terrier 2‘s director explains a scene that was too disturbing for the movie. Horror villain Art the Clown first appeared in the 2013 horror anthology film directed by Damien Leone, titled All Saints Eve. The director went on to make 2016 scare, using the horrific character of David Howard Thornton. The recently released sequel to that film, also directed by Leone, has made headlines for a grassroots Indiegogo campaign that funded the film and the unsettling, suitably terrifying nature of the film.
terrier 2 has received exceptional word of mouth due to reports of viewers passing out and vomiting at screenings due to its gory nature. Art the Clown became infamous in the original Terrier for the shocking ways the slasher handles his victim’s bodies, and terrier 2 reinforces that even further. After terrier’s nauseating hacksaw scene, terrier 2 takes it a step further and includes mutilation, cannibalism and scalping galore. The film even got a shout-out from famed horror writer Stephen King for its impressively gory style, reminiscent of old-school slasher movies. However, one scene idea went too far and was ultimately rejected by the director.
During a conversation with Variety, Leone described a gory scene that convinced everything. While acknowledging that borderless art is a necessity for the franchise and that it is essential to the film’s success not to judge the film, this scene, suggested by art actor Thornton, was too far-fetched even for Leone. Check out what he had to say about the idea below:
“Art the Clown likes to play with people’s guts. There’s the scene where he cuts off a man’s penis. He could have moved on. We had conversations about things he could do once he took the man’s penis off We researched that and joked about it, but then we said, “No, that’s way too far. That’s too distasteful.” [Ideas included] Make a balloon animal out of it, or something like that. But we absolutely cannot. It was actually [Art the Clown actor] Dave’s suggestion. We always try to fool each other a bit and come up with sick things, but that was too far for me.”
Terrifier 2 is still nasty without the cutscene
Even without the truly gruesome prospect of Art making a balloon animal with a severed penis, terrier 2 managed to improve on the original abundance in terms of gross out factor. The killer clown movie offers tried and true slasher content and delivers absolutely extreme violence, with Art’s chilling indifference to normal human anatomy adding another layer to the unsettling nature of the film. The longer-than-expected runtime only adds to the unsettling experience, proving that the micro-budget film offers some variation to the impressive 2022 horror roster simply by being a truly awkward and gory experience.
Adding even more shocking and bloody murders proved to be an effective strategy for Terrier 2, which has become a blockbuster since its release. This is especially impressive when you consider that in 2022, a renaissance year for the horror genre, there was a lot of competition for the indie film, such as Halloween ends, Smile, Barbarian, and Prey for the devil. Critics also praised the second outing for the Terrier franchise, proving that Leone’s efforts have paid off. While horror sequels rarely surpass the original, terrier 2 is a horrific exception, making Leone’s recent tease about a potential terrier 3 even more exciting.
Source: Variety
