The Jester 2 (2025)
new and (mostly) improved
The Jester is back to his old tricks! After the amateurish and disappointing original film, The Jester 2 features a bigger budget, better acting, improved special effects, and a heroine that is actually interesting.
Director Colin Krawchuk, who also helmed the first movie, ups his game here. He’s certainly developed as a filmmaker over the last couple of years. The Jester 2 still comes up short in some areas, but it’s a far cry from the subpar quality of the first film.
After resurrecting himself and disposing of the cheap mask from the first movie, the Jester brutally murders a group of teens who are partying in the woods and heads into town for some Halloween fun.
He performs several deadly magic tricks before encountering a teen girl who is sitting by herself in a local restaurant. The Jester becomes fixated on her after she fools him with a magic trick.
a magic duel
She’s Max, a lonely misfit who dreams of becoming a professional magician. The concept of a final girl magician is far more clever than anything in the first movie.
Max is the perfect foil for the Jester. Of course, she does have a fundamental disadvantage – the Jester’s magic is real, and hers is the smoke and mirrors kind. But Max has a few tricks up her sleeve that surprise even him.
Trentham gives the best performance in the movie. Max is easy to relate to. Almost everyone thinks that her passion for magic is silly and ludicrous. Her status as a high school social pariah leaves her hurt and confused.
Trentham is effective for 90% of the movie. Her only flaw is she has a tough time seeming genuinely terrified. Max mostly seems bemused by the Jester’s antics, which is probably a reflection of the actress’s true feelings during filming. Nothing seems to faze this girl!
The virtually friendless teen is quick to accept the Jester’s presence. She actually matters to someone for once, even if he’s a murderous madman. Max isn’t necessarily against the Jester’s hijinks at first. She knows some school bullies that she wishes he would put in the ground.
But Max has a conscience. She decides that she is the only one who can stop the Jester’s rampage, and she’s willing to risk her life to stop him.
Part 2 builds up a mythology around its central villain. The Jester is often compared to Art the Clown, and the first film had parallels with Terrifier. It comes as no surprise that this sequel parallels Terrifier 2.
The Jester had no backstory or motivation in the original, but Jester 2 provides him with both. This is fun, although the execution is a bit sloppy – it relies on a big exposition dump in the middle of the movie.
Like Sienna in Terrifier 2, Max has a younger sibling that she wants to protect. The Jester hopes to make her do his bidding by threatening her family, but – again like Art with Sienna – the psycho underestimates her toughness and resourcefulness.
Unfortunately the relationship between Max and her sister is not fleshed out. They barely have any screentime together. My guess is that more scenes were filmed, but they ended up on the cutting room floor.
The Jester 2 has much more of an authentic Halloween feel than its predecessor. This is largely due to the improved cinematography. With a higher budget, the film looks much sharper, and that enhances the spooky atmosphere.
As for the Jester himself, he is again played by Michael Sheffield. The Jester has more personality and charisma this time. Sheffield takes advantage of the improved script and delivers an entertaining performance.
If there’s a Jester 3, I hope the characters get fleshed out more. Max is the only character of any depth in two movies. Even the Jester himself didn’t have any substance until this installment.
It would be funny if they set a third movie during the Christmas season and had the Jester wear a Santa hat, like Art in Terrifier 3. Hey, if you’re going to be a blatant ripoff, you might as well own it!
Rating
The Jester 2 is far from perfect, but it’s a significant improvement over its predecessor across the board. It’s an entertaining Halloween slasher that paves a promising path forward for a potential franchise.
Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece): 6.5
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