Movie Review: The Last Exorcism Part II

A fan of horror movies must often suffer through really bad movies to get really good ones.  The Last Exorcism was a ‘found footage’ style movie that placed viewers with a preacher who claimed that no one was ever really possessed and proved it by taking a film crew along.  As luck would have it, he stumbles upon a real possession and faces his own death as he tries to save the girl being taken by a demon.  In the sequel, we pick up where we left off, so to speak.  The possessed girl, Nell, has finally been found, doesn’t remember much of what happened and is trying to lead a normal life.  The demon who possessed her loves her and wants her back.

In what can only be typified by your garden variety low-class attempts, the story groans and sputters, leading from one predictable sequence to the next, never providing anything of interest or anything compelling save for the consistent innocence from Nell, performed quite ably by Ashley Bell.  She personifies confusion and panic in a way that makes the terrible story almost bearable for an hour and a half.  What is more disappointing with this sequel is not the heavy-handed writing, the mediocre acting or the banal acting from most of the cast, it departed so heavily from the original, save for Nell, the story almost lacked any cohesion.  The first movie was terrifying for the twists and turns, for the unpredictability.  The sequel was tired and underwhelming, the ending worthy of walking out.  Of all the bad horror movies I’ve seen, this is one of the worst.  I forgot it almost as soon as I got to my car.