This is the opposite of slow-burn quiet horror. This is edgelord splatterpunk for those who like to see every drop of vibrant viscera from a blunt weapon scattering teeth and tissue across the camera. This is for those who like slow eye-gouging and impalings and executions to make Mortal Kombat characters wince. This is for those who might wonder upon entering a room, how each and every innocuous item could be used to commit acts of atrocity. This movie provides the answers spearheaded (along with every other available weapon and random instrument) by a grinning parody of scary clowns named Art aspiring to reach iconic status. Horror as defined exists to elicit fear or disgust, and this film series exists in the latter end of that spectrum. Is it scary? No. Quite the opposite. It's actually brimming with hilarity if you’re willing to ride the slippery slide of blood, offal and scatological excess. It is also an endurance test of visual atrocity, quite lovingly rendered in technicolor, great practical effects, and throwback 80’s slasher aesthetic. It was no surprise to learn this entire series is expanded from a 9 minute short, which feels a far more justified runtime than two feature-length films (and more impending). However, credit due, the director listened to detractors from the first film and directly addressed the first film’s failings, most specifically about the lack of characterization, writing and depth. Here, the director provides an interesting and engaging protagonist with understandable motivations, and expands periphery characters into having actual baseline function. This is by all measurement a vastly superior sequel to the original, but how that particular metric rates will vary individually. If anything above elicits curiosity, interest or appeal, then you will likely find this fun and ‘enjoyable’ especially in the company of fellow aficionados and copious inebriants. Under the right conditions and the right audience, this could arguably be the most fun theater experience of the year. For those who prefer a different flavor of horror, this film will likely disgust and truthfully: bore once the desensitization kicks in.
Terrifier 2 (2022)