The What Happened to This Horror Movie episode on Terrifier 2 was written by Jaime Vasquez:
Terrifier 2 caused so much controversy during its theatrical run that people reportedly walked out of theaters, vomited, and even passed out. Art the Clown had returned to stir up even more trouble, slashing his way to a bigger budget and an even bigger box office success. But going from humble beginnings to horror phenomenon was a much longer journey than you’d expect.
How did Terrifier 2 go from indie project to massive success? How was the infamous bedroom scene made? And what was so gross it even made David Howard Thornton nope out?
Grab your magic sword. We’re headed to Miles County to find out what happened to Terrifier 2.
Art the Clown first appeared in The 9th Circle, Damien Leone’s 11-minute short film about a woman abducted by the murderous clown for a satanic ritual. The short later became the first of three segments included in the anthology film All Hallows’ Eve, where Art evolved from a supporting villain into the movie’s main antagonist.
In 2016, Art received his own feature film with Terrifier. Compared to its sequel, the original Terrifier embraced a gritty grindhouse aesthetic with a dirtier urban atmosphere. Art himself was also different. Much like Freddy Krueger in his earliest appearances, he balanced occasional dark humor with a colder, more restrained menace.
By Terrifier 2, Art had become far more theatrical. Now openly supernatural, he delights in tormenting his victims, transforming from a deranged killer into something closer to an unstoppable force of evil.
Damien Leone often wrote from around 7 p.m. until 5 a.m., fitting for someone who considers himself a night owl. Although he’d envisioned heroine Sienna Shaw as early as 2008, she wasn’t fully realized until Terrifier 2. Leone wanted a final girl who was both vulnerable and formidable, inspired by Laurie Strode, Ellen Ripley, and Red Sonja. Most importantly, he wanted Art the Clown to finally have an equal. Leone even compared their rivalry to Batman and the Joker.
At two hours and eighteen minutes, Terrifier 2 runs nearly an hour longer than its predecessor. Leone never intended the film to be longer simply for the sake of it. He believed every scene advanced the story, raised the stakes, or developed the characters. Unlike the first film, which he felt contained filler, the sequel’s runtime felt earned.
He also refused to let budget limitations influence the screenplay, allowing himself to imagine a much larger story before figuring out how to make it happen.
Turning those ambitions into reality required money. Leone launched an Indiegogo campaign seeking $50,000 to help finance production.
Horror fans responded enthusiastically, contributing more than $215,000 from nearly 1,000 backers, allowing the production to expand far beyond its original scope.
Lauren LaVera had heard of Terrifier but hadn’t actually seen it when she auditioned for Sienna Shaw. Only afterward did she realize how passionate the fanbase had become.
Once cast, Leone and David Howard Thornton helped prepare her for the physically and emotionally demanding role. Thornton even suggested they meet for lunch before filming so they could build trust, making their brutal onscreen confrontations feel more convincing.
Leone also encouraged LaVera to keep a journal from Sienna’s perspective and create a playlist reflecting the character’s personality before production began.
Elliott Fullam plays Sienna’s younger brother, Jonathan. From their first scene together, Fullam and LaVera establish a believable sibling relationship that becomes the emotional heart of the movie. Their chemistry recalls memorable horror pairings like Andy Barclay and Kyle from Child’s Play 2 or Rachel Carruthers and Jamie Lloyd from Halloween 4.
Kailey Hyman plays Brooke, Sienna’s energetic best friend, bringing warmth and humor before Halloween night descends into chaos. The acid Art throws on Brooke isn’t fictional, either. Fluoroantimonic acid is a real superacid and one of the strongest known chemical acids. Direct exposure would almost certainly be fatal.
Casey Hartnett plays Sienna’s friend Allie, whose shocking death scene would become one of the most talked-about moments in modern horror.
Sarah Voigt makes her horror debut as Barbara Shaw, helping ground the family dynamic despite the character’s flaws.
Amelie McLain portrays the Little Pale Girl. Originally envisioned as an Edgar Allan Poe-inspired ghostly child wearing a sundress and carrying flowers, the design changed after Leone saw Halloween costumes featuring female versions of Art the Clown. The result became one of the franchise’s most unsettling new characters. Leone has also cited Federico Fellini’s segment in the 1968 anthology Spirits of the Dead as an influence.
The film also includes several horror cameos, including Felissa Rose from Sleepaway Camp, Halloween 5 actress Tamara Glynn, and Katie Maguire returning from All Hallows’ Eve as reporter Monica Brown.
Filming began in October 2019 with plans for an October 2020 release. Those plans changed when production shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than waste the downtime, Leone revisited several practical effects and collaborated with David Howard Thornton to improve and expand some of the film’s kill sequences. Production eventually wrapped in July 2021.
The team also raised enough money to build its own private studio in New York, where sequences including the Clown Café and several bedroom scenes were filmed.
The climactic battle was shot inside Philadelphia’s Fright Factory haunted attraction, whose existing sets perfectly matched the filmmakers’ vision.
Terrifier 2 was very much Leone’s personal project. He wrote, directed, edited, handled sound design, and personally created much of the practical effects makeup thanks to his special effects background.
Although LaVera initially loved Sienna’s angel warrior costume, she eventually dreaded wearing it. The rough interior caused painful blisters because it lacked the normal lining found in most costumes.
She also performed nearly all of her own stunts, leaving only a handful to a stunt performer after Leone insisted her safety came first. Her nearly twenty years of martial arts experience, including Taekwondo and Jiu-Jitsu, proved invaluable.
By the end of filming, both LaVera and Thornton were physically and emotionally exhausted. LaVera later said she channeled that exhaustion directly into Sienna’s performance.
David Howard Thornton admitted the fake organs used during filming were so cold, slimy, and disgusting that even he struggled with them. Fortunately, getting into character became much easier once Art’s makeup was complete. Applying Art’s makeup took about ninety minutes on Terrifier 2, a major improvement over the roughly four-hour process required for the original film.
The only complication came from maintaining blood continuity between shooting days.
Samantha Scaffidi faced a much more difficult transformation as Victoria, spending much of her performance nearly blind beneath extensive prosthetics.
Leone originally planned a different ending. Victoria would have developed a grotesque growth on her skull that eventually revealed itself to be Art’s resurrected head. After watching Malignant, however, Leone felt the similarities were too strong and reshot the ending.
Instead, Victoria gives birth to Art’s head, a sequence that’s somehow even more disturbing.
Allie’s death became the defining scene of Terrifier 2. Leone constructed a full-size animatronic version of Casey Hartnett, with crew members hidden beneath the bed controlling its movements while inflatable rubber gloves simulated breathing. Hartnett’s real eye was digitally composited into one shot to enhance the illusion.
The sequence actually took two attempts. The original version was abandoned, and the replacement scene required two weeks to complete after production resumed following the pandemic shutdown.
Leone later described it as the most complicated sequence in the entire film. David Howard Thornton was reportedly so disturbed by the animatronic dummy that even he nearly lost his composure.
Terrifier 2 premiered at FrightFest in London on August 29, 2022, before opening in U.S. theaters on October 6. Initially scheduled for only one weekend, the film kept expanding after repeatedly reaching the domestic box office Top 10.
The film generated enormous publicity after reports circulated that viewers were vomiting, fainting, and walking out during screenings. Leone laughed off accusations that the stories were manufactured marketing, saying he wished he’d been clever enough to invent them.
By the end of its run, Terrifier 2 earned approximately $15.8 million worldwide against a largely crowdfunded budget of around $250,000, making it one of the most profitable horror films of 2022.
Despite its controversy, Terrifier 2 earned strong reviews. Critics praised Lauren LaVera’s breakout performance, the film’s dark humor, and its ambitious expansion of the franchise, while acknowledging its extreme violence.
The lengthy runtime divided reviewers, with some considering it excessive and others arguing every minute was justified.
Even Stephen King weighed in, posting: “Terrifier 2, grossin’ you out old school.”
Mike Flanagan also coined the term “MegaSlasher” to describe the film, further cementing its growing reputation within the horror community.
Art returned in Terrifier 3 with an even larger budget, stronger reviews, and an even bigger box office performance. Another sequel now feels inevitable, and Damien Leone has already confirmed more is coming.
From an independently financed passion project to one of modern horror’s defining franchises, Terrifier has become one of the genre’s greatest success stories. Art the Clown and Sienna Shaw may not be Michael Myers and Laurie Strode just yet, but they’re well on their way. If the first Terrifier introduced Art the Clown, Terrifier 2 transformed him into a horror icon.
And that, my friends, is what happened to Terrifier 2.
A couple of previous episodes of this show can be seen below. For more, check out the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel—and don’t forget to subscribe!