We did it, y’all! We went and saw Terrifier 2 so you don’t have to! Sure, Halloween is already a week gone, but Terrifier 2 has been so successful at cinemas that the smart money says it’ll be Art the Clown sliding down your chimney this Christmas, with something for everybody in his black plastic bag full of rusty sharps, powerful sedatives, and ropes for suspending and binding.
Hold on a second — you don’t know about Terrifier 2?? In brief, it’s the little horror movie that could. Slashing through its planned three-day theatrical run in early October, T2 has ridden a noxious cloud of gibbering word of mouth to six weeks (and counting) in theaters, with grosses passing $10mil this week — not bad considering the $250K production budget and nonexistent marketing spend.
Why all the talk? In three words: Art the Clown. He’s the charismatic super-sadist at the film’s center, a compelling mix of Beetlejuice and a Brueghelian demon whose impish pantomime keeps you laughing right up until he starts hacking and slicing — sometimes, confusingly, past that. Art is a pretty magnificent creation, and any shade thrown at T2 will inevitably be aimed at scenes from which Art is absent — for, to be honest, from many of them art is also absent. But honestly, who cares. Viewers need that downtime to recover their wits, and after watching Terrifier 2 in theaters a couple days ago and Terrifier [1] on the internet a couple days before that, we unreservedly recommend these films to anybody.
Anybody who likes vile, unrated, spectacular sadistic violence, that is. For the rest of you, please enjoy the milder pleasures of Stoop Chat #3, and take heart that your brave bloggists have done the difficult leg (and eye and ear) work so that you don’t have to. (Stoop Chat #3 contains mild spoilers, always mentioned immediately before they happen so you can skip or bail.)
Part 1: After We Watched Terrifier [1]
Part 2: After We Watched Terrifier 2
(Image generated by asking an A.I. to deface our pic using the prompt “evil clown”)
Oi! Mate…
Oi! Phlegm[at]hotmail.fr, mate… you subscribed to this newsletter’s pay tier in early September, and your accruing dues just funded a premium brewski that Keith made disappear a few days ago in a lovely little restaurant garden near his home. He has always loved the taste of beer, but Keith acknowledged there was something extra-sweet about this one, and he thought it had something to do with you, Phlegm[at]hotmail.fr, grabbing the tab. Merci.
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Hmm, not a resounding endorsement 😂 I agree, that is far too long for any horror film. They definitely work best at sub ninety minutes. I have questions, though. Is it as cliche-ridden as it sounds? Although, if you were serious about the whole mime aspect, I guess that might give it an edge. Where is he stalking his victims? It’s hard to imagine a mime artist clown blending in with his surroundings. Also, are we talking the usual, hapless teenage victims? Michael Myers branched out a bit over the years, but they’re still your typical horror fodder. I could go and find out for myself I suppose, but I don’t like to walk out of a film before the end and don’t like the idea of being trapped there for 2 hours plus!