Synopsis – Lorraine and Ed Warren travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by a malicious spirit.

My Take – Director James Wan‘s 2013 film was one of the better horror movies to emerge in the last decade. It was scary, intense and original. It scared you when you least expected it and it scared you even when you expected it. For a non horror fan like me, The Conjuring is a gem of a film! A film which I initially believed did not require a sequel, mainly based on the fact horror franchise usually end up going downhill and failing ridiculously right after the 1st installment. The good thing is despite being neck deep in the recent Fast & Furious franchise & the upcoming DC superhero film Aquaman, director James Wan gets back to doing what he does best (For those who didn’t know he had directed Saw & Insidious Chapter 1 & 2). You can find James Wan‘s trademark visual style repeated in this movie – his bag of tricks sometimes yield a sense of deja vu but generally working like a charm. This film has everything you want in a sequel; the setting, London, England 1977 along with the return of the ever likable actors Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as our favorite ghost-hunters, Ed and Lorraine Warren. But the important question is – Is this sequel scary enough? Like, jump out of your seat, watch through your outstretched fingers scary? The answer to that is – Yes!! Under James Wan‘s direction, even the most clichéd haunted-house tropes (and this movie is bursting with them) are genuinely creepy, and although the movie isn’t overly reliant on jump scares, the ones it does use—well, they work.

When it’s intended to scare, it really does. The scares come a bit more frequently than in the first movie and do manage to build a lot of tension, even if you’ve seen the original, so well done to James Wan for that. While, I wont go ahead and call this sequel a better film, like most critics are, it sure does live up to the standard set earlier. Based on a true story the film revolves around a real-life incident known as the Enfield Poltergeist, an extremely well-documented case of a supposed ghost who terrorized the Hodgson family of North London from 1977 to 1979 and was apparently a fan of the classics: knocking on walls, shaking beds, throwing furniture, and even the occasional haunted kid’s toy. And as malevolent spirits often do, it picked on one of the children in particular, a 11-year-old year girl. Call it a collective delusion, or a desperate cry for attention from a disturbed child. Or call it what the movie very explicitly calls it: The Devil. The story follows the Warrens, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) six years after the events of the first film. Struggling with their marriage and dealing with negative publicity due to their involvement in the Amityville, the Warrens are called by the church to confirm a haunting in the London community of Enfield. Stressed out from being haunted by a demon, Lorraine & Ed reluctantly take up the case to help the single mother Peggy Hodgson (Frances O’Connor) whose youngest daughter Janet (Madison Wolfe) is being corrupted by a malicious spirit. The only thing the Warrens don’t realize is that they’re dealing with an unprecedented power so cynical, that even their own vulnerability may get the very best of them. Its a herculean task to produce a sequel that matches the quality of the original in which most of the film-makers fail, but not a crafted artist like James Wan who has struck it big in pushing the series forward with an equally thrilling sequel that has its share of excitement even-though the film is made in a platform that’s blatantly similar to the first except being shifted from US to the British setting. Much like director James Wan’s first installment, there are plenty of positive qualities throughout. From the credibility of each and every character (especially Wilson and Farmiga, who never lost a single beat from their initial portrayal of our beloved demon experts), to the cinematography that sends a spine-tingling sensation all in its own artistic way. Another thing that makes this film a cut above most horror that has been recently released is that it is very well made. Wan captures the bleak and impoverished conditions of the late 1970’s working class. The patterned curtains, mismatched bedspreads and garish wallpaper, Wan taps into a familiar fear of helplessness that comes with those childhood memories; or even that uneasy feeling you get when you enter a musty, old house of the recently deceased. Having the supernatural sub-genre infamous for its heavy use of CGI, the sequel wholeheartedly relies mainly on practical effects, most notably The Crooked Man, portrayed by Javier Botet, that seemingly looks computer generated, but is all the more natural with his creepy, spontaneous movements. Though most of the suspense stems from Wan‘s ability to make your skin crawl, he isn’t afraid to parade the obvious scare. Wan knows how to distort every trick in his favor, rung by rung construction makes that final climax has really earned.

Wan is distinguished by the ability to frighten or intimidate the audience with shots both day as at night, he knows play and combine the tools that possesses, knows to keep constant tone of his film, he doesn’t allow his audience to sleep. His excessive use of quick camera shifts make it easy predict when a big jump is coming, with the old, ‘it’s behind you!’ trick, but it makes you feel rather ashamed when he still manages to get you; especially when you’re too old to hide your eyes behind your fingers so you revert to muttering expletives under your breath. He also taps into the universal childhood fear of the dark, and some of its simplest moments—like a little girl hiding under the covers with a flashlight—are its most effective, bolstered by skillfully executed sound design and Don Burgess‘ gloomy cinematography. The running time was pretty long, but it felt like a journey because of the character development and how I was engaged. The soundtrack and sound editing was effective in the way it was intelligently used, and a sequel is definitely possible- the Warrens have a fair amount of source material to draw from. The cast has familiar faces Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, with new guys Madison Wolfe, Frances O’Connor, Lauren Esposito, Benjamin Haigh, Patrick McAuley, Simon McBurney, Maria Doyle Kennedy, and Simon Delaney among others joining in. Not many horror films have names you might recognize. Farmiga‘s and Wolfe‘s performances were the stand-outs in this movie, with the ensemble cast performing valiantly as well. Wilson and his character even though still good became a bit too fearless for me. I loved Wilson and Farmiga‘s likable chemistry. It was a nice, light element to bring to the table. Speaking of the film also explores themes like family, unity, incredulity, and the media. There is one ‘Con’ about this one and it really doesn’t affect how the viewers see it but I just need to point it out. The climax which ended all of a sudden was a weak link in an otherwise intriguing narrative and it felt as if Wan didn’t take much interest in going into the detail of inhuman spirit Valak which is expected to be dealt in detail in the future. A Spin-off film named ‘The Nun’ showcasing the inhuman demon ‘Valak’ is on the cards and is anticipated to carry the Conjuring franchise forward, detailing the character that’s introduced in this movie. I so hope it doesn’t turn to be a disappointment like Annabelle (2014). Keeping that aside, the purpose of this film was to scare the hell out of you, and by God it deserves hundred percent marks for doing that so well. On the whole ‘The Conjuring 2’ is a neatly crafted sequel and one of the best horror films of the decade. Its a thrilling, terrifying and a chilling experience that scare the living daylights out of you. Hail the king James Wan!

Directed – James Wan

Starring – Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Madison Wolfe

Rated – R

Run Time – 134 minutes