The Last Exorcism Part II: Rated “PG-13” (88 Minutes)
Starring: Muse Watson, Ashley Bell, Spencer Treat Clark, Judd Lormand, Julia Garner
Directed by: Ed Gass-Donnelly
First of all, we are a little bit confused how anything could be the “Last” of something (anything) and yet be “Part 2”. Seems like something of a misnomer if you were to ask us, but still, once we get past that, we do have to admit that this film was actually interesting and well-made for this genre. The film didn’t rely too much on “gotcha” moments, and didn’t put the characters in totally implausible moments (“Well the walls are bleeding, there are voices coming out of the toilet bowl, and the closet ate both the kids, but I love this place, why should we move?”), but rather had each of the “mystical” moments grow organically (plus the lead character had some sanity/PTSD issues for the first film).
Anywho, just in case you missed the first flick; in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the evangelical Reverend Cotton Marcus is summoned to Louis Sweetzer’s farm to exorcise his daughter Nell (Bell). Unfortunately Cotton is unable to do so, and now Nell is on her own, and, well totally screwed up. She is put is a halfway house for wayward girls where the director (Watson) — who doesn’t believe in demons — manages to convince her that it was all just in her head, and for a while it seems to work. Only, now she is in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and there are all these creepy people in masks watching her. Fortunately for Nell she can’t remember much of what happened to her, only that she is the last surviving member of her family. Needless to say, just as she begins to get past all of it, the evil force that had previously possessed her returns to screw with her once again.
As stated, the eeriness of the film grows organically from the plot and is staged with lingering camera shots, sinister music, and disturbing set-ups and situations. Nell gets a job as a maid at a local hotel where she meets a young lad (Clark) who takes a shine to her, and she really begins to think that all of that nasty stuff is behind her, then it starts up again, and to be sure, there are some WTF moments, but overall, the cast performs well and the story does its part to creep you out.
So, if you were a fan of the first film (we weren’t), and/or just like this particular genré of film, then, sure it was fairly watchable, and managed to hit all the proper notes without falling into the trap of hackneyed cliché.
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Robert J. Sodaro has been reviewing films for some 30 years. During that time, his movie reviews and articles have appeared in numerous print publications, as well as on the web. Subscribe to receive regular articles and movie reviews.
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