The spirit hunting team of Ed and Lorraine Warren are back on the case, this time to help a family whose teenage daughter is stalked by terror-filled spirits. In “The Conjuring 2”, critically acclaimed horror director James Wan brings together the husband and wife team once again of Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren on another supposed real-life from their careers as demonologists. The duo travel to North London to help a single Mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits. As the Warren’s get closer to reaching a solution, they question their own lives and missions over the course of a career that has more unsolved ghosts between them than the audience knows. “The Conjuring 2” is written and directed by Wan, and is rated R for scenes of terror and horrific violence.
Execution is everything for James Wan. The longtime horror director as scared others with is brand of horror rarity’s that has certainly marketed him as the best horror director going today, and with the exception of some minor pacing issues, “The Conjuring 2” brings it in every kind of department for the shriek fan in all of us. Most horror sequels often ruin what was great about the first installment, but I felt that this movie stacked nearly as great as the first one, and has really catapulted “The Conjuring” series into the very best that the genre has to offer. The performances are top notch from a returning cast of Wilson and Farmiga, but they are given a lot of help in acting depth from the complex performance from the young storm known as Madison Wolfe. Together, the three actors navigate through Wan’s nightmares come to life, with great time piece settings, as well as psychological scares behind every corner. Nothing feels re-heated or cheap about this sequel, and recent horror sequel bombs like “Sinister 2” or “Insidious 2” (Oddly enough a Wan production) should take notice of the very art that goes into crafting a story that will insight the audience like the original offering did.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of this film is the dedication that goes into every scare. I myself never jumped once, but I know that a lot of fans who are itching to squirm in their seats will get back a lot from this movie. Are there jump scares? Yes. As many of you know, I’m not the biggest fan of jump scares as I feel they are the cheapest method of getting across scares to the audience. What Wan does though, is legitimize the action behind every jump scare that really makes it feel authentic, instead of just another horror troupe that will have you rolling your eyes by the end of the film. Everything here feels honest because a ball rolling down the stairs doesn’t make the same noise as a character crashing through the window at our protagonists. Sometimes these cliches are used as a cheap substitute for honest tension building, and sometimes they are used to further the terror behind every great set piece. “The Conjuring 2” decides that it’s good enough for the latter early on, and really never looks back on treating it’s audience to two hours of claustrophobic tension. One thing that I found greatly rewarding was the set pieces that never feel overdone or out of place for the genre. This house that is fighting back against this family looks very authentic to the kinds of two story bungalows that were everywhere in England during the 1970’s. Complete with dark and ominous lighting for the scenes, and you have a movie that not only crafts the shriek, but does more to communicate to the audience when we may have wondered off from the safe blanket world that we began the scene under. Wan has always been a technician when it comes to lighting in his films, and “The Conjuring 2” certainly continues on a tradition with a cloud of doom that we might not always be able to see, but know it’s there because of that subtle aura of blanketed fear that anyone can feel in tone.
What the film also does with effortless ease is develop main characters who we the audience can get behind and root for the best in every terror-filled situation that they encounter. Most horror films fail miserably at crafting characters who you give a damn about, but Wan knows the importance of a good protagonist. With the return of Wilson and Farmiga, we see that this couple has picked up where they last left off, living happily with their eight-year-old daughter, but the air of regret in their dangerous careers is plaguing them, and we know soon that they will be thrust back into the spotlight of spirit chasing. This movie does more than the original did to focus on the very chemistry and marital magic between the Warrens, and the film certainly benefits the most when the two are together, as opposed to when they roam the hallways alone. Perhaps a metaphor for all married couples. As for Wolfe, she never feels limited to a child actor who is just reading lines. She puts the most mentally and physically into every scene, and you really feel the empathy for this tortured little girl, and how helpless she feels when fighting against an enemy who she knows nothing about. The movie’s screenplay really hinges on that vulnerability that comes with fighting something or someone who you can rarely see, but this trio of actors navigate us through that journey with characters who remind us that there are a lot worse people to spend two hours with.
The movie also serves as a 70’s timepiece, complete with historical montages and clothing trends that never feel like JUST characters playing roles. This very much feels like a movie that was shot during the flower decade, but just happened to have better cameras shooting it along the way. The film has a really good laugh hinting at this ideal when one of the characters remarks how light a camera feels, despite it looking three times the size of anything from our current generation. The film never strays from its historical setting, and that really pushes the fear a ways further because we know that whatever has happened with the Warrens, it is in the past in our current day. Therefore, anything is possible forty years later.
If I had a slight problem with the film, it’s during the second act when there is an overabundance of character exposition. With any great film, you have to understand the characters….i get that. But the film kind of grinds to a hault during long spans of scenes that take us away from the very meat of this story: the house and how our characters are dealing with it. This does feel every bit of those two hours, and frankly there is a lot here that Wan could’ve cut to further balance the pacing of the overall finished project. It’s not a major problem, but you certainly have no problem identifying the weak parts of this film.
Overall, “The Conjuring 2” doesn’t quite reach the heights of a first movie that re-defined the ghost story genre, but it does succeed in giving us a second movie that offers enough justified scares and noteworthy performances to validate this as a must-watch. Horror sequels rarely succeed, but James Wan proves that with enough creative energy and respect to stay away from the tribulations of the first movie, sequels don’t have to be unsatisfying cash grabs, and can offer plenty of consistency to a genre that sometimes feels tedious and repetitive.
7/10