In 2018, a new horror icon was born in the form of Art the Clown. Now, he has returned for seconds!

Sienna Shaw is a young woman who has been plagued with strange nightmares. When her brother mentions possibly dressing up as Art the Clown, who killed eight people a few years ago, she and her mother are in agreement that it isn’t happening. Soon enough, the nightmares get stronger and it gets to where Sienna begins to dream of seeing Art himself.

However, the nightmares are about to become real as Art the Clown has indeed returned. He begins a new killing spree. As Sienna and her brother come to grips with the return of Art, they soon discover something shocking. They discover that they are somehow connected to the deadly clown. When Sienna goes to a Halloween party dressed up as an original character her late father created, she soon finds herself in danger as Art has kidnapped her brother. Sienna must now confront Art and fight for both her and her brother’s lives.

Originally appearing in the 2013 anthology All Hallows Eve, the character of Art the Clown would be iconized in the film Terrifier. It was there where we saw Art in full killer mode, unleashing some of the greatest kills in modern horror. It was fated that we would get to see Art return for a second round. From the pandemic to crowdfunding, it took some time, but it is safe to safe this is definitely worth the wait.

We see Art 90 seconds into the film, and he does what he does best, killing his victim in the most gruesome fashion. As a matter of fact, when the film was announced, writer-director Damien Leone promised more gruesome kills and succeeded in just that. If you thought the kill scenes of the original film were undaunting, you have not seen anything yet. Every kill scene in this film starts on one level of gruesome and just moves up the ladder in terms of gore. In fact, one of the kill scenes is based on an actual victim of Jack the Ripper. Leone did his research and leave it up to Thornton to unleash the unholy terror on this particular victim. It is perhaps one of the most shocking moments of the film, if not THE scene everyone will talk about.

However, in a very interesting twist, we have a protagonist who could be Art’s archnemesis and she comes in the form of Sienna. Played by actress and martial artist Lauren LaVera, this film allows her to showcase both her acting and action skills. As Sienna, we see LaVera finding herself in a strange dream where she meets the killer clown, and it leads to a fire in her bedroom. With the help of her brother, we learn they have some strange connection to Art, who also finds a partner in a girl clown who looks as insane as he does. It is unclear where this girl came from, but it could be theorized she may have been a past victim of his. The throwdown between LaVera and Thornton is exciting to watch as Thornton did all of his own stunts here and LaVera was able to use her skills on screen.

Terrifier 2 is one of those sequels that outdoes the original in practically every way. The film runs at almost 2 and a half hours, it has a great story, and the kill scenes are nothing short of brilliant. One of the best horror films of the year for sure.

WFG RATING: A+

Cinedigm, Screambox, and Bloody Disgusting present a Dark Age Cinema/Fuzz on the Lens production. Director: Damien Leone. Producers: Phil Falcone, Jason Leavy, Michael Leavy, and Steven Della Salla. Writer: Damien Leone. Cinematography: George Steuber. Editing: Damien Leone.

Cast: Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, David Howard Thornton, Sarah Voigt, Kailey Hyman, Casey Hartnett, Chris Jericho, Felissa Rose, Amelie McLain.

Cinedigm and Iconic Events will release the film in theaters on October 6.