TERRIFIER 2, Lauren LaVera, 2022. © Bloody Disgusting / Courtesy Everett Collection
Horror doesn’t always need two hours to wreck you. Sometimes five minutes is all it takes. A single sequence can become more shocking or iconic than the entire film around it: think Drew Barrymore answering the phone in Scream, or Heather sobbing into the camcorder in The Blair Witch Project, and even Charlie’s decapitation in Hereditary. These moments don’t just terrify, they brand themselves onto the proverbial cattle’s behind of horror history.
In the modern era, two films stand above the rest when it comes to unforgettable five-minute stretches: Ari Aster’s Midsommar and Damien Leone’s Terrifier 2. What makes this duel so fascinating is how opposite they are. One is grief-driven psychological devastation, the other is gleefully grotesque gorecore. Together, they represent the two extremes of what horror can do—and why we keep coming back for more.
Midsommar (2019): Grief, Weaponized
Before the flower crowns and daylight cults, Midsommar begins in icy silence. Dani (Florence Pugh) makes desperate phone calls to her family, her panic escalating with each unanswered ring. Then comes the reveal: her sister has not only taken her own life, but murdered their parents in a chilling carbon monoxide scene.
It’s devastating not because of the blood, but because of its inevitability. Aster lingers on the stillness until the weight becomes unbearable. And when the truth lands, Dani’s screams are animalistic — raw, guttural, impossible to shake. In that moment, horror stops being about the supernatural and becomes about the one thing we all fear most: losing everything we love.
MIDSOMMAR, Florence Pugh, 2019. © A24 / courtesy Everett Collection
Where to Watch Now (U.S.): Midsommar is streaming on HBO Max as of September 1. It can be rented digitally on Amazon Video or purchased through Amazon or Fandango.
Terrifier 2 (2022): Gorecore’s Clown Jewel
On the other end of the spectrum sits Art the Clown. Leone’s infamous bedroom scene doesn’t just shock—it tortures. Art mutilates his victim with gleeful precision, stretching the sequence until the audience squirms as much as the character onscreen. Sure, since I watched Nurse Betty as a small child, on-screen scalpings tend to throw me for a loop. Then, when you add on bleach and salt and a weeping mother on top of that, I’ll never be able to watch this one again.
It’s grotesque, campy, and relentless. Horror as a hellish carnival ride, horror as a sleepover dare, horror as the ultimate midnight-movie endurance test. If Midsommar pulls you into despair, Terrifier 2 dares you not to look away from its blood-soaked mayhem.
TERRIFIER 2, David Howard Thornton, 2022. © Bloody Disgusting / Courtesy Everett Collection
Where to Watch Now (U.S.): Terrifier 2 is available to stream on Prime Video, and free with ads on Pluto, Hoopla, and Kanopy.
Two Kings, One Clown
Both sequences prove horror doesn’t need two hours to scar you. Five minutes can be enough. Midsommar devastates with grief; Terrifier 2 overwhelms with gore.
As for me? I’m giving the crown to Midsommar. That opening still makes my stomach drop in a way no gorefest ever could. But what about you? Does Dani’s grief wreck you more, or does Art’s gorecore nightmare earn the title? The debate is half the fun.
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