Clown Horror Terrifier 2 's Box Office Jumps 84% After Reports of Audiences Passing Out (Report)

Bloody Disgusting/Courtesy Everett Collection Terrifier 2

Reports of audience members passing out and vomiting at screenings for clown horror movie Terrifier 2 appear to have increased the film's performance at the box office.

On Sunday, horror news website Bloody Disgusting reported that Terrifier 2 saw its box office performance rise by 84% this past weekend after it made an estimated $1.8 million, two weeks after its initial Oct. 6 theatrical release.

Overall, the two-hour, 18 minute slasher — a sequel to its 2016 predecessor, Terrifier — has made $5,256 million at the domestic box office as it approaches its third week in theaters.

"Indie horror is alive and well," the film's writer-director, Damien Leone, wrote on Twitter last Saturday amid news of the film's continued box office performance.

RELATED: Terrifier 2: All About the Clown Horror Movie That's Causing People to Pass Out and Vomit

Critics and audiences alike have praised the movie since its release; Terrifier 2 carries an 88% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while 85% of users who have seen it indicated they enjoyed the movie.

Last Thursday, author and IT creator Stephen King offered his thoughts on the film on Twitter, writing that Terrifier 2 is "grossin' you out old-school."

"The guy behind me passed out cold n crashed into my chair, another guy left because he didn't feel good, I overheard him say and walking out theatre door I heard a guy puking hard & loud in the bathroom," one Twitter user wrote of the film on Oct. 7, calling it "an amazing gory mess."

Another shared a photo from the theater that showed emergency personnel attending to an individual, writing, "My friend passed out and the theater called an ambulance. Highly recommended."

Bloody Disgusting/Courtesy Everett Collection Terrifier 2

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Leone admitted that he considers it "sort of a badge of honor" for the new film "to have a couple of walk-outs." But he stressed, "I don't want people fainting, getting hurt during the movie."

"It's surreal," continued Leone. "Here's the thing, it's called Terrifier 2, you should probably see Terrifier 1 before you jump into this one. If you see Terrifier 1, you'd know what you're getting into."

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The filmmaker went on to say the team on Terrifier 2 "tried to rival" a "notorious" scene in the first film "that everyone walks away talking about," that involves a hacksaw.

"We tried to rival that scene [in the new film] because the really supportive fan base that we've had this entire time, that has really started to put [villain Art the Clown] on a pedestal," he explained. "I mean, those are the things that they really want."

"I think this movie is more accessible, but we're essentially still making these movies for them, and if other people want to come on board, the more the merrier," Leone added.

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Marion Curtis/StarPix/Shutterstock Damien Leone

He also addressed the reaction reports on Twitter, writing on Oct. 15: "To everyone saying that reports of people fainting and puking during screenings of Terrifier 2 is a marketing ploy, I swear on the success of the film it is NOT."

"These reports are 100% legit. I wish we were smart enough to think of that! 😋," Leone wrote. "But then again we didn't need to😉."

The movie follows Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) as he "returns to the timid town of Miles County where he targets a teenage girl and her younger brother on Halloween night," after "being resurrected by a sinister entity," according to a synopsis on IMDb.

Terrifier 2 is in theaters now.