Art the Clown is back in town, and boy is he back with a vengeance. Directed by Damien Leone, Terrifier 2 picks up right where the first film left off, only this time, Art has his devilish sights set on fresh meat.

Starring Lauren LaVera as Sienna, and Elliott Fullam as her brother Jonathan, the two siblings are haunted by the silent clown on Halloween.

Terrifier 2 is a scary movie for the desensitized generation that feels like they’ve seen it all done a hundred times before. This gore-soaked gut-wrencher captured the spectacular peculiarities of Art the Clown as introduced in the first film while injecting new ideas and blood into the franchise. Check your feelings and stomach contents at the door: you’re in for a show.

Outstanding Performances

The first thing to be celebrated about this film is the terrific performances of the leading cast. Lauren LaVera is transformative in her role as Sienna, with her performance running the gambit from anxiety-filled worrier to powerhouse super-beast.

When our final girl kicks into warrior mode, her face seems to change shape, completely transforming; a feat achieved by fantastic acting, magnified by gorgeous costume design.

Not only did this film create a new face of evil, but it created an iconic force of good as well. Sienna is a paragon of badassery, and her Valkyrie costume and makeup is a look I see gracing many a future Halloween party.

David Howard Thornton also put on an iconic performance in his role of Art the Clown. In one shot, he is a looming, ominous figure, and in the next shot, he’s blowing a bicycle horn and wearing sunflower glasses. He has this unique brand of contained insanity, and a big part of why that works so well is the way that David Howard Thornton embodies the Art persona.

Special recognition for this role is deserved since so much relies upon pure body language to get ideas across- everything must be exaggerated. It can be challenging to silently convey a wide array of emotions in full makeup without seeming like a cartoon character. Yet David Howard Thornton does just that. There is never a moment where Art the Clown feels like a joke or an actor in makeup. Thornton is Art and warrants praise for executing this role that operates on such a delicate balance.

Art the Clown is an Icon

Art the Clown tends to be polarizing. Either you love him, or you hate him. But no one can deny: Art the Clown has cemented his legacy among the horror icons. He is funny, versatile, and unequivocally terrifying.

Though Art is demonic in nature, the way he brutally shreds people apart with nonchalant glee and a lack of remorse feels like a cold reflection of the very things that humanity is capable of. This display of callousness and self-gratification is reminiscent of the same evil in real monsters like The Hillside Stranglers or Jeffrey Dahmer. It’s a reminder that evil walks among us. For this reason, of all the horror icons, I’m most scared of the guy in an Art the Clown costume.

Also, Art has no standard method by which he kills. Like a good box of cereal, each kill has a surprise inside, as he slays indiscriminately with a multitude of weapons in various ways. Sometimes he indulges in some psychological torment first; other times, he gets right to business. He is an unpredictable monster.

In Art’s unpredictability, there were many opportunities for creativity in his kills, and Damien Leone seized every opening. Heart munching, hand splitting, and acid throwing are just some of the activities that took place in the film, and those are just the ones that I feel safe mentioning without getting us demonetized. Art the Clown has no hang-ups about throwing salt in an open wound, and Terrifier 2 is unrelenting in its presentation of gore from start to finish.

Unanswered Questions in Terrifier 2

One of the downfalls of modern horror cinema is the need for every single question to be answered. There’s magic in the art of storytelling that feels lost in many horror films but is recaptured in movies like Terrifier 2.

There seem to be unspoken rules to the universe in which Art the Clown operates. Right now, there’s room for interpretation, and this sort of film generates discussion. It’s a film that, after you watch it, you want to discuss and dissect, so it keeps you thinking about it. Try as you may to suppress the horrific images you’ve just seen; you can’t entirely dismiss the imagery because of all the nagging questions.

Terrifier 2 is a genuinely scary watch and a great time. I am raising my tiny Art the Clown hat in salute of Damien Leone, Lauren LaVera, and David Howard Thornton for a job well done.

Watch Terrifier 2 in a theater near you or stream exclusively on Screambox later this fall.