NEW MOVIE: The Conjuring 2

In 2013, James Wan introduced us to the terrifying history of the Warrens through The Conjuring. Three years later, he has returned to the case files to bring the story of the Enfield Poltergeist in The Conjuring 2. The Conjuring was one of the best horror films I've seen; does the second one hold up?

Rated R for terror and horror violence

The Conjuring 2 once again stars Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel) and Patrick Wilson (Insidious) as real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. As Lorraine witnesses terrifying premonitions after the case in Amityville, she's ready to give the paranormal activity a rest. However, the Catholic Church requires somebody to check to see if a widely-publicized case in Enfield, England, is legitimate or not before it can get involved. The Warrens go and soon become involved in a case that threatens to tear families apart, including theirs.

The Conjuring 2 is longer, more intense, more scary, more powerful, and more emotional than the first, but it's not always better. Farmiga and Wilson still have great chemistry, and it really shows in this one more so than in its predecessor. Whether you believe the stories or not (admittedly, this one takes too many evident liberties to take the "true story" label at face value), the reality of the characters, if not the story, is palpable. Much like the first film, The Conjuring 2 refuses to be a straight-up horror film, and often acts as a family drama. While the Hodgson family is having trouble being believed, the Warrens take it upon themselves to reunite a broken family, making for great scenes that further explore the Warrens' relationship, such as when Ed plays Elvis for the children to cheer them up or when Ed and Lorraine, on different occasions, share their love story with the tormented girl Janet (Madison Wolfe, Trumbo, The Campaign). An improved soundtrack also makes these moments resonate. A sensitive soul could get teary-eyed watching this, and not just from getting the kitchen sink scared out of them.

The aforementioned chemistry comes into play with the love of Ed and Lorraine being challenged by evil forces opposing their work. Again, The Conjuring 2 plays with the issue of the Warrens' faith. In the first film, a lot of this was on Ed's nervousness about performing an exorcism. The second film plays with it on a more personal level as now Lorraine is the one in conflict. Lorraine becomes increasingly worried about a demon nun that's been haunting her visions and the accompanying threat on her husband's life. Because of this, she's far less willing to get involved in Enfield than she was at the Perron farm. Through this arises an interesting scenario: trusting in God's will in her family's plight against the demonic, or securing her husband's safety by neglecting those in need of their help. This drama leads to an exciting finale that had me feeling one of those "Yes, hallelujah, Jesus!" moments more than God's Not Dead or War Room ever mustered. (I don't mean to insult War Room by putting it in the same company as the former, as it was better than average, but I did feel more hallelujah in this horror film than in that drama.)

The acting is also exceptional this time around. Even though the movie's showing of scares at the house undermines the reasonable seeds of doubt it tries to plant (this is one of the more questioned hauntings in paranormal history), Young Madison Wolfe as Janet is extraordinarily good as she performs a wide variety of characterization. While we do believe what she's experiencing--the movie shows us--she does a good job portraying innocence, demonic evil, and possible deception. This all isn't to say that the acting in the first film was bad; I just found the sequel's to be more notable.

Even though Bathsheba was a terrifying villain in the first film, the ghostly Bill Wilkins and the demon nun have her beat this time around. While they don't have the same oppressive force over the home as Bathsheba did, they are much creepier and scarier, and I believe it's because overall they affect not just the haunted family, but the Warrens as well, even more so than the Annabelle scare scene in the predecessor. Conceptually, they are more terrifying than the Bathsheba demon, and they stay the course of scares for the most part until the very end. The revelations that occur and the way the two connect are interesting and exciting to unveil, and really terrify me for The Nun spin-off that is reportedly in the works.

Not exactly the first thing I'd want hanging around, but okay, you do you.

As much as the sequel builds upon The Conjuring in terms of plot, character, and scares, it does have a handful of issues. For one, the film is longer, which isn't a bad thing. Because of it, we get to explore the characters more. Unfortunately, a good beginning chunk of this time is spent struggling to figure out where it's going and figuring out what the movie wants to be. When we see all the connective tissue at the finale's end, it doesn't seem as bad, but it didn't start out as strong as one would hope. Also, while most of the scares are very good, very well-built-up, and very effective, there is one in particular that started out clever then just seemed out of place. Without spoiling anything, an object transforms into a monster. Understandably, there is CGI used to achieve the effect, but I was surprised when the monster stayed CGI until the end of the sequence considering how practical the original was. It took me out of the movie for a little bit, but it soon righted itself. In the end, The Conjuring 2 is another strong entry in the Warren franchise. Despite a few notable missteps, the film does end up being scarier and more intense, but also more powerful and emotional than its predecessor. I give it 4.5/5 Stars. It's not perfect, but it still does a lot of good.


So what is your opinion on The Conjuring franchise? Did you feel this was a worthy entry? Also, please take a moment and read this brief open letter on my experience of watching The Conjuring 2. I felt the review was not an appropriate place for it, but it still needed to be said. Whatever you have to say about me or the movies, comment below!