The Rope Curse 2 (2020) Movie Review

 

The Rope Curse 2 | 2020 | 1h 44m
Genre: Horror | Country: Taiwan
Director: Shih-Han Liao | Writers: Tzu-Ming Ma
Cast: Kang-sheng Lee, Wilson Hsu, Vera Chen
IMDB: 4.8
My Rate: 7/10

Huo Ge's failure to perform a ritual concerning a death caused by a Thai demon causes the curse to transfer and endanger Jia Min and her aunt. They try to find a solution to destroy the demon, even though the ignorance of the public only worsens the curse.

Warning:

Contains scenes of violence, suicide, self-harm, alcohol, and foul language.

 

Synopsis:

Huo Ge accidentally kills his teacher during a ritual involving a Thai demon. This leaves him devastated and he chooses to quit being a Tao Master. He reappears when he has to help Jia Min escape from an attack by the Chair Maiden.

The Thai demon claims another victim by hanging a drug courier from a tree. A rope purification ritual must be performed. Although Huo Ge initially refuses, he finally agrees to take his partner’s place in performing the ritual.

It turns out the dead courier is Jia Min’s uncle. The man often beat her aunt and herself, which led her aunt to develop a mental disorder. Jia Min learns of her uncle’s death after seeing his spirit at their home.

Her aunt finds an object hidden by her uncle and runs to deliver it to Huo Ge, who is in the middle of performing the rope purification ritual. However, the ritual is interrupted and halted by the police, who consider the rope as evidence. As a result, the curse remains and instead transfers into Jia Min’s aunt.

Will they be able to save Jia Min’s aunt and defeat the demon?

 

Review:

The Rope Curse 2 is the second film in The Rope Curse series (2018). The story idea is still related to the rope purification ritual, which was also featured in the first film. In the first film, the evil spirit was someone who committed suicide and wanted revenge. In this second sequel, the evil entity is a demon from Thailand who desires to be reborn in human form.

At first, I thought viewers didn’t need to watch the first movie because the stories were significantly different. However, it would be better to watch the first one beforehand. From the first movie, viewers can understand the ritual, since the second film doesn’t explain it well and jumps straight into the action. Additionally, a character from the first film reappears near the end and plays a significant role in concluding the story. So, to avoid confusion, it’s recommended to watch the first film first.

Let’s discuss the story presentation first. Starting with the foundation of the story—this part isn’t too bad. We're introduced to key characters like the Thai Demon, the Chair Maiden, Huo Ge, and Jia Min, as well as other important characters, in a systematic and easy-to-understand way.

However, while watching this film, there’s some confusion. The demon is said to be worshipped by drug dealers—so why is the demon killing the drug dealers? The origin of the demon statue also isn’t explained in detail. The film jumps straight into a mass hanging scene to show the demon’s ‘power.’ This should have been made clearer to build the story properly.

This differs from the first movie, where the victims clearly had connections to the evil spirit. In this film, it's unclear why certain people commit suicide by hanging or why they’re chosen. At the end, even the YouTuber’s partner—who had no relation to the curse—is affected just because she took some belongings of her deceased friend.

The next conflict begins with the discovery of a drug courier's body hanging from a tree. The courier turns out to be connected to Jia Min and the Thai demon. The ritual, which fails due to police interference, causes the curse to transfer to Jia Min’s aunt.

Tension builds scene after scene. We witness very impressive moments. Unlike the first film, which didn’t feel very scary, this sequel includes more intense scenes that involve direct interaction with the evil presence and striking possession scenes.

The resolution is fairly decent, though it feels unsatisfying. Especially the final battle with the demon—it looks too easy, even though the demon had been portrayed as extremely powerful. The demon’s appearance at the end also isn’t very frightening, though it does look promising. Unfortunately, it gets defeated too easily with a single slash, even though the ending hints that the demon isn’t truly dead.

The acting performances are quite good. The most captivating performance actually comes from Vera Chen, who plays Jia Min’s aunt. Many of her scenes require extreme actions, and she delivers impressive expressions.

Although the rating on IMDB is low, the film is not that bad. The storyline remains coherent, and there are good messages to take away. However, many aspects could still be improved, such as the narrative, character development, and screen representation.

It repeats some of the same mistakes as the first film—mainly, the characters being too ‘dumb.’ In the first film, Shu Yi’s boyfriend was unresponsive. In this sequel, we get even more of this. For example, the YouTuber behaves rudely, even though as a paranormal-focused YouTuber, he should know that spiritual matters aren’t to be taken lightly and can be dangerous.

Jia Min, as the main character, also comes across as foolish—especially in the scene where she enters the spiritual world to save her aunt. She doesn’t stay focused on finding her aunt but gets distracted by the spirit of her parents. Maybe the writers wanted to insert a bit of drama, but it ends up feeling disruptive. She even turns her head despite being warned not to earlier.

A-Gwai’s character is even more annoying than in the first film. He constantly complains from beginning to end. Especially when Huo Ge is looking for Jia Min, you just want to say, "Can you just shut up already?" haha.

Putting all that aside, the film is still quite interesting to watch.

 
Memorable Scene:

Jia Min agrees to perform the ritual suggested by Huo Ge to heal her aunt—even though it means she will no longer be able to escape the supernatural abilities she despises. Jia Min will have to continue dealing with spirits and evil entities.

This scene shows someone willing to sacrifice anything, even endanger herself, to save a person she deeply cares about. That’s what we should do for someone we truly love—we probably wouldn’t even think twice before helping them.

 

Memorable Dialogue:

"May you not go to the heavens not to the earth"

 

Ending:

Cliffhanger

 

Recommendation:

Worth to Watch

 

(Aluna)