The Last Exorcism Part II (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror	Interviews-Cast & Crew-Eli Roth Interview Interviews-Cast & Crew-Shooting in New Orleans Interviews-Cast & Crew-Nell’s Story
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	85:04
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ed Gass-Donnelly
Studio Distributor	Transmission Films	Starring	Ashley Bell Julia Garner Spencer Treat Clark David Jensen Tarra Riggs Louis Herthum Muse Watson
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Michael Wandmacher

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.40:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

God asks. The Devil commands.

   Eli Roth's The Last Exorcism was a reasonable attempt at the "found footage" genre that has grown tiresome very quickly. As a moderate success it was inevitable that a sequel would happen and so we have the imaginatively titled The Last Exorcism Part II as directed by Ed Gass-Donnelly. This installment has Nell Sweetzer (Ashley Bell) moving to a girl’s home in New Orleans after the events of Part I. At first things seem to going pretty well and Nell’s life is coming together with a new job at a hotel and new boyfriend. The demon Abalah however has other ideas and wants Nell for “himself”. Could a demon be romantically obsessed with a human girl? Well it seems so although this demon looks more like a stalker than Beelzebub. When things start unraveling Nell discovers that her activities are being monitored by the secretive Order of the Right Hand who can potentially help her. Being set in New Orleans makes it inevitable that a bit of voodoo gets thrown into the mix as Nell struggles with the events that might be a figment of her imagination or something much more tangible. We know however that her demons are real and intent on both corruption and protection.

    There are two things to like in The Last Exorcism Part II. Firstly, the “shaky-cam found-footage” schlock has been abandoned in favour of more traditional filming techniques. Secondly, Bell as our heroine is genuinely excellent in portraying the possessed girl fighting for control of her life. Apart from that however this movie falls flat with the usual cliches and recycled filler that is common with just about every B-grade horror flick. The worst fault however is that this movie isn’t all that scary although there are a few shocks that you can see coming a mile away. That the story-line doesn’t really make sense is a given, but even in an “exorcism” movie the premise of summoning a demon to catch a demon is hard to swallow.

    Disappointing though this movie might be there are enough signs to indicate a Part III could be anticipated. If that does happen then hopefully there’ll be more than Ashley Bell to recommend it.

Video

    This film is presented in its cinematic 2.40:1 aspect using MPEG-2 codec. Note that the back cover indicates a 2.35:1 aspect but I believe this to be incorrect. The Last Exorcism Part II has a generally muted palette which often looks like it’s been filmed in a light mist. I assume the intention was for a sombre look and in that respect is works. The atmosphere of New Orleans also tends towards a sultry and muted look although even in the street festival the colours don’t particularly pop. As far as artefacts are concerned there is a bit of edge enhancement that is obvious (note for example the power poles and cables at 54:36) and the blacks weren’t particularly distinct during dark scenes. Facial tones were good with Bell’s Celtic completion contrasting nicely with the darker faces around her. I didn’t notice any compression artefacts on the dual layer transfer.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The only option is a Dolby Digital 5.1 effort at 448 Kb/s. This is an adequate mix without standing out in any way. Surrounds are used well for the usual bumps and thumps and the LFE broke into proceedings when required. Voice synchronisation was good and the dialogue was easy to understand at all times. The movie score by Michael Wandmacher was unobtrusive but effective in setting the atmosphere.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    Static menu with no audio.

Eli Roth Interview (0:48)

    Dolby Digital 2.0 192 Kb/s. Very brief talk with Producer Eli Roth and Ashley Bell with a few promotional shorts thrown in.

Shooting in New Orleans (2:03)

    Dolby Digital 2.0 192 Kb/s. Roth and Bell talk about New Orleans and how the Mardi Gras fitted in with the plot.

Nell’s Story (2:24)

    Dolby Digital 2.0 192 Kb/s. Roth and Bell again in the same setting talking more about the Nell character.

    The region 1 release seems to include a featurette called Hair Salon Scare which involves tricking people in front of a two way mirror. Other than that the releases look identical. This title is also available in Blu-ray and digital download.

    The Last Exorcism Part II presents nothing new and has little to recommend it apart from Bell and the absence of “shaky-cam”. If you like this genre however then it’s worth hiring.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The extras are poor.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall