Strike Entertainment have announced they’re developing a sequel to last year’s Eli Roth produced horror flick THE LAST EXORCISM. No real surprise there if you consider the movie made over $62m on a budget of just under $2m.

The original had a brilliant concept – a preacher who long lost his faith and has a nice sideline in performing fake exorcisms, is called to investigate a young girl’s apparent possession. He agrees to allow the documentary crew who are making a film about his work to accompany him on his “last (phony) exorcism”. However… it seems that there is a lot more to the case than meets the eye. Despite lots of early buzz, the original movie came under a bit of fire for its ending, which really split audiences (personally, I thought it was perfect). The Found Footage angle also underwent some scrutiny from the critics, though pointing out those problems will most certainly lead to spoilers if you haven’t yet seen it (which you definitely should!).

If I had one gripe, it was with the aggressive marketing campaign, which had effectively revealed 99% of the scares in their trailers and posters. Hopefully the sequel financiers Studio Canal will be able to resist the same tactics this time around.

Few details are known at this point, other than in-demand screenwriter Damien Chazelle will be providing the screenplay. Who he? Yeah, I had to check him up too. There’s a lot of industry buzz surrounding the guy due to his first film GUY AND MANDELINE ON A PARK BENCH, and his two thrillers currently in development, THE CLAIM and GRAND PIANO. Considering the producers could have hired any old hack to bang this out it’s an encouraging sign indeed.

No official word on whether any of the original team will return, including director Daniel Stamm or even producer Eli Roth.

If all this turns out to be a direct-to-DVD cash grab, similar in name only, then I’m going to be very annoyed indeed. I need to know what happened after that final scene.

Were you a fan of THE LAST EXORCISM? Interested in seeing more? Let us know in the Comments or on Twitter @Starburst_Mag