The Conjuring 2 (2016)

DIRECTED BY

James Wan

STARRING

Vera Farmiga - Lorraine Warren

Patrick Wilson - Ed Warren

Frances O’Connor - Peggy Hodgson

Madison Wolfe - Janet Hodgson

Simon McBurney - Maurice Grosse

Franka Potente - Anita Gregory

Genre - Horror/Thriller/Supernatural/Demons/Ghosts

Running Time - 134 Minutes

PLOT

In 1976, Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) investigate the infamous Amityville house to see if the stories are a hoax or not. While their contributions to the case turns the Warrens into celebrities, Lorraine sees a vision of Ed’s death in the house - causing Lorraine to want to give up investigating supernatural occurrences. Ed reluctantly agrees, staying home with their daughter and continuing their lecture circuit in colleges.

A year later however, the Warrens are pulled into another case they can’t seem to get themselves out of. Apparently in Enfield, England (a town in London), single mom Peggy Hodgson (Frances O’Connor) and her four children are being haunted and terrorized by the angry spirit of a 72-year-old man who died inside of their house prior to the Hodgson’s moving in. The local church won’t step in unless they have proof the claim is real, hoping the Warrens will investigate alongside researcher Maurice Grosse (Simon McBurney) and skeptic psychologist Anita Gregory (Franka Potente). Usually able to pick up on things, Lorraine is having trouble sensing anything evil in the house - which complicates matters until it’s possibly too late.

REVIEW

• James Wan does it again, directing a horror film that actually relies on atmosphere, mood, and the occasional jump scares that should feel cheaper than they do - but they don’t, adding to the experience. Wan really uses editing, framing, and mise en scene to provide creepiness and tension throughout the film, giving us glimpses of supernatural activity without revealing all until the time is right. I especially loved the fact that Wan didn’t always use loud sound cues during the jump scares, letting them come out of surprise instead of during moments you’d expect them the most. Wan even excels at the quieter, more human moments. I loved every scene involving just the Warrens together interacting, especially the “Can’t Help Falling in Love” moment with Ed doing his best Elvis impersonation. Just a really beautiful film directed by a man who knew exactly what he was doing behind the lens. Just masterful stuff.

• The acting in THE CONJURING 2 is wonderful. More so than in the first film. the sequel really let Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga shine as Ed and Lorraine Warren. One of my minor issues in the first film was that we didn’t really get enough of Wilson and Farmiga as the Warrens, as that film was more focused on the Perron family. I’m glad the couple is more in the forefront here, as Wilson and Farmiga are fantastic as this couple of paranormal investigators. Their chemistry is extremely charming, loving, and realistic. Sometimes you get horror characters that just annoy you. And then you get some that just make you wish they get an entire franchise devoted to them and their adventures. The Warrens deserve this franchise, thanks to the charming and heroic Wilson and the warm and strong-willed Farmiga. The other actors, especially Frances O’Connor and young Madison Wolfe, are great as well. Wolfe, in particular, manages to bring some creep factor as the conduit to the evil spirits inside the Enfield House. I thought everyone in this cast brought it and truly elevated an already well-written script.

• The narrative in CONJURING 2 could have just rehashed what was done in 2013’s THE CONJURING. Yes, we get a family haunted by demonic spirits inside of a newly moved in house. Yes, a family member gets possessed. Yes, we get the Warrens investigating and believing in the situation while others remain skeptical until they see things for themselves. But I thought the story was a bit stronger, and more fun, than its predecessor. I think what I liked most about it is that this sequel felt more personal for the Warrens, as the Amityville investigation [which is a great quick opener to the film] causes them to doubt their investigations, fearing for their lives. The demonic spirit Lorraine sees at Amityville has a connection to the Enfield house, giving the Warrens more of a reason to stop it - regardless of the danger it presents. I thought Hodgson family had great interactions with each other, as well as bringing in the neighbors as comic relief characters to bring up the mood a bit when appropriate. I even loved the scenes where the Warrens are on a talk show and are called frauds due to massive skepticism, which brings out some nice character development for Ed and Lorraine. While THE CONJURING was a bit more contained, the sequel needed to be a bit broader while maintaining the essence of what had already been established. THE CONJURING 2 could have played it a bit more safe, but the script lets this sequel play with things a bit more on a grander scale. I thought it worked really well.

• Some people had issues with the special effects. Yes, some of it does look a bit like a cartoon at times - especially towards the end. But I still dug it for the most part and thought some of the demonic spirits were pretty creepy. There are too many scenes to put down here, but I loved the painting scene [reminded me of J-horror] and a scene involved a flooded basement. The special effects don’t look like a Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster, but they get the job done and manage to be creepy at times.

• If there are any issues I had with THE CONJURING 2, maybe the film was a bit too long. A horror film that’s more than 2 hours is a bit much, even though it doesn’t hurt this film all that much since there is a lot going on. I also felt the ending was a bit too clean. Yes, it had to end happily as possible, but the resolution felt way too rushed, too easy, and too cliche. I get it was set up throughout the film, but the revelation just seemed to pop up at the most convenient time.

THE FINAL HOWL

THE CONJURING 2 is exactly what I wanted this sequel to be. It has more of a focus on the Warrens, portrayed wonderfully by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. While not as creepy as the first film, it does have its moments that will make you jump every now and then. I thought the script was pretty solid and James Wan confidently directs the sequel with a lot of style for its two-hour-plus running time. Sure the ending arrived a bit too easily, the film was probably longer than it should have been, and not all the CGI works. But I had a lot of fun with THE CONJURING 2 and I’m looking forward to another one if all the major players return.

SCORE

3.5 Howls Outta 4

[SEQUEL SEPTEMBER II] Quick Thoughts on Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)

DIRECTED BY
James Wan

STARRING
Patrick Wilson - Josh Lambert
Rose Bryne - Renai Lambert
Ty Simpkins - Dalton Lambert
Lin Shaye - Elise Ranier
Barbara Hershey - Lorraine Lambert
Steve Coulter - Carl
Leigh Whannell - Specs
Angus Sampson - Tucker
Andrew Astor - Foster Lambert

Genre - Horror/Supernatural/Ghosts/Demons

Running Time - 105 Minutes


PLOT
INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 begins with a prologue from 1986, where a young Elise Ranier (Lindsay Seim) first meets Lorraine (Jocelin Donahue) and young Josh (Garrett Ryan) Lambert during when Josh realized he had the ability to astral project himself into The Further. The film quickly picks up where INSIDIOUS had left off, with Elise (Lin Shaye) having been strangled to death by Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) to his wife's, Renai's (Rose Byrne) horror. Renai knows that Josh isn't capable of murder, realizing that some other spirit has possessed his body as she doesn't recognize her husband anymore. In fact, Renai sees a woman in a black veil haunting her mother-in-law's home in which they're now staying. As Renai is freaked out that her husband may not be who he claims he is, Josh's mother (Barbara Hershey) gathers the help of paranormal investigators Specs (Leigh Whannell), Tucker (Angus Sampson), and Elise's first partner Carl (Steve Coulter) to figure out what's going on. Realizing that Josh is still stuck in the Further and finding out the spirit possessing Josh's body, the group knows that they're in more danger than ever before.

QUICK THOUGHTS
+ I really enjoyed the acting in INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2. Patrick Wilson carried the film quite well as Josh. I liked how he portrayed the struggle of both Josh in the Further, as well as the possessed Josh who became more Jack Torrence like as the film progressed. Wilson has become quite the player in the horror genre recently, which helps the genre since Wilson is more than capable as an actor. Rose Bryne didn't get to do much this time around, unfortunately, as Renai. But her fear and confusion was pretty great whenever she was on screen. And Ty Simpkins was still pretty good as Dalton, although he doesn't get all that much to do this time around either.

The reality is that INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 belongs to the supporting characters, for better or worse. Barbara Hershey gets a higher profile here than she did in the first film, providing a subtle performance as Josh's mother, Lorraine. Screenwriter Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson provide the comic relief as Specs and Tucker. With the two having a bigger spotlight here, the sequel is definitely played more for laughs at times rather than scares. Steve Coulter is also good as Carl, pretty much taking over the Elise role for most of the film. And Lin Shaye does well again as Elise. The story may not have worked entirely, but the acting was pretty solid.

+ While not as good as in THE CONJURING [still the James Wan film of the year], Wan's direction in INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 is still very good. The picture quality looks beautiful. The editing and pacing was good. The film relies more on jump scares, which worked more often than not. And the lighter tone was pretty evident as the film ran on, which made it feel different from the more serious and darker INSIDIOUS.

- Issues with the direction? There's no real style here. INSIDIOUS had a lot of cool style that added to the atmosphere of the film. THE CONJURING's biggest highlight was the visual presentation, carrying a foreboding feel that would creep you out. Even DEAD SILENCE, my least favorite Wan film, had visual style that kept you engaged. But INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 fell a bit flat for me visually. I don't know what it was. I never felt any real tension or suspense. The way the visuals were presented were pretty bland compared to what Wan had done before. Maybe Wan really is bored of the horror genre, because the visuals didn't wow me or make me feel something genuine in this sequel. I guess the lighter tone didn't help either, since I loved that the first film took itself seriously and really wanted to give you goosebumps. The sequel should have taken everything that was right about the first film and raised the volume by 10. CHAPTER 2 didn't really do that for me, even if Wan did direct a competent film.

+ I like the mystery surrounding Josh, who was possessing his body, and why Dalton was involved in the first film. Since everything was pretty much given away in INSIDIOUS, the angle as to what really happened to Josh at the end of the film was the screenplay's strongest point. I'm not going to spoil anything, but I enjoyed the investigation parts of the story, as well as how it played with the timeline when it came to the Lambert family's history with demonic spirits. The actual reveal and the backstory was pretty clever as well, and the villains did come across as threats. It also helped that the mystery took itself really seriously, matching the tone created in the first film. It grounded the story and gave it a reason to exist - when it reality it probably shouldn't.

- However, the rest of the story fell flat. It's not because the characters were bad [some were shortchanged, unfortunately] or the script was written terribly [which it wasn't]. It was because there was a lot going on that never really connected in a cohesive way until the very end. The story was a bit all over the place, with multiple subplots that probably gave certain characters more time than others that deserved that time.

The three acts couldn't have been any more different. The first act was the set up, to the point where it almost felt like filler and repetition to what happened in the first film. The second act was pretty much the investigative portion, which I dug. But the characters pretty much just walked around for most of it, trying to make the exposition interesting. And the third act was the horror show. I enjoyed the story for what it was, but I thought it took way too long to get where it was going.

I also felt the Lambert family felt like supporting characters, while the side characters took the lead here. INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2 really should have been Josh's story and his struggle to return back to his body. But you got people cutting jokes, and the supporting characters taking chunks of time to figure out what's going on. Renai was criminally underused. The existence of that middle child [Foster] still irks me, because he doesn't really have much of a purpose. And the journey to get Josh back to his original body felt a bit forced and uneven.

But I still liked the narrative. Just wish it was more cohesive and tighter.

THE FINAL HOWL
I liked the first INSIDIOUS more, but CHAPTER 2 isn't terrible either. The story brings the sequel down unfortunately, although I did enjoy the mystery aspect of what's going on with a certain character. James Wan's performance behind the camera lacked style compared to his other works [THE CONJURING is a stronger movie visually], but it was still pretty good. The acting was pretty great though, especially by Patrick Wilson carrying the film. But CHAPTER 2 wants to share so many things about the situation that the story feels forced at times. While inferior to INSIDIOUS, CHAPTER 2 is still a good, entertaining, watchable sequel that will definitely find its audience.



SCORE

3 Howls Outta 4