Hooptober 7.0

72/39 - Bonus Watch
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Sequel to the excellent, more overt Evil Dead homage, May The Devil Take You from 2018 just released to Shudder on 10/29.

Chelsea Islam returns as Alfie, having defeated the demons from the first film.  Soon into the movie, she and her younger step sister are abducted by a group of hooded people who turn out to be a group of orphans with their own demon troubles who think that Alfie can help them.

More demon possession and violent action ensues to great effect.   Several set pieces early in the film are really excellent.  The initial possession and attack in the basement and the demon attack upstairs trying to get into the room and then the armoire stood out.  The film suffers from a bit of “sameness”, but is nonetheless relentless and action packed.    There are also some really effective creep scares throughout, though more in the beginning of the film.  A sequence when Alfie is turning her light on and off comes to mind.

Once again, I wasn’t entirely clear on the rules particularly when Alfie tries to use the Bible for herself and the movie ends with a clear setup for a third installment that probably didn’t need to be so overt.

This is still first rate demon action horror.  Fans of the first, will certainly love this one and those that hated it for being an Evil Dead retread, might appreciate this one more as it diverges from those tropes more confidently.