaves all the odds against you. An anti-Hollywood proposition, the kind of movie shunned by the establishment with no studio backing and hardly any marketing money. For this reason, the gradual increase in theaters and the brutal content of the film make it a rarity whose success has only been possible thanks to word of mouth and the viral effect of the information.
This, at a time when everything is seen, everything is within reach and at the same time so hidden, indicates how viral trends work, the capriciousness of public attention and how the new scenario of platforms and content without rest has created a layer of indifference that has only been broken with the idea of something truly forbidden, something that the public has chosen and is not based on recipes from big data banksartificial intelligences calculating what you want and the transgressive aroma of old gore for gore.
A premiere in Spain close, but limited
The film is a supernatural slasher that works because of the design of its clown, an old acquaintance of horror fans who knew him from previous installments, who knows how to capture the essence of icons like Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, Chucky, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees or Pennywise himself. And at the same time it brings back the funny dirt of the cinema of Herschell Gordon Lewisin which the gore effect was king, and the blood of the slaughter was pure fun due to the Grand Guignol effect, the more exaggerated the better.
In addition, it keeps the theatrical aspect of those representations with a return to traditional effects done in front of the camera. The production may be rock-rock, but at the same time there is a craftsmanship to the special effect itself that eschews CGI and maintains a ghoulish sense of humor as the clown’s suit is drenched in blood over and over again. And when can it be seen in Spain? Well, at the moment there is only one date available.
It doesn’t look like there will be a theatrical release at the moment, so the only way to see ‘Terrifier 2’ at the moment is in its exhibition at the Terrormolins Festival, which will be screened on November 6, although there are very few tickets available. It is possible that they include it in their online programming, but for now they are the only ones who have dared with the horror film that is causing blisters and generating unexpected profits in the United States.
In Espinof: