The Last Exorcism 2 (2013): A Macabre Review.

I still get a chuckle at this poster, I won't lie.

Starring Ashley Bell, Julia Garner, Spencer Treat Clark

Directed by Ed Gass-Donnelly 

So, The Last Exorcism 2.  With this sequel it has now become the Final Fantasy of movies in terms of its title.  I never got to see this on the big screen, but since it was released on DVD yesterday I thought I'd take a look and see what I missed.  So let's not waste time, and get right into it.

Well, as you are probably aware, this follows the events of the first movie.  After Nell Sweetzer is found in a random couple's home (looking and acting creepy as shit), and she is in turn hospitalized after falling into a sort of catatonic state, unable or unwilling to respond to anyone trying to get her attention.  Eventually though, she snaps out of it and she is sent to a home for girls.  She eventually befriends the girls she lives with, and after a couple of months pass, things seem to be looking brighter.  Nell smiles more often, she has a job as a hotel chambermaid, and there's even a boy named Chris who has an interest in her.  And over the course of those couple of months, she believes that the demon who previously terrorized her isn't even real.

Spoiler, the happiness doesn't last!!!!  Right, like that's a surprise to anyone reading this.  Weird things begin to happen around Nell, small things at first, but it gets worse and worse, to the point where it's clear to her that the demon Abalam is not only real after all, but is back and looking to reclaim her once again.  However, she is eventually approached by a woman named Cecile, who informs Nell that a group called The Order of the Right Hand have been watching her, and that she may be part of an end of the world prophesy.  The question from here is, with Abalam making steadily larger strides to repossess Nell, will the Order help Nell be rid of Abalam for all time?  Dun dun duuuunnn.

"Hey Nell, we're watching The Last Exorcism, you want to join us?"

I'm not mad at this movie, just disappointed.  It had some good things going for it, but when it's all said and done, it wasn't all it could have been.  What's positive about it?  Let's see, first off I actually like that it's not following the "found footage" style like it's predecessor.  If it's not integral to the story in any way it really doesn't need to be used again.  Not to mention that the ff style can be somewhat restrictive most of the time.

But my favorite aspect of the movie, and in my opinion it's saving grace, was Ashley Bell who reprises her role as Nell.  Not to downplay the other actors, because they also did a good job with what they had to work with.  But Ashley is so good at playing the innocent, shy girl, and in doing so can actually throw you off when she does something uncharacteristic of her usual nature like screaming a profanity at someone, for example.  What's important, at least to me anyway, is that Nell was a likeable protagonist who you really want to make it out okay in the end.

She's so cute, even statues smile at her. What? That's a person?

That, however, is pretty much where the good things end.  The story itself isn't bad or anything, but it suffers from what I felt was a pretty big issue.  The movie is peppered liberally with cheap, annoying jump scares and loud music stings, the vast majority of them not even being that scary.  There are some creepy moments, for sure, but they are in the minority.  In a couple of long stretches of time where nothing really happens, I was thinking to myself that hopefully something will happen soon, only to get a stupid, unnecessary jump scare, and I mentally scream "That's not what I meant!!!"

And the ending?  I have to say, I liked the ending better than the first one.  But how much I like it sort of depends on whether or not another sequel will be made.  If I hear confirmation of a sequel, then I may make a quick post giving a better opinion of this ending.

So it's like this: if you like jump scares aplenty and/or you're more of a good acting minded sort, you may want want to see The Last Exorcism 2.  But it's not "horror movie of the year" by a long shot.  At best it'll kill 88 minutes of your time without you regretting it TOO much.  Until next time, rest in peace.

Macabre Rating: 2 out of 5 tombstones