By Nick Nitkowski 

When I first heard of “The Jester”, it surprisingly was not from the YouTube shorts that it originated from. For me, it was actually from a random sponsored post on Instagram that showed me to a special one night only screening of the film in theaters with the film’s director Colin Krawchuk and the man behind the mask of the Jester Michael Steffield in attendance. Not only was the indie horror film entertaining, but the men behind the film were so great to talk to afterward. Now, here we are two years later, and we now have a sequel to the indie horror film with “The Jester 2”. Can this new sequel capture the magic of the previous film, or will it result in the same old tricks?

“The Jester 2” takes place on Halloween night where the Jester, played once again by Michael Steffield, is once again up to no good using his supernatural abilities to trick and slaughter those wandering on this night. However, when he meets a 15-year-old girl named Max, played by Kaitlyn Trentham, who happens to be an aspiring and skilled magician and social outcast, she must do what she can to outsmart the Jester before the night ends. 

I’ll be honest, I was genuinely surprised by the negative Rotten Tomatoes score for “The Jester” when it came out because I actually really enjoyed the first “Jester” movie. I found it to be entertaining despite having a slight pacing issue. I also thought they did some very creative things for a movie with a low budget. However, with “The Jester 2”, I honestly thought that this was a major improvement over the first film. There was, in my opinion, zero pacing issues in this film this time, and I really enjoyed the interaction between Max and the Jester.

The movie is directed by Kaitlyn Trentham, who plays Max in the film, and I thought she did a great job doing so. Additionally, the Jester is a lot more present in this film than in the last one, and he is once again brought to life in such an entertaining way by Michael Steffield. While the Jester is the title character, this is just as much as Max’s movie as it is the Jesters as they share a lot of screentime together and it was a dynamic that I wasn’t expecting to see nor was I expecting it to work so well. 

The kills were fun in alow-budgett way. Some were more simplistic than others, but I thought that the filmmakers did a good job with what they had. It’s not quite on the level of Art the Clown, which at this point is a very high bar for any indie horror film involving a murder clown/mime, but it was still entertaining to watch nonetheless. I also liked the fact that this movie gives a little more insight behind the mystery of the Jester and why he goes around killing people on Halloween.

Overall, however you felt about the first “Jester” movie, I truly believe that “The Jester 2” is an improvement. Here you get a lot more screentime with the title character,  and the lead actress does a good job at sharing said screentime alongside him. The kills were fun,  and you got a little more lore behind the Jester and why he does what he does. I do think that it’s a shame that the movie was only shown in theaters for two nights, but at the same time, I understand why because the showing I went to was unfortunately very empty. However, with the first movie currently streaming on Shudder, I imagine that it’s only a matter of time until the second one joins it on the same platform and when it does, I say that it’s worth checking out for any horror fan. No clowning around.

3.5 stars