Director: James Wan
Writers: Carey Hayes, Chad Hayes, James Wan, David Leslie Johnson
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Madison Wolfe, Frances O'Connor, Lauren Esposito, Benjamin Haigh, Patrick McAuley
Runtime: 134 mins.
2016
There are many things I love about the freshly franchised Conjuring movies. Foremost among them is the opening title card that features some ponderous purple prose detailing the "true" nature of this story, scrolling up the screen in enormous spidery yellow text, accompanied by music of ill portent. If the events as portrayed were even vaguely "true," this film would likely be in bad taste, but luckily the movie has no compunctions about letting us know early and often that there is not a whiff of accuracy to what you're seeing onscreen. The film uses its "based on actual events" as schlocky window dressing, a mood-setting gesture no more accurate than "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." This is to our tremendous advantage; instead of making some self-serious loosely-biographical slog, we have been treated to a couple of the most delightfully scary haunted house stories to ever grace the genre.
Wan's sequel kicks off with a statement of intent. Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren are in the midst of investigating the haunting at Amityville, one of the most heavily mined source materials in paranormal history. Lorraine goes on a little spirit walk that involves stepping into the shoes of the possessed killer, at which point she is confronted with a gruesome premonition about the future of her and her husband. This is not one of the better scenes of the film, but setting the opening stinger in Amityville effectively establishes two important points: 1) Wan is not afraid to upstage his horror-making brethren, and 2) This particular Conjuring chapter will have far more of a focus on the ghostbusting duo than the last.
Meanwhile, in a totally-somewhat-unrelated turn of events, the Hodgson family in London starts getting haunted as hell. Although never quite as subtle as the characterization given the Perrons in the previous film, the Hodgsons are established pleasantly enough that you want to root for them when the ectoplasm hits the fan.
That haunting starts in short order. The Conjuring 2 tips its hand far earlier than its predecessor, giving us visible specters right off the bat rather than a slow build-up. I prefer the latter method, but for a sequel it's likely this was the better choice. We know the wheelhouse of this film's world already, after all. No use in pretending otherwise.
Therefore The Conjuring 2 is not as scary as The Conjuring, though it is flashier, and comparably crafted. There are still plenty of standout sequences, like a late night interaction between young Billy (Benjamin Haigh) and an electronic toy firetruck that rolls into his room of its own accord. We watch him as he watches the hallway that leads to his darkened play tent. The composition is sinister, almost to the level of anything we saw in the original. Also worth mentioning is the Crooked Man, a nightmare figure that skirts close to goofiness, but manages to retain its impact through sheer tonal control.
Since The Conjuring 2 does play its hand earlier, and goes on for longer, the middle starts to feel rather shaggy after a while. Wan keeps our attention for as long as humanly possible, but there is really no reason for a horror sequel to crest 120 minutes. It takes forever for the Warrens to make it to England because the movie wants to do a whole refusing-the-call thing with them. Meanwhile, the screenplay spins wheels and tries to keep things engaging. I can't for the life of my understand why these films feel the need to insert narrative detours in which the Warrens are confronted with supernatural shenanigans in their own home for just one scene. I will concede, however, that that choice gives us perhaps the finest buildup/payoff scare scene in the film, a daytime (!) interaction involving Lorraine, a demon nun, a moving shadow, and a painting of said nun.
Anywho, I'm sure part of the narrative delay is that Wan and the Hayes brothers opt to make the Warrens the protagonists of this film, while also giving the Hodgsons time to shine on their own. It's a decent decision for the film, and a smart choice in terms of franchising the property. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are solid shoulders on which to mount these stories. Farmiga especially brings her A-game here, engaging in exactly the soulful-but-not-annoying-or-distracting dramatics you would want from the emotional center of a demonchasing movie.
I still prefer the understated family drama at the center of the first film, though perhaps this is a personal preference. I find Patrick Wilson performing an Elvis song for a traumatized British family as endearing as the next guy, but there are a few too many cheesy feel good moments surrounding the Warrens, especially late in the film, for me to be totally on board.
All told, any complaints I have about the experience of this movie are relatively minor. Indie horror has been seeing a resurgence in recent years, so it's especially nice to see more traditional nuts and bolts spookfests getting their due. James Wan is a horror maestro who has been on the rise for quite a while. He's only gotten better since kicking off the 2000's torture porn obsession with Saw, and I imagine most of what he cooks up will be worth watching.
3.5 / 5 BLOBS
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