Terrifier 2 director Damien Leone responds to Stephen King's high praise for the bloody horror sequel. Leone's latest installment in his Terrifier franchise released in select theaters on October 6. David Howard Thornton returns as Art the Clown, starring alongside Lauren LaVera, Elliott Fullam, Sarah Voigt, Kailey Hyman, and Samantha Scaffidi, who is also reprising her role of Vicky from the original 2016 film. Terrifier 2 is set one year after the events of the first movie, following Art the Clown as he targets Sienna Shaw (LaVera) and her younger brother Jonathan (Fullam) on Halloween night and goes on a savage blood-soaked murder spree.
Since its release, Terrifier 2 seems to be surpassing the first film in popularity. Not only is the gory splatter film seeing success at the box office, but it has also been met with generally favorable reviews from critics. The Terrifier sequel also earned a badge of honor for a horror film with reports of audience members passing out and vomiting in theaters. Terrifier 2's publicity has reached such a point that even renowned horror author Stephen King shared his review. The best-selling author praised the film with a short tweet that referenced some of Terrifier 2's spectacularly disgusting effects, saying, "Grossin’ you out old-school."
Of course, King's words attracted attention, and Leone has shared his reaction to the King of Horror's review. The Terrifier 2 director responded to King on Twitter and shared his gratitude for the "tremendous honor." declaring that the author's quote would be going on the poster. Check out Leone's response above.
Terrifier 2 Is Another 2022 Horror Movie Success Story
Terrifier 2 may owe much of its box office success to word-of-mouth advertising and reports of intense audience reactions, but it isn't the only horror film to find such success this year. While movie-going in general has seen a resurgence over the past year thanks to relaxed pandemic concerns, the horror genre has produced more hits than others. Terrifier 2 joins films such as Jordan Peele's eerie Nope, Paramount's creepy Smile, and the Ethan Hawke-led The Black Phone, on a list of horror movies that all garnered respectable returns at the box office as well as praise from critics. Still, Terrifier 2's success is even more impressive thanks to its small budget and indie status.
Horror is certainly experiencing a renaissance this year with both original and franchise films attracting audiences to theaters. As each new addition to the genre evolves it, Terrifier 2 is one of those rare sequels to improve upon its original concept and bring new attention to its franchise. Hopefully, Leone is able to recreate that effect for a potential third film, but until then, Terrifier 2 will be remembered as one of 2022's best horror films.
Source: Damien Leone/Twitter