Review of The Last Exorcism Part II (2013) by Mike T — 20 Mar 2013

The Last Exorcism... Part II. Somehow after the last The Last Exorcism, they still managed a follow-up. It's one of the more ridiculous sequel ideas Hollywood has come up with just to milk what they can out of horror fans like myself and unsurprisingly, the film is no good.

The story continues right where the last film ended but this time, they ditched the fake documentary style and made the sequel a regular, old-fashioned narrative film. Ashley Bell, who made her acting debut in part one as a girl possessed (and is known, I guess, for her incredible contorting skills) again plays Nell, who manages to escape the evil cult that held her captive and somehow ends up in a group home in New Orleans where she tries to rebuild her life. But the demon that had possessed her returns with an even more horrific plan which ends up not being very horrific at all.

As a whole the film is rather dull and the scares are of the "shadows walking by the camera and standing in the background" variety. And that's pretty much it. You never get to see any of the actual good gore on screen - it's just implied. Just like the first film, the filmmakers lead the viewer on with teases that don't really pay off and all of the actual "horror" happens at the very end but that itself wasn't very good either.

The only thing that made this film entertaining was Ashley Bell's incredible, intentionally awkward and believable performance. If the film didn't have her in it, there wouldn't be much there at all. I was rather disappointed that they hardly took advantage of Bell's contorting as well. All of the other characters were incredibly bland and the acting was flat at best, which, coupled with my previous complaints doesn't make for much of a film. As I left the theatre all I kept wondering was "What the hell was Eli Roth thinking?" Don't waste your time or money.