May the Devil Take You - Chapter Two (2020)

 

Could've come up with a better poster. Something ala Scream? Image from imdb.com

I've always had a soft spot for Indonesian horror movies. There have been hits and misses, but when they hit, it's an instant favorite. Being Malaysian, we share the most similarities with our Indonesian neighbors and I've always respected Indonesian talent in whatever industry they decide to delve into. I also have a saying, "whatever a Malaysian can do, there's always an Indonesian that does it better". Same goes for their horror movies. There's always an Indonesian horror movie that hits the sweet spot. In 2017, it was Satan's Slaves or Pengabdi Setan, in 2018 it was May the Devil Take You, 2019 was Kuntilanak 2 and 2020 is probably this movie. But aside from the titles I've listed here, there are so many others that were great horror movies to watch. So cast your eyes away from Western influence and turn your attention to South East Asian horror, because it might surprise you. 

May the Devil Take You - Chapter 2 or its original title, Sebelum Iblis Menjemput - Ayat 2, revolves once again around Alfie and her stepsister Nara. The movie takes place two years after the previous incident in the first movie. 

Alfie, played by Chelsea Islan, is still haunted by guilt and begins to have visions of the supernatural. One day, Alfie and Nara (Hadijah Shahab) are kidnapped by a group of attractive people and brought to an abandoned house called Bahtera. Bahtera used to be an orphanage and the attractive people that kidnapped them once lived there. The orphanage was once run by a childless husband and wife, but once the wife passed away, the husband became bitter and abusive. 

As the movie progresses, Alfie discovers that it was these attractive people that had burnt the owner alive and now he's back to exact his revenge and the reason they kidnapped Alfie was because whatever entity Alfie faced two years prior is tied to what they're experiencing now. 

I'll have whatever she's having. Probably vermouth with a hint of demonic possession. Image from ohmedia.my

As enjoyable as this movie was, there were a few things that I just couldn't ignore. One of the most irksome things was why the hell, after they identified the demon, did Alfie agree to resurrect it? It's like sticking your hand in fire, burning yourself, having the scars to prove it, then sticking your hand in the fire again. Psychologically it just didn't make sense. If they wanted Alfie to willingly summon a demon, why not give a back story about her obsession with whatever she experienced two years before? At the start of the movie, Alfie was already going through PTSD and it was clear when they kidnapped her, she didn't want anything to do with the supernatural. 

There was a scene where one of the characters hands her a knife and she willingly took it and stabbed her thumb to mark the book. Like, the knife wasn't pressed against your neck, you took it. I assumed that Alfie, having gone through a harrowing experience dealing with the supernatural would at least be a tiny bit cautious. But no~

Breaking down the entire movie, the creature design was good, but some scenes relied too heavily on CGI. The script could've been worked on a little better especially when persuading Alfie to help, but otherwise we got all the information we needed. Acting was stellar, though that's no surprise coming from Indonesian performers, while the shots, editing and scenes were pretty decent. However, despite the set design and the overall dark themed movie, there weren't a lot of great scenes that set up for a creepy atmosphere. Even the voices and the audio used for the possessed person were comical. 

"We who are about to rock, salute you" Image from sinekdoks.com

But aside from those complaints, there were a bunch of things from the movie that I liked. I particularly liked when the possessed person said, "Alfie, you father says hello" trying to sound creepy but borderline funny. It's like that scene in the director's cut of The Exorcist when the demon tells the priest, "your mother sucks c**k in hell". I also particularly liked when the demon flipped Alfie off. It was unnecessary but ultimately welcomed. 

The overall flow of the movie was nice and the jump scares, though not great, could easily pass off as just the director trying to set up a second scare and there were some nice horror scenes in the movie that kind of fed a horror buff's hunger. 

May the Devil Take You - Chapter Two was a decent horror movie and one of those movies that you should watch if you need a South East Asian horror fix. 

Asian Does Horror gives three ghost emojis out of five. 👻👻👻