#343: THE CONJURING 2

2016

Directed by James Wan

Supernatural Horror, Psychological Horror.

Strap yourself in for another ride of intense jump scares, creepy atmospheres and scary entities! James Wan is back to direct the sequel to the hit film that is probably my favourite Horror movie of the decade thus far. The Conjuring 2 shifts the horror over to England and is set in 1977 (the second film released this month to be set in '77 after The Nice Guys) and is based on the real life Enfield Poltergeist case. This is one of the most famous haunted house cases in the UK, which has already been the subject of press coverage, documentaries and a TV mini series last year. The Conjuring aims to keep the majority of the real life events intact, but also adds more involvement of the real life Ed and Lorraine Warren (from the first film), the paranormal investigators who worked on the case.

The first thing that really impressed me about this American made film was that they got England right! Most times I see American's portraying English people, it is merely a series of horrible stereotypes, but the look and feel of England is spot on here, and there was nothing that annoyed me in that respect. Another of my pet peeves in cinema is annoying child actors, but the kids in this film weren't annoying also. Already we were off to a good start! In fact from the first minute of the film, I felt on edge, squirming in my cinema seat! James Wan doesn't do anything particularly new in terms of scare tactics, that you haven't seen in the first one or Insidious or many other ghostly Horror films. However he seems to just have a knack of doing suspenseful build ups and jump scares really well. He knows how to pick and choose his moments, backed up with very creepy art design and a suffocating dark ambient soundtrack with screeching violins. Wan also uses some really inventive camera techniques. The camera moves freely through all the rooms of the house and sometimes there are even POV shots that add to the tension. There were definitely more than a few moments in the film where I wished I had brought a pillow with me to hide behind! 

The Conjuring 2 very much does the whole sequel thing by just delivering more! Demons, poltergeists, possessed children, creepy old men and even a terrifying nun all crop up throughout. Running at 2 hours and 15 minutes, I think a couple of scenes could have easily been trimmed to advance the pacing, but in fairness there was rarely a dull moment as James Wan likes to test how many times someone can crap their pants in one sitting! Without giving anything away, perhaps the most scary and intense scene of the film involves merely a drink of water...! If you enjoyed the first film, there is plenty more to enjoy here, though aside from the UK setting, it isn't a drastic departure in style and execution over the first film (or perhaps Wan's Insidious series too). If you haven't seen the original, don't fear because this is an entirely different haunting case, so you can enjoy this film without feeling like you have missed lots of plot details from the first film. I say, if the film makers and cast can keep up the good quality, then I'll be happy to keep watching these films! 8/10.