Parents' Guide to Terrifier 2

The heinous Art the Clown returns in this intensely gory sequel that tries much harder -- and is much smarter -- than the original movie. For one thing, it uses its 138-minute running time to establish more memorable characters. It seems as if writer-director Damien Leone paid attention to the reviews of Terrifier -- including critiques about its wandering/nonexistent storyline and characters -- and knuckled down to do better on Terrifier 2. Right away, it's easy to see what a great new character Sienna is; her warrior costume is only half of it. There's plenty of downtime to see how she interacts with her family and friends, arguing, talking, laughing, etc. We know who she is, and human life starts to matter more here than it did in the first film.

Plus, the movie is clever enough to ask why people like and watch slasher movies. It has several subtle moments of sly commentary, such as when a young boy sees Art holding a severed head in a Spirit Halloween-type store and says "cool!" Characters also think it's cool when Art serves them candy from a (different) severed head, which they obviously believe is fake. Earlier movie slashers like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Leatherface have become iconic, but Art arguably goes much, much further with his killings. There's so much more blood and gore. Art doesn't even seem evil; he grins and takes great joy in his work. So where do we draw the line between being entertained and being horrified? Terrifier 2 certainly takes a strong stomach to watch, but it's also surprisingly thoughtful.