Terrifier 2 Was Just As Brutal To Film As It Was To Watch

This article contains major spoilers for "Terrifier 2."

In a year stacked with tremendous horror films like "Nope," "X," and "Barbarian," there's one, in particular, that's become an unprecedented indie sensation. Put together for $250,000, the ultra gory splatter flick "Terrifier 2" has currently earned over $10 million at the box office. The brutal slayings of Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) have been haunting the world of independent horror since 2008, but the influx of eye-catching headlines about people fainting and vomiting during screenings has turned the pantomime slasher into an overnight phenomenon. He's not quite on the level of Leatherface or Jason Voorhees, but it's only a matter of time until he joins the slasher hall of fame.

Art is the kind of slasher where, if he catches you in his sights, you're likely already dead. Thornton is such a force in the makeup that, even if he wasn't flaying people beyond belief, his pale white aesthetic is the last thing you would ever want to see alone at night. When it comes to his brand of kills, he makes what Pennywise does look merciful by comparison.

Where "Terrifier 2" succeeds in being a vastly improved sequel in terms of its story and characters, the major attraction that everyone is talking about is director Damien Leone's astounding practical gore effects. It happened with the hacksaw scene from the first film and will continue on with the bedroom slaying in this one. The two-and-a-half-hour slasher epic is an unabashedly graphic ode to the era of grindhouse cinema and doesn't hold back.

Some of the effects were so gruesome, however, that it nearly made one of its actors sick. Although it's probably not quite what you're expecting.

As it turns out, Chris Jericho is a fan of horror movies, specifically "Terrifier." The AEW wrestler had stumbled upon the first film while scrolling through Netflix years ago, and it blew him away. "It was the best horror movie I think I'd seen in about 20 years, with what I considered [to be] the next iconic serial killer, which we also haven't had in horror movies for 25 years," said Jericho. In wanting to be a part of the movie, Leone found a brief role for Jericho as Burke, a security guard of the Miles County Psychiatric Hospital, who can be seen in the film's mid-credits stinger.

In the scene, Jericho has to munch on a plate of this Halloween-themed gelatin display that nearly made him vomit (via Screen Rant):

"I think it was kind of custard with some kind of almost the plastic candy, and I had to eat like five of them. And they were cold, and they were gelatinous. And it was really kind of getting to me. It was really gross. And I remember [Damien] was like, 'Can you just eat one more?' And I was like, 'Dude, I'll eat one more, and then that's it! Because I'm gonna f***ing puke if I have to do another one of these.'"

Of all of the effects to make people sick in "Terrifier 2," this is the last one you would think would cause a reaction, but the longer you look at the zombie platter, the more it makes sense. No one would call this plate of slime appetizing. Jericho knows, however, that it's all part of making a horror movie, saying, "You've got to eat too many gelatinous eyeballs."

In an interview with Variety, Leone talked about how, when making the "Terrifier" movies, he wanted to make something that captured the sick imagination of horror folks. "What's gonna get people talking once they leave our movie?" Leone said. "We can show things they would never show in a Hollywood slasher."

When you look at all of the effects that make up "Terrifier 2," the zombie platter seems tame by comparison. Jericho is the only actor in the cast — besides Thornton — who has to indulge in devouring anything close to body parts. But therein lies the genius of how Leone is able to manipulate us into making it feel more disgusting than it would under any other circumstance.

In the mid-credits scene, Jericho is chowing down on his plate while Victoria (Samantha Scaffidi) is profusely bleeding in the other room. She's about to give birth to an unholy abomination in the form of Art's head. Not only is it a testament to Leone's makeup, but a reminder of how the Kuleshov effect can make the parallels feel even more unsettling.

Whether it be the makeup crew or the actors themselves, everyone involved with "Terrifier 2" has some sort of experience with Art's grotesque brutality. Amid the reports of people vomiting during screenings, it's pretty funny that the only reason someone behind the camera nearly lost their lunch was due to an unappetizing plate of monster Jell-O.

"Terrifier 2" is now playing in select theaters nationwide, in addition to streaming exclusively on Screambox.