While the Terrifier franchise has become a runaway success due to its sickening grindhouse horror and dark humor, Terrifier 2 proves there's more to the story than just a killer clown.
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00:00 While the Terrifier franchise has become a runaway success due to its sickening grindhouse
00:05 horror and dark humor, Terrifier 2 proves there's more to the story than just a killer
00:10 clown.
00:11 This video contains major spoilers for Terrifier 2.
00:15 The folks who met their end at the hands of Art the Clown in Terrifier are little more
00:19 than a line of meat sacks.
00:21 But Lauren Lavera brings a fresh energy to the series with her character Sienna.
00:25 When we first meet her, she's working on her Halloween costume, which resembles the design
00:30 of a winged warrior princess created by her late father.
00:33 It appears to be the one constant in her life, as Sienna is forever being pulled back and
00:37 forth between her imaginative younger brother Jonathan and temper-prone mother Barbara.
00:42 Even when the wings catch fire, she's still determined to do what's necessary to have
00:46 this costume ready for the Halloween party.
00:49 However, everywhere Sienna goes, she's haunted by Art's presence, whether it's in her dreams
00:54 or a very awkward encounter at the costume shop.
00:57 She's even able to see the little pale girl, Art's miniature partner in crime, who's as
01:02 silently sadistic as her adult clown counterpart.
01:06 But with Jonathan being the only other person who can also see the demonic pair, we're left
01:10 wondering what it all means.
01:12 A strong implication is that Sienna's connection to Art lies in the complicated webs of her
01:17 family tree.
01:19 Even with its longer runtime, Terrifier 2 somehow manages to leave more questions than
01:24 its predecessor.
01:25 The difference this time around, however, is that writer-director Damian Leone smartly
01:29 places little hints throughout the film regarding Sienna's family life.
01:33 In the first half, we know that Sienna's father has passed on from a brain tumor, leaving
01:38 behind a sketchbook full of articles about the murders committed by Art, referred to
01:42 as the Miles County Killer, along with sketches of him.
01:45 Through Sienna's friend, Brooke, the audience learns that while Sienna's father did suffer
01:49 from a brain tumor, how he went out paints a very different picture than the one we've
01:53 been led to believe.
01:54 He had been seeing visions he couldn't explain, leading him to become abusive toward his family.
02:07 It stands to chance that Art is Sienna's father, or at least a demonic extension of him, given
02:12 that we never actually see what he looks like in his human form.
02:16 While hiding Sienna's father's identity seems like such a weird decision, especially since
02:20 he's such a major background player in the story, Leone could be laying the groundwork
02:24 for his upcoming third film in the franchise that will elaborate on this further.
02:29 Look no further than the Clown Cafe dream sequence, for example, which likely gives
02:33 greater insight into how Sienna was likely treated as a child.
02:37 Early on in Terrifier 2, Sienna falls asleep while watching a commercial for a place called
02:42 the Clown Cafe, and perhaps the scariest curse is not the visions of Art, or of the kid who
02:47 suspiciously resembles a younger Jonathan eating a cereal of glass, razor blades, and
02:51 bugs, but that catchy tune we can't get out of our heads.
02:55 Sienna wakes up in overalls and pippy long-stocking-esque pigtails, having entered the world of the commercial.
03:02 Everyone in the dreamscape is really excited to see Art make an appearance, with Sienna
03:06 seeming to be the only person who's terrified by him.
03:09 She may not know what's going on, but her terror could be the result of childhood trauma
03:13 at the hands of her dad.
03:15 Art even offers Sienna a box with a still-beating, maggot-infested heart inside, before mercilessly
03:20 killing everyone in the dream.
03:22 From here, like a sequence right out of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Sienna's actions
03:26 in the dream world start affecting the real world.
03:29 The Clown Cafe is a tremendous example of a director having fun in the sandbox, but
03:34 it's the amusement park chase where Leone is really let loose.
03:39 Everyone pretty much assumed that the title "Terrifier" was simply referring to Art
03:42 the Clown.
03:43 However, it's in the climax of Terrifier 2 where we learn that it actually stands for
03:47 a massive haunted house called the Terrifier.
03:51 Even the little pale girl is based on a child named Emily, who went missing within the attraction
03:55 long ago.
03:56 The set is so detailed that the filmmakers probably could have made an entire movie inside
04:00 this location alone.
04:02 Of course, this is where Sienna and Art have their final, almost-faded showdown.
04:06 "They used me to get you here.
04:08 They need you in this place for a reason."
04:10 "Why are you saying that?"
04:12 "It's what Daddy saw."
04:15 Jonathan believes that the warrior princess in their father's sketchbook was always meant
04:18 to be Sienna, foretelling her as the one to defeat the Clown.
04:22 Sienna even goes so far as to become a literal guardian angel as she shields Jonathan from
04:27 Art's hook whips, before fighting back with a vengeance.
04:31 Terrifier 2 has many endings, but the ultimate conclusion arrives when Art stabs Sienna with
04:36 the sword her father left her.
04:38 But after the sword lights up and resurrects her, Sienna uses it to finally decapitate
04:43 Art.
04:44 In the aftermath, the little pale girl collects the Clown's melon and walks off into the darkness.
04:49 Sienna has won the battle against evil, but for how long?
04:53 There are still too many questions regarding her possible family ties to Art, and the post-credits
04:58 scene makes that even more complicated.
05:01 We first saw the character Vicky when she viciously attacks the television talk show
05:05 host Monica Brown at the start of the first Terrifier.
05:08 And now, in Terrifier 2's post-credits scene, all signs point to her being under Art's control,
05:14 with Vicky writing obscenities on the wall of her asylum cell in her own blood.
05:19 A nurse comes in to check on the disfigured woman, only to discover that she's given birth
05:23 to the head of Art the Clown.
05:25 It's not clear how Art can resurrect himself from beyond the grave in the grossest manner
05:30 possible, but as expected, you can't kill slasher villains easily.
05:35 Leone probably didn't have the family dynamic of Terrifier 2 in mind when he was writing
05:39 the first film, but it seems like the conclusion to his epic slasher is only the start of all
05:43 the crazy ideas he has in store.
05:46 Terrifier 2 exceeded expectations in almost every way, accumulating over $15 million at
05:52 the box office against a $250,000 budget.
05:55 Leone has made it explicitly clear that there's a lot more story to tell with everything he's
06:00 set up here, and the film's wild success has guaranteed a Terrifier 3 in the near future.
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