The Conjuring 2
A Movie Review
by Caroline Field
For the past few years it seems like Hollywood has given up on making the horror genre popular again. Although
"It Follows" and "The Witch" were popular in the box office,
movies like "The Forest" and "The Darkness" were terrible
additions to the genre that is supposed to make our blood
boil and turn our hair white. With major studios hashing out
stereotypical tropes and lame jump-scares, how are horror
fans supposed to cope with the declining state of originality
in scariness?
Enter James Wan, Malaysian-born Australian director,
with "The Conjuring," a smash hit that made us grip the edge
of our seats in fear. The true story of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren and the Perron family made
audiences scream in theaters across the nation. Wan scored
a sequel to the box office success almost instantly. So when
"The Conjuring 2" was announced in December 2015, horror
fans were excited to see what the horror master had in store.
Grabbing my popcorn and a friend to hold onto
(hopefully in terror), I settled down in my plush seat at the
local theater on opening day. I’d been following the news
about the movie for months, and I was even more excited
since I overheard a theater employee tell his co-worker that
a man crapped his pants at one part in the film. “I bet at least
one person will soil himself again," the employee chuckled as
he swept dirty popcorn off the floor.
The small room was packed full of fellow horror fans
and a person dressed up as Annabelle, a creepy doll from the
first film, which I found to be in bad taste. "Annabelle" wasn’t
that great of a spin-off movie in the first place, but to each fan
their own. It’s not like anyone can dress in 70’s clothing (the
era in which the film takes place) without looking like they
belong in a cult anyways. The lights dimmed and the small
conversations ceased as the film that was (hopefully) going to
save the horror genre began.
Immediately, we're propelled into a seance led by Lorraine, as her husband Ed watches nearby. We learn that the
duo are investigating the infamous Amityville house, and we
watch Lorraine enter into the spirit realm by simply closing
her eyes. I hear my friend whimper beside me as Lorraine
walks throughout the house, following a small child with
white eyes. A few disturbing images later and a really good
jump-scare, and we have the rolling title screen.
One year later at the Enfield council house, the Hodgson family resides in unified poverty. Janet, the eldest of the
four children, is sad about her father’s lack of presence in her
life and she plays with an ouija board often as her coping
mechanism (very cliche, if you ask me). At this point, I
wasn’t impressed with the film since it was following usual as-of-late Hollywood tropes (estranged family, weird
child, etc.). I was actually considering walking out.
That was, until, the first signs of the haunting began.
Wan knows how to use silence to play with our
emotions. After the haunting and subsequent possession began, I was gripping the edges of my seat so hard
my knuckles turned white. There is true horror in slow
silence, and Wan weaves an orchestra of terror as the
film continues and the Warrens get involved in the media-driven paranormal case. As Janet is haunted by the
spirit of an old man who invades her home and as she
slowly gets possessed by him, Lorraine is followed by
possibly the creepiest demon-nun in all of horror history.
This demon nun is obviously one of the best parts
of the entire movie. The entire time she was on-screen,
everyone in the theater held their breath. There is a brilliant scene between Lorraine and the demon-nun that
made one audience member pee his pants (just as the
theater employee predicted) and he had to excuse himself. Through careful choices in costume and behavior, I
could understand why that poor man soiled himself, as I
was close to doing that as well.
Janet’s possession escalates about halfway through
the movie and a new demon manifests through the form
of a crooked man. This was, sad to say, the worst part of
the movie. As a cinephile, there was never as disappointing a moment as from the moment I saw that obviously
CGI-created monster. Moments that were supposed to
be terrifying because of his presence actually made some
audience members laugh.
The climax of the film is very emotional.The bond
that Ed and Lorraine have with each other is pushed
to the limits as they remain trapped on opposite sides
of a door in the pouring rain. Their connection is the
main focus of the character development that we see
on-screen, and as a consequence it seems that the emotions of the Hodgson family are pushed to the side. It is
rare that we see an emotional break in a family during
a stressful time, and while the film does touch on the
separation of the family and Janet a little, I found myself
craving more of that tension.