Horror sequel banishes spirit of subtlety
Print Edition
IF “The Conjuring” was a chilling whisper, the sequel is a deafening shriek.
That might not be a bad thing for some, but the shock jumps and cheesy-looking demons in “The Conjuring 2 “ were a definite departure from the first, and not necessarily for the better. The brilliance of director James Wan’s elegant original film was how it used our own horror savvy against us.
“The Conjuring 2,” however, goes all out. It’s even louder, somehow. And there are more demons, more jump scares, more creepy antique toys and, thankfully, more Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), the most delightfully campy couple ever to grace the screen.
The story deals with the Enfield Poltergeist — a highly documented 1977 case about a single mother, Peggy Hodgson (played here by Frances O’Connor); her four children; and the strange and terrifying happenings in their small home. As with most stories about haunted houses, it starts small and escalates quickly to demonic possession of an 11-year-old girl, Janet (played by Madison Wolfe).
This time, though, the Warrens have their own issues. In a prologue about the Amityville murders, Lorraine sees something that scares her so deeply, she has no choice but to put her foot down and demand that she and Ed stop this business of paranormal investigation. Meanwhile, the whole industry of paranormal investigation is being picked apart by naysayers in the press, so when the Enfield situation springs up, the Catholic Church basically asks the Warrens to go ahead and try to get proof first to save the church from another embarrassing hoax situation. While interesting, the constant skepticism and wavering trust also work to dull the fun of the scares. Is the audience supposed to doubt little Janet, too? It’s never really clear.
The film is also way too long and the tricks end up feeling a little repetitive and obvious, although there’s a great sequence in the Warrens’ home with a creepy picture that Ed painted.
The horror sequel is a tough thing to pull off in general, and “The Conjuring 2” is most certainly one of the better efforts.
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