The Last Exorcism II (2013)
The Gist: As Nell Sweetzer tries to build a new life after the events of the first movie, the evil force that once possessed her returns with an even more horrific plan. (IMDB)
The Possessed: Ashley Bell (Nell); Julia Garner (Gwen); Spencer Treat Clark (Chris)
My Take: This movie picks up almost immediately following the events of the first flick, The Last Exorcism, as the once possessed Nell ends up in New Orleans with no memory of what happened in the woods or being filmed by Cotton Marcus and his crew. After a brief stay in the hospital, Nell transitions to a house for troubled girls and begins to progress toward living a normal life which includes a job and meeting a boy. But all does not stay normal as Nell begins to have visions of people who aren’t there as well having strangers telling her to accept Him. Him being the demon that still resides within her. Of course there is much weirdness that ensues which Nell is only privy to and people around her start to suffer the consequences of being around the possessed and cursed girl.
Julia Garner as Gwen also recently seen in We Are What We Are
First off, I love the setting. New Orleans is always a favourite of mine and I like it when horror movies utilize the setting. There isn’t a whole lot of it shown but you still get the feel of the city. The characters are pretty one dimensional with the exception of Nell of course. The supporting players don’t really seem to have much to say or do and it kind of bothered me that Gwen (Julia Garner) seemed to be up to something sinister with her odd little smiles at times when she shouldn’t have been smiling but nothing really developed between her and Nell and the demon. The story is what it is, an explanation of what happened to Nell after the fiery birth scene and I guess a sort of conclusion to her possession.
Final Thoughts: The first time I saw ‘The Last Exorcism’ I wasn’t impressed but did enjoy it more after a second viewing. I’m wondering if the same could be said for this one. I liked that the movie picked up almost right after the first one and that it shows how Nell is moving on with life but being stopped by this entity that will not leave her until it has her soul. There was just something about this flick that was lacking. Maybe it was the way that it felt as if I have seen this before -girl is haunted but no one else sees what she sees or believes her until it’s too late. For me, I think it warrants a second viewing and might even be better if watched right after the first one. All in all, this was merely a Meh movie with a formulaic story line that could have been made more unique to the character.
Dawning Creates 