THE LAST EXORCISM PART II Review

I re-watched 2010's The Last Exorcism just the other day as I planned on seeing the sequel this week. I remembered liking it much more than I expected, but not for the reasons one expects when going to see a horror flick. No, I was never truly scared by what I saw on screen with the original film but more I was intrigued by the originality of it. Just when I thought I'd seen every kind of incarnation in which an exorcism could be presented on screen this found footage, documentary-like movie set a new standard for the exorcism film. The heart of that film, despite Ashley Bell's wonderfully innocent performance as sheltered yet possessed farm girl Nell Sweetzer, was Patrick Fabian as Reverend Cotton Marcus. Fabian created a charismatic character that was difficult to like, but at the same time able to create a sympathetic reasoning for his actions. He was a con man toying with peoples beliefs, but he was funny and to be fair he always had the best of intentions. The first film that needed no sequel, that called for no continuation of the story, or left anyone with a desire to see what happened to Nell (I think we all just assumed she died giving birth to a demon child!) was a brief hour and twenty-seven minutes long. The Last Exorcism Part II (which may be the most misleading title in the history of cinema) clocks in at only a minute longer, but feels like it goes on for days. It has an episodic feel to it that never picks up and never feels like a coherent work but instead a compilation of scenes that show our protagonist running from something, who we're never given a real reason as to why, and are expected to be frightened every time a loud sound interrupts the scene over and over again.

First Image and Trailer for THE LAST EXORCISM PART II

I actually rather enjoyed The Last Exorcism when it arrived in late summer of 2010. It was certainly riding the waves of the horror film done in the found footage manner but it featured a wonderful leading performance from Patrick Fabian as a pastor so lost in his faith and feeling like a fraud that he is able to give a sermon about banana bread without the least bit of remorse. This performance anchored the film and brought about several layers that were certainly unexpected in this defiantly genre film. Now, there is no reason whatsoever for a sequel and a sequel in March is less than an inspiring lest here we are and here we have the first trailer for the redundant The Last Exorcism Part II. Ashley Bell returns as Nell Sweetzer who, at the end of the first film, is left for dead in the woods having just escaped a demon ritual and is unable to remember the last several months of her life. She is the only surviving member of her family (which is a shame as Caleb Landry Jones played her brother in the first film) and so she must begin to form the basis for a normal life. Naturally, to justify this continuation of the story the demon that wanted to take control of Nell in the first film is back with an even grander plan to completely possess the young girl this time. I'm not going to be optimistic at all about this film, but I did enjoy the first one enough to be at least somewhat interested in how this turns out. We won't have to wait too long to see as The Last Exorcism Part II opens on March 1 and stars Ashley Bell, Spencer Treat Clark, Andrew Sensenig, Judd Lormand, Julia Garner, Muse Watson, E. Roger Mitchell and David Jensen.