New Year’s Resolution: Exorcize More

The Last Exorcism holds the distinction of being the only movie about exorcism aside from the obvious one that I’ve actually liked. Like a lot of other folks, I had problems with the ending initially, and the fact that there was a score on a found-footage movie. But after reading interviews with the filmmakers, and understanding that we’re supposed to think about who put the footage together, edited with a score, carefully revealing certain things and whatnot with a particular, deranged intent…I got it. Ashley Bell’s body-and-emotion-twisting performance as the possessed girl was fantastic, and I’m digging the twisted humor of this poster.

New image and trailer after the jump, along with a look at the pros and cons of this sequel.

Plus: Nobody felt the need to make it a found-footage movie again, something that I think has hampered the Paranormal Activity franchise and kept it from growing.

Minus: The precedent for this is Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2.

Plus: The director has experience making movies about dangerous cult members.

Minus: Is the “Born-Again Satanist” shtick going to be too on-the-nose? Could go either way based on what we see here.

Plus: I like what the visual effects people have done with the shadows.

Minus: But will it be too effects-heavy? The best effect in the original was Bell’s contortionism.

Plus: It still stars Ashley Bell. There’s no minus-side to that.

Here’s the new image: