After being blown away by director Timo Tjahjanto's violent action movie THE NIGHT COMES FOR US, I was very hyped to check out his horror film MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU on Netflix, especially since it was drawing comparisons to one of my all-time favorite horror movies, Sam Raimi's THE EVIL DEAD. I ended up being underwhelmed, and my biggest issue with MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU was the running time. At 110 minutes, I felt the movie dragged on and wore off its welcome. If it had been closer to THE EVIL DEAD's 85 minutes, I probably would have enjoyed it more.
Even after those 110 minutes, Tjahjanto isn't done telling the story of MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU. Yesterday he took to his Twitter account to announce that a sequel, which may be titled MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU TOO, will be "shooting soon".
When the first film was shown at Fantastic Fest, this is the synopsis that was provided:
Lesmana reluctantly invites a white-robed woman into his home. Proceeding to his creepy basement, she crafts her spell with candles, chanting, mystical runes, and the requisite goat’s head. Through the awesome powers of the Devil, the money that Lesmana has long wished for is summoned in a swirling cloud filling the room, and Lesmana’s life is destined for greatness… at least until the time comes to pay his dues.
Years later, Lesmana summons his daughter Alfie and her step-siblings to his deathbed where he lies covered in hideous boils. Although she hasn’t spoken to him in ten years, Alfie answers the call to discover that she is the sole inheritor of his villa. Hoping that somewhere in the estate might be something of value to stave off their looming bankruptcy, Alfie and her step-family arrive only to meet the Devil as he comes calling for his due, and Alfie’s family is drawn into the web of evil her father wove for them years before. Can they break the cycle before the Devil takes them?
Even though MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU wasn't quite what I hoped it would be, I'm still on board to see how the sequel turns out.
We'll keep you updated on MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU TOO, whether or not that is the title, as more information is made available.