Like To Hear Them Scream

The Conjuring 2

John Carpenter (Halloween). The late Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm St.). George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead). If you were to ever to look up a list of the greatest horror film directors, I strongly believe that these are only a couple of names that would grace every list you can find. Among these great directors, I have to argue that there is one more name that will be added to that list very soon and that is James Wan (Saw). Wan has created some of the most terrifying films in recent film history and is continuing to improve on what is already brought him success. Insidious, Dead Silence, and The Conjuring are just to name a few of the gems that Wan has graced audiences with. I am not here to speak of his past achievements, but his present and the sequel to the latter film on that list I just mentioned. Bringing us another story based on the cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga respectively), Wan gives us The Conjuring 2.

The Story: As the film opens, we are greeted with Ed and Lorraine during one of their most infamous investigations, the Amityville haunting. This is the case that threw them into the limelight of the American public during the middle 1970s. Though the case took a toll most on Lorraine, who convinces Ed to take a break from their paranormal life for a while. Unfortunately, the Warrens do not stay ‘retired’ for long due to a case gaining momentum across the Atlantic Ocean in a small borough of London, called Enfield. There a divorced mother and her four children are being terrorized by a ghost determined to drive them out of ‘his house’.  Reluctantly, The Warrens agree to investigate the matter for the Church but what they find may be more than they can handle.

The Good: Wan has again found a way to creep out his audiences. The film is a step up from the psychological creepiness of its predecessor. This film goes a little further into giving us images of the ‘nightmares’ that are haunting us, but the great thing about this film is that Wan still mixes the psychological thrills with his jump scares. I also appreciate how Wan never steers too far away from the actual plot. Some horror films become more about the scares than a feasible plot; Wan never goes off track with this aspect of the movie.

The Bad: I’m going to apologize up front for my contradictions that are about to happen. Though I praised Wan’s ambition when it comes to this film, however it is also his downfall. The first Conjuring relied heavily on the psychological scares and never really revealed the ‘villain’ of the film. To me that is much scarier when your imagination runs wild with you. Here Wan shows us the ‘villain’ and uses more jump scares with scary imagery. I also didn’t think that Wan needed to connect Amityville with Enfield in the way he did. I just didn’t see the need for it. We all have an idea of what the Amityville case was about, but the Enfield may be a little new to American audiences and why not just focus on that.

The Verdict: Despite my contradictions, I will say that I did enjoy this film. I, obviously, will like the original more, but will say that The Conjuring 2 is a worthy follow-up. If you are fans of the first, than this sequel will not disappoint. Just expect a little more than what we received from the first film.

Worth Your Time.