Dr. K's Waiting Room

Released: 6 October 2022
Director: Damien Leone
Distributor: Cinedigm / Iconic Events Releasing
Budget: $250,000
Stars: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, Sarah Voigt, Kailey Hyman, and Casey Hartnett

The Plot:
After being mysteriously resurrected, the demonic Art the Clown (Thornton) stalks grieving Sienna Shaw (LaVera) on Halloween night, unaware that Sienna may hold the key to stopping his senseless slaughter for good.

The Background:
The fear of clowns (also known as Coulrophobia) is a surprisingly common trope in both horror and everyday life thanks to fictional “Evil Clowns” like Stephen King’s Pennywise and twisted killers like John Wayne Gacy. Writer director Damien Leone tapped into this fear with his short film, The 9th Circle (2008), a which included a prototype of Art the Clown (Mike Giannelli). Despite his small role, Art proved popular enough for Leone to revisit the character in his subsequent films, Terrifier (2011) and All Hallows’ Eve (2013). Seeing Art as a chance to create a truly iconic slasher villain for a modern audiences. Terrifier made a modest profit and attracted largely positive reviews that praised David Howard Thornton’s performance as Art as much as the stunning gore. Dissatisfied with some elements of the film, Leone sought to craft a truly captivating and well-rounded protagonist for the sequel, while also expanding the scope of the franchise. Despite the discomfort of her Valkyrie costume, Lauren LaVera enjoyed her time on setand worked closely with Leone to give Art a heroic counterpart. With an increased budget thanks to a successful Indiegogo campaign, Leone worked around the COVID-19 pandemic to depict a prolonged and arduous murder scene that attracted much controversy. Despite some criticisms regarding the unnecessary brutality towards women and reports of audiences vomiting or fleeing screenings, Terrifier 2 was a critical and commercial success, with reviews praising LaVera’s nuanced and appealing protagonist as much as Thornton’s continued physical commitment to the killer clown. Sweeping the 2023 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, Terrifier 2’s success more than justified another sequel in 2024 and unquestionably established that Leone had a franchise on his hands, for better or worse.

The Review:
Terrifier 2 picks up right where the first one ended. After terrorising Miles County, Art the Clown shot himself in the head to avoid arrest, leaving a sole survivor – the horribly mutilated Victoria Heyes (Samantha Scaffidi) – confined to a mental hospital after going mad from the experience. Despite his fatal injury, Art bursts to life and attacks coroner, Seth Bolton (Cory DuVal), slicing his throat, ripping his eye out to temporarily “replace” his own, and finally bashing his head in with a surgical mallet. Garbed in a blood-soaked clown outfit, Art retrieves his bin bag full of “toys” and heads to a laundromat to freshen up, silently giggling over the bad news in the local paper and being approached by a mysterious cherub dressed almost identically to him. This “Little Pale Girl” (Amelie McLain) appears to be an unidentified demonic spirit, one only Art or those close to him can see, and it’s implied she causes his otherwise inexplicable resurrection. The Little Pale Girl appears throughout Terrifier 2, often sporting glowing eyes and imitating voices, and is seemingly a spiritual guide to the murderous mime as she encourages and somewhat directs his actions. The film then jumps ahead to the following Halloween Eve, when the fallout from Art’s killing spree is still felt throughout Miles County. Jonathan Shaw (Fullam) is strangely obsessed with Art, who’s presumed dead but also missing, to the point where he wishes to dress up as Art for Halloween, a decision his overworked and short-tempered mother, Barbara (Voigt), vehemently shoots down. Jonathan’s macabre imagination and fascination with serial killers disturbs his older sister, Sienna, though her concerns fall on deaf ears since her mother is more concerned with work and expressing her grief by scolding her children for any right- or wrongdoings.

The Shaws are in turmoil following the death of their patriarch, a talented artist who once envisioned his daughter as a Valkyrie warrior before succumbing to an unnamed disease. While Sienna remembers her father fondly, spending months constructing an elaborate recreation of her father’s drawing to wear to a Halloween party and “feel close” to him, it’s heavily implied that her father underwent a dramatic character change as his disease worsened. He barely knew who he was by the end and is said to be abusive towards Sienna, which perhaps is what drove him to drown his sorrows and kill himself in a car wreck. Either way, the Shaws deal with their grief in different ways: Barbara focuses on work and has a short fuse, Jonathan veers down a more morbid path, and Sienna focuses on her costume project. Having already struggled with her mental health and still relying on pills to curb her anxiety attacks and nightmares, Sienna is barely holding together; all she has is her project and the ornate sword her father gifted to her. Well, that and her friends, Brooke (Hyman) and Allie (Hartnett), who treat her like an adopted sister. While the three are close, Sienna’s condition and trauma keeps a wedge between them. She’s easily triggered by talk of gore and Brooke later chastises her for being so uptight and doom-and-gloom all the time. Sienna’s life is made more difficult by Jonathan, who lands in hot water when visions of Art and the Little Pale Girl see him reprimanded at school, aggravating his already borderline abusive mother. Haunted by ominous dreams of Art and his “Clown Café”, Sienna’s mental state is often questioned, especially when her room spontaneously combusts, to the point where few share her concerns when she sees Art in the flesh. While the main protagonists victims of Terrifier were largely forgettable, Sienna is a far more well-rounded character. Vulnerable, beautiful, and creative, she’s determined to make an impression with her costume and goes to great lengths to try and keep Jonathan safe by the finale.

After going through their father’s sketchbook, Jonathan surmises that he was aware of Art and depicted Sienna as angelic warrior to combat the evil clown. Her outfit echoes this, painting her as a Valkyrie and setting her up as a flawed and suffering representation of light versus Art’s twisted evil. Focusing on Sienna and her family strife was a fantastic idea; it removes some of the grimy “Grindhouse” atmosphere of the first film but gives us someone to sympathise with and root for. Unfortunately, Allie is just kind of…there…empathetic to Sienna’s troubles but struggling to fully relate to them. Brooke is much more outspoken and reckless, snorting coke with her boyfriend, Jeff (Charlie McElveen). Still, they exude more personality than their predecessors and we care about them by proxy since they’re close to Sienna rather than simply being throwaway victims. However, Elliott Fullam seems out of his depth, portraying Jonathan as a weird, obnoxious, conflicted brat who hyperventilates his way through most scenes and spends most of his time riling everyone up or wailing on the floor. It’s clear that he and Sienna have a bond, one that’s frayed since their father died, and they come together nicely in the end when Art kidnaps the boy to lure in his sister. To be fair, it’s no wonder Jonathan and even Sienna are messed up with a mother like Amanda. She can barely hold herself together to care for her kids and is far more likely to strike them than encourage or comfort them. Amanda’s inability to keep her cool sees her literally lose her head courtesy of Art, further scarring Jonathan when he finds the clown he’s been obsessed with stuffing mashed potatoes into the remains of his mother’s head! The Little Pale Girl callously uses Sienna’s family against her, imitating Jonathan’s voice and even assuming Amanda’s form just to trap and taunt the girl, and learning of their condition only serves to further agonise the already suffering Sienna, who’s literally put through hell in order to realise her father’s destiny for her.

While Art was previously portrayed as a disturbing but nonetheless human figure, he’s now got one foot in the supernatural. Reborn not as a zombie or some undead spirit, Art retains the same twisted sense of humour and sadistic streak as before, but we spend more time with him between kills. We see him swiping supplies from Seth’s office, washing his clothes with mirth, constructing new weapons, and express visible disgust and frustration when his prey fights back. Art becomes fixated on Sienna, possibly because they seem to share a strange mental connection (Sienna often dreams about or has visions of Art, for example). When he finally gets his hands on Sienna, Art doesn’t rip her to pieces like his other victims; he brutally beats her and leaves her alive. Indeed, Art is far more elaborate with his kills this time, stalking and taunting them with his clown-like antics and then drawing out their deaths with a cruel malice. Art is functionally superhuman now, shrugging off gunshots, spiked implements to the head, and easily ripping off limbs and through chest cavities. He remains vulnerable, however, being slowed by weapons, bleeding, and being temporarily subdued by a sawn-off shotgun. However, he returns each time, spurred on by the Pale Little Girl, and eager for his victims to scream in agony. When Jonathan lays unconscious at his feet, for example, Art is visibly disappointed and resorts to chewing on the boy’s ankle to hear his screams. As his victims scream and bawl, Art gleefully mocks them, his silent laughter and crocodile tears mirroring the very real pain and suffering of his prey, who are forced to endure more agony than appears humanly and scientifically possible. We also get a few titbits about a possible backstory for Art: he holes up in an abandoned theme park, specifically the Terrifier fun house where it’s said the Pale Little Girl died some years prior, and it’s almost implied that he was somehow brought to life by Sienna’s father’s drawings. Naturally, Terrifier 2 doesn’t go into detail with this but the Pale Little Girl’s presence, Art’s seemingly supernatural edge, and the breadcrumbs offered by Sienna and Jonathan certainly go a long way to suggest that there’s more to Art than simply being a mute, killer clown.

The Nitty-Gritty:
The visual and narrative upgrade from Terrifier to Terrifier 2 is both impressive and very welcome. While the first was a grimy, shocking piece of splatter-gore, the second is a far “cleaner” and more mainstream horror offering. However, while its indie, Grindhouse-inspired roots may have been downgraded, Terrifier 2 remains a disturbing and twisted watch. The increased budget clearly allowed Damien Leone to utilise better camera, better lighting, more elaborate gore effects, and far more visually interesting locations. I liked the gritty, back alley setting of the first film, but it did become stagnant at times and very much felt like Terrifier was merely an appetiser for what Leone and Thornton are truly capable of. Terrifier 2 opts for a suburban setting for a disturbing amalgamation of the suburban horror of John Carpenter’s Halloween (Carpenter, 1978) and the “Gallio” horror cinema. In Terrifier, the horror wasn’t so much the over-the-top gore but more the randomness of Art’s attacks; he seemingly picked victims at random and was unpredictable. That unpredictability is still present in Terrifier 2, only now locking yourself in your home isn’t enough. Art simply forces his way into Allie’s house, and the Shaw’s, brutalising his victims and cropping up in a laundromat and Halloween store without a care in the world. Art’s presence is unnerving even considering the spooky season since he acts so aloof; even him trying on goofy sunglasses and honking horns at Sienna is enough to rattle her. This is given a raw edge through Sienna’s visions and nightmares, where Art massacres a children’s television show as a figure of mirth warped into a violent psychopath. Just researching Art and seemingly being fascinated by his legend is enough to cause Jonathan to see the Little Pale Girl, though Terrifier 2 suggests there’s more to this and some mysterious link between the Shaws and Art since Barbara is incensed by the mere mention of him and Sienna is seemingly positioned as Art’s polar opposite.

Art is now obsessed with raking flesh and tends to target eyes, possibly because he’s missing one at the start. He pulls out Seth’s eye, stabs the Halloween store clerk (Johnath Davis) in the orbital area with a broken bottle, and slices a scalpel through Allie’s eye to start her torturous death. No one is spared Art’s wrath, even an exhausted laundromat patron (Thomas Smith) gets a broken mop jammed into his head just because he woke up! Art’s bag of tricks has been expanded; he carries corrosive acid that he tosses in Brooke’s face and a sawn-off shotgun to blow Amanda away. Art also brutalises the melting Brooke with a custom-made nail bat and other implements, used a tommy gun and blowtorch in Sienna’s dream, and even stabs Jeff in the dick and hacks it off to taunt Brooke! Art lashes Sienna and Jonathan with a barbed whip, slashes them with a scalpel, and hacks off the clerk’s head with a rusty hatchet! However, Allie takes the prize for the film’s most memorable and morbidly fascinating kill! When Art breaks into her house, he chases her to her bedroom and slashes her eye, then savagely descalps her with a pair of scissors before slicing into her back to expose her ribcage. He then wrenches off one arm, splits the other down the middle, and dumps bleach and acid over her as she whimpers, bleeding on the floor. Art then tears half her face off and mutilates her to the muscle and bone when Allie’s mother (Amy Russ) returns home. Despite being little more than a flayed corpse, Allie still has the strength to call for her mother, leaving the woman a screaming wreck as Art silent cackles away, Allie’s flesh still stuck in his teeth! It is, honestly, a painfully disturbing sequence of brutality that I just cannot turn away from. The sheer ruthless nature of Allie’s suffering trumps anything, even that kill, from the first movie and certainly suggests that Art exudes an aura that prolongs his victim’s suffering and empowers him, since he clearly gets off on their agony!

After suffering a panic attack thanks to her condition and Brooke spiking her drink, Sienna heads home with Brooke and Jeff. However, Sienna forces them to redirect to the abandoned funfair when Jonathan calls for help. This is, however, a trap laid by Art and the Little Pale Girl. As Sienna searches for her brother, Art castrates Jeff in an attack that’ll make your eyes water and brutalises Brooke, ripping out and partially eating her heart. Although Sienna valiantly attacks Art, she gets cut up and beaten unconscious, though this is where Terrifier 2 loses much of its momentum as the final act descends into an extended chase and attack sequence where Sienna and Jonathan run around looking for each other. Art delights in cutting Jonathan with a scalpel, shrugs off having his own bat lodged in his skull, and maniacally whips both Shaw siblings, gouging their flesh and repeatedly throttling Sienna. Although Jonathan tries to help, Sienna ends up stabbed in the abdomen with her own sword and drops down a mysterious hole from which the screams of Art’s victims echo. Transported to the Clown Café, Sienna ultimately drowns in a glass chamber. While Art feasts on Jonathan’s ankles, Sienna hears his screams and is mysteriously resurrected by her father’s blade, which heals her stomach wound (though not her others) and allows her to claw out of whatever part of Hell spawned Art and the Little Pale Girl. Sienna attacks Art with the magical sword and fatally wounds him. Like the last film, Art offers no resistance to this; indeed, he not only joyfully offers his neck but also seems to nod in respect for Sienna’s strength. Full of righteous vengeance, Sienna hacks off Art’s head but is too traumatised and injured to stop the Little Pale Girl taking it. A mid-credits scene sees an agonised Victoria Heyes spewing vile liquids from her nether-regions. Drawn to the normally docile patient’s cries, Victoria’s nurse (Leah Voysey) finds she has written curses and a declaration of love to Art on the walls with her blood and faeces. Oh, and Victoria is also seemingly possessed by the Little Pale Girl, since she sports the same glowing eye…and chortles maniacally as she cradles Art’s newly born severed head!

The Summary:
Terrifier 2 certainly improves on many of the flaws and shortcomings of its predecessor. Not only is the scope widened, but the locations and effects greatly benefit from the additional budget, to say nothing of Rostislav Vaynshtok and Paul Wiley’s synth-style score. The greatest trump card Terrifier 2 has over the first film is in Sienna. Lauren LaVera captivates with a natural beauty, charismatic appeal, and sympathetic vulnerability. She may get the lion’s share of screen time and characterisation, but it greatly benefits the film and her friends, while less developed characters, still add to her plight. Terrifier 2 does a decent job of exploring how grief affects different people, from Amanda focusing on work and lashing out at her kids to Jonathan’s odd obsession with serial killers like Art. Sienna choses to focus on her artistic expression to remember the good times she had with her father and feel closer to him, honouring his memory with her attractive (but clearly uncomfortable) Valkyrie outfit. As a pure, almost angelic figure, she’s perfectly positioned as Art’s archenemy and opposite, being traumatised and insecure where he’s bold and colourful. While Art’s mystery is only deepened here, with supernatural and potentially demonic elements being weaved into his character and him showing a burning rage at times, he’s also more unhinged and brutal than ever! Terrifier 2 turns the dial up to twenty-one, never mind eleven (!), with its deranged and sadistic kills that border on torture porn. It’s shockingly gruesome seeing Art maim, hack, and assault his victims and the film certainly isn’t forgetting its Grindhouse roots in these long, uncomfortable sequences that will have you questioning your obsession with horror. While this is enough to satisfy me as a horror fan, and to rate Terrifier 2 as the superior compared to its sequel, everything about this film justifies this rating since its so much more polished compared to the original. Whereas Terrifier seemed like an expensive proof of concept, Terrifier 2 has an actual plot, a developed main character, and adds a touch more intrigue to its inhuman villain. It feels less like a random assortment of grimy, shocking gore and more like a more complete and nuanced movie. It’s still not for everyone, the third act drags a bit and squanders the momentum of the second half, and some may even be offended by its content, but Terrifier 2 was a far more enjoyable experience for me as a film and horror fan and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to take a dive bomb into the more extreme end of the genre.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Do you think Terrifier 2 surpasses the original? What did you think to the additional supernatural elements given to Art? Were you also a fan of Sienna, her eye-catching outfit, and her position as Art’s reluctant opposite? What do you think is happening with the Little Pale Girl? Do you agree that the gore was far more brutal this time, or did you find it too unrealistic? Are you scared of clowns and, if so, why? Which of the Terrifier films is your favourite and how are you celebrating horror this month? Share your thoughts about Terrifier 2 in the comments, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other horror content!