The Conjuring 2 proves many things. To begin with, the new film cements James Wan as a master of horror if that had not been established already. It also proves that, if an audience is treated with enough care in the first two acts of a movie, they will almost always stay with it when things go nuts in the end. The film also proves that Patrick Wilson can sing. Who knew?
The Conjuring 2 is the sequel to Wan’s original from 2013 that reunites starts Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as notorious paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Picking up right where the original film left off we pull back through a set of windows, revealing the iconic Amityville window panes. Downstairs Ed and Lorraine are conducting a seance in which Lorraine has a disturbing vision of her husband’s death. After the incident Lorraine begs her husband to take a break from investigations for a while and he reluctantly agrees.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic a frazzled, single mother, Peggy (Frances O’Connor) is attempting to maintain a household of four children after her husband leaves for another woman. One of the girls is Janet (Madison Wolfe) who starts off with fits of sleepwalking, then slowly works her way to nocturnal hijinks, then finally possession by the deceased inhabitant of the home, Bill Wilkins (Bob Adrian).
Ed and Lorraine are asked to go spend three days with the distressed mother and the kids to simply prove whether or not there is paranormal activity going on so that they church can decide if they should get involved. Despite agreeing to a hiatus, Ed agrees and before you know it, the two are in Enfield and sleeping over at the creepy, compact, two-story hovel.
James Wan knows how to pace his scares and then deliver at just the right moment which at times almost becomes predictable. Wan, along with cinematographer Don Burgess, uses spectral POV shots to loop and zoom through the compact environment, giving us a real sense of place while keeping us on our toes. Both Wilson and Farmiga once again turn in solid performances that charm when things become a little hard to swallow.
The story sounds the same because it has the same basic elements. A mom and kids in peril, a slow progression into possession. The same notes are used again because, frankly, they work. This isn’t so much a derivative story as it is one that can’t help but use what has been proven to scare. This time around, though, they really ratchet up the paranormal madness in the third and final act of suspense and horror to a borderline fantasy level. At some point you begin to question the claim that this was based on a true story and instead understand that it was merely suggested by it much like Texas Chainsaw Massacre was suggested by serial killer Ed Gein.
The great thing is that, by the time that final reel begins playing you may very well not care how fantastical things get because the movie had been so much fun up to that point. The performances are solid and the craft and execution of horror are on point. The Conjuring 2 opens nationwide tonight.
