The Terrifier 2 Bedroom Scene Explained- Is Damien Leone’s Art The Clown’s Brutality Necessary?

Damien Leone’s splatterfest, Terrifier 2, has been gaining plenty of buzz recently due to its seemingly over-glorification of violence and gore presented throughout its lengthy 138-minute runtime. The film has particularly gained a lot of traction after there were several reports of moviegoers vomiting and passing out while seeing the flick in cinemas. But is Terrifier 2 simply a collection of brutal kills and a celebration of blood, guts, and gore, or is there more meat to the story at hand? Here is your cheat sheet for Terrifier 2 Explained.

The Story of Terrifier 2

Narratively, Terrifier 2 is a direct continuation of 2017’s Terrifier and immediately picks up where its predecessor left off, which may seem a little jarring at first to people who haven’t seen the first film. However, this isn’t an inherent issue as the film does give viewers sufficient context to key plot points that occurred from the previous movie in its very long runtime.

Clocking in at nearly two and a half hours long, Terrifier 2 is probably one of the longest slasher films in recent memory. That being said, the film wastes absolutely no time by indulging you in its brutality with an intensely graphic opening scene within the first 5 minutes of the film. Terrifier 2 lets you into its world almost immediately, and you know exactly what kind of film you’re in for from the very first kill. It is gory, bloody, and nasty as hell.

One of the many complaints of 2017’s Terrifier was that it didn’t quite have an actual plot and was more of a showcase of how visceral Art the Clown can be. Fans would be glad to know that, unlike that film, Terrifier 2 does actually have a plot, and the film takes its time developing its characters, particularly the character of Sienna Shaw, who’s excellently played by Lauren LaVera. A lot of the film is devoted to making the audience connect with Sienna. The film also spends some time building the mythology behind Art the Clown, so much so that nearly half of the film’s runtime is dedicated to building the world and its characters. This is a smart decision that serves the film well.

The Terrifier 2 Infamous Bedroom Scene

One scene, in particular, that’s been making rounds all over social media is the extremely graphic bedroom scene. It’s certainly one of the most grotesque torture scenes ever put on film, and it’s easy to see why people find it hard to sit through.

Before the intensely brutal 3-minute long scene, we see Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton reprising his much-celebrated role) paying Allie (Casey Hartnett) a visit where he poses as an adult trick-or-treater. Taken by surprise, Allie recognizes the creepy clown as she had previously met him at a costume shop and refuses to give him any candy. However, Art persists and begins banging on her front door, which pisses Allie off. In a moment of anger, Allie opens the door and throws some candy at him, and glances into his black garbage bag, revealing his bloody tools. This startles her, causing her to immediately lock the doors.

Later that night, Allie finds her house broken into by the demonic clown himself. He chases her around the house, leading to the bedroom – and this is the start of her inevitable demise. Art begins by scalping her as blood gushes down her face. He then twists her arm and rips it out of her body, then chops her breasts off. What makes this an uncomfortable watch is that you hear Allie’s agonizing screams throughout the entire scene, and you feel exactly what she’s going through. The scene continues with Art proceeding to break the bones of her legs and crush her feet, then seemingly leaves the room.

With the brief moment alone that she has, Allie tries her best to crawl over to her dresser to grab her phone to call for help. The scene makes you really root for her, and she’s merely fingertips away from her phone before Art barges into the room once more. This time, however, he pours a generous amount of salt onto his hands and rubs it into the bleeding, exposed flesh of Allie. And he doesn’t stop there, either. He proceeds to pour some bleach on her. Later that night, Allie’s mother comes home, only to find her precious daughter skinned, mutilated, and displayed on the bed like an exhibition piece by Art the Clown.

Now you might ask why was such a visceral scene like this necessary. Or why did the filmmakers decide to show us such brutality in excruciating detail? Well, the answer to that question is pretty simple – this is a movie that’s made for the gorehounds. Horror is essentially escapism, and scenes like this, while tough to sit through, sometimes provide a sense of comfort. Although this may sound counter-intuitive, horror does indeed provide comfort to people.

The Gore of Terrifier 2

Don’t mistake this film for being just another slasher flick because when it’s time to get bloody, it gets extremely bloody. Due to the grindhouse nature of the film, the gore presented onscreen is a reflection of that genre of film. Thus, it isn’t necessarily super realistic per se. As per movies of this ilk, that isn’t a detriment to the overall experience.

Now, this is in no way meant to demean the impressive and incredible practical effects done by the special effects crew behind the film, as there is a certain charm to seeing latex prosthetics being ripped open with copious amounts of fake blood gushing out of it – it is undoubtedly miles better than any computer-generated effect that’s been overused to death in recent years! But it does take away some of the tension as you’re watching the film, which in this particular film, might be a good thing.

Latex and makeup aside, Terrifier 2 does put the age-old question back at the forefront of many filmgoers’ minds – was it necessary to showcase that much brutal violence on screen? The answer to that question may vary from person to person, but in this film’s defense, it’s safe to say that, yes, that level of brutality was necessary. It’s always wise to know the type of movie you’re watching before going in, and in that regard, Terrifier 2 is a celebration and homage to the slashers of the ‘80. You could tell that each and everyone who worked on this film was a fan of those types of movies, and the film was made for those fans in particular.

Terrifier 2 makes it a point to showcase the brutality of Art the Clown without ever shying away from his kills. This supernatural freak enjoys torturing his victims and, as his name suggests, treats them as art projects. 

Old School Meets Art School

In an interview with Dread Central, writer-director Damien Leone (who also serves as editor, sound designer, and special and visual effects artist) said that he was inspired by a picture of one of Jack the Ripper’s victims where he had the corpse of the victim displayed on a bed for a murder sequence in the film. Admittedly, this sequence was probably the most intense sequence in the entire film, rivaling the infamous “hacksaw” scene from the first movie. It’s hard to sit through, yet so well done that you can’t look away, like a car crash.

There is a lot to be liked in Terrifier 2, but the runtime is certainly not one of them. Many scenes could have benefited from having a few seconds shaved off here and there, which would’ve kept the edit tighter and improved the pacing of the film.

The film also tries to expand on the mythology of Art the Clown by introducing supernatural elements to the character, but it isn’t detailed enough. As a result, it can confuse the audience. Perhaps the filmmakers are planning on expanding that in a sequel. With the well documented success of the film, that’s probably the case. As it stands, though, those plot points don’t really make much sense. But then again, having things make sense in a film like this might be a far cry.

In summary, Terrifier 2 absolutely delivers on what it set out to do. It’s bloody, it’s campy, and just a whole lot of fun. At the time of writing this, the film has grossed over $5.2 million against a mere $250 thousand budget, proving to be an enormous success by any standard. It’s also proof that you don’t need a huge budget to create successful effects. Art the Clown may well be on his way to becoming the most iconic horror villain of the 2010s,’ and that is certainly a win for the horror genre.