Wholesome Christian fun

Rating: 7/10 (19 July 2016)

A ghostbusting couple decides to give it a rest after a demon comes too close, but are drawn irresistibly across the Atlantic by the cries for help from an English family haunted by the spirit of an old man, where things get even closer.
Hectic story that rolls out all the tricks to reasonable effect. While Wan does put bums on seats, he's considered a bit safe and does the expected here. But there is some edge to this standard story of puberty possession, with violent entities piercing through the shadows with demonic intent. Early on the scares come through sound jumps, but the visual weirdness takes over and delivers some good stuff.
The acting is good, particularly the wife. There is one afterthought scene before the third act, which starts with a false line about taking the music away and develops into a decent tribute to Elvis while failing to deliver any horror effect. That's probably the biggest blip in the pacing of a story that doesn't have enough psychological strength or coherent demon myth to outrun 100 mins.
The Christian angle would be nauseating, except there's no sincerity and it fizzles out with maudlin reassurance for the teen audience.The English accents are from drama school, although there is a fair attempt at setting the contemporary scene from 1977 - not sure Maggie called herself the Iron Lady until two years later.
Sound design early on was interesting, but after that it's mostly Scorsese-style dropping in of popular old tunes that sets the tone.
Overall, more robust from Wan but still safe as houses. Bwahahaha!