Smile 2 (4½ Stars)

I wasn't very impressed by the first Smile film, but after seeing a trailer for "Smile 2" repeatedly at the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival I couldn't resist going to see it in the cinema. I'm glad I did. I find it much better. There's an outstanding performance by Naomi Scott as the pop singer Skye Riley, who's a pastiche of several contemporary pop singers. She has similarities with Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus, without being a direct copy of either of them. Maybe she's closer to Taylor Swift. Skye is generic enough for every viewer to see his own favourite singer in her.

A year before the events in the film Skye was involved in a car accident. She's come out of it with horrific scars on her chest and back. That would end the career of most pop stars, but Skye is determined to make a comeback, wearing costumes that cover the scars.

At least Skye's legs are unmarked. They couldn't have been covered.

While attempting to buy painkillers from an illegal source, the dealer kills himself in front of her while smiling. This is the pattern from the first film. A demon attaches itself to someone and makes him kill himself in front of a witness. Then the demon is attached to the witness, who is made to kill himself a week later. As if this weren't enough, the witness is tormented for the whole week, made to see things that aren't there. This is Skye's fate. She's told that the only way for the curse to end is if she's killed by a third person, but she hopes she can find another way out.

The film is terrifying. The suspense drew me in from beginning to end. Now I'm already hoping for a third film.