FILM OF THE WEEK: The Conjuring 2 (15) ***

Fact and outlandish fiction are repeatedly smudged in James Wan's stylish sequel to his 2013 supernatural horror, which dramatised one of the real-life cases of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.
PA Photo/Warner Bros.PA Photo/Warner Bros.
PA Photo/Warner Bros.

Like its predecessor, The Conjuring 2 juxtaposes archive photographs and the Warrens’ taped interviews over the end credits to convince us that the spooky shenanigans orchestrated on screen are anchored in unsettling reality.

Only the gullible would submit wholeheartedly to the film’s gigantic suspensions of belief.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Subtlety often eludes Wan, like a blast on the soundtrack of London Calling by The Clash when the storyline moves to the capital, and he’s fond of shooting impending doom from the point of view of an evil spirit.

The sequel draws inspiration from the notorious case of the Enfield poltergeist, which sent shivers down the spines of north Londoners in the late 1970s.

To this day, the veracity of the haunting is shrouded in mystery. However, the four screenwriters of The Conjuring 2 are content to use one family’s terror as a foundation for the usual array of horror tropes: creaking floorboards, a child speaking in tongues, and figures emerging from the darkness.

In 1976, Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga) visit the Amityville house where Ronald DeFeo Jr was convicted of killing six members of his family.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Warrens go into self-imposed exile to devote more time to their teenage daughter, Judy (Sterling Jerins).

The church compels the Warrens to return to active service to investigate claims from a terrified mother, that her house is in the grip of a dark force.

Ed and Lorraine travel to rain-swept England to interview the mother and her four children.When youngest daughter Janet exhibits signs of demonic possession, Ed and Lorraine battle with the lingering phantom of an old man (Bob Adrian) for the Hodgsons’ souls.

The Conjuring 2 feels overlong and lacks the tight emotional bond of the first film’s besieged family.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Wilson and Farmiga ease back into familiar roles while youngster Wolfe is impressive.

The script dissipates tension with occasional flecks of deadpan humour, like when two police constables witness a chair moving on its own around the Hodgson home and a WPC remarks: ‘This is a bit beyond us.’

It’s not beyond audiences, who enjoy gentle jump-out-of-their-seat scares as they nervously bite nails in the dark of a cinema.