CONJURING 2 – Review

Director James Wan clearly knows a thing or two about sequels. His THE CONJURING 2 is not simply a remake of the first one but delivers a wealth of new scares, and despite a steep running time, it’s a worthy follow-up. Wan (SAW, DEAD SILENCE, INSIDIOUS) delivers another adventure of those true-life Catholic P.I.s (Paranormal Investigators) Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga). This time they’re introduced in 1976 performing a séance at the original Amityville horror house on Long Island where Lorraine is terrorized by a demonic nun who haunts her dreams. THE CONJURING 2 then shifts to England, where it focuses on the real-life “Enfield Poltergeist” case (the Brit version of Amityville). Peggy Hodgson (Frances O’Conner) a weary working-class single mother of four, has had her home turned into a playground for a host of demonic forces that may center on an old man who had died in a nasty old leather chair in the living room. At first Peggy thinks the loud knocks and screams are just her kids misbehaving, but when she sees the furniture shuffling about on its own and her oldest daughter Janet (Madison Wolfe) slammed against the wall by unseen forces, she calls the local constable. When the cops witness a chair zip across the floor, they contact a priest, who knows exactly who to call – Ghostbusters Ed and Lorraine.

The reliable “gotchas” we now expect from cheesy modern horror; the jump cuts, jolt scares, dropped frames, and sudden noises are there in the U.S.-set sequences of THE CONJURING 2, while the scenes in England are presented in relatively simple fashion – a toy fire truck moves on its own while an eerie zoetrope spins silently.  The hauntings of the two women (Lorraine and Peggy) are two stories filmed with separate styles that come together at the end. It’s a structure that works well, though it can’t quite sustain its 133-minute running time (I’m glad Patrick Wilson has a fine singing voice, but do we really need to hear him croon Love Me Tender in its entirety?). The length dilutes the horror which is a shame since THE CONJURING 2 often edges so close to being truly terrifying. The script is ambitious, with sharp dialog establishing the loving bond between the Warrens as well as the details of Peggy’s tribulations in raising four kids without a husband.

The special effects aren’t original (lots of moving furniture and levitating kids) but they’re effective, evoking a haunted house in unexpected ways. I especially liked the creepy nun demon and the shiver-inducing ‘Crooked Man’ who pops up, BABADOOK-style, from that zoetrope. While much of young Janet’s Reagan McNeil-style shenanigans are familiar, it’s still scary stuff.

That acting in THE CONJURING 2 is excellent across the board. Wilson and Farmiga make the Warrens credible while Frances O’Conner as the overworked Peggy and young Madison Wolfe as her possessed daughter have a complex dynamic similar to Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair in THE EXORCIST. Wan’s skills at creative camera angles and eerie visuals are strong, even during THE CONJURING 2’s most obvious moments, and that speaks to a filmmaker who clearly makes horror films because he enjoys it. Not every sequel has to be great to be worthwhile and THE CONJURING 2  is entertaining enough in its solid spook-show fashion. 2016 is less than half over, but it’s already been an outstanding year for horror films. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR, 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE, PRIDE PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, and especially THE WITCH are recommended, as is THE CONJURING 2.

4 of 5 Stars