This is how you make a sequel!

Rating: 9/10 (1 August 2016)

A thoroughly enjoyable night out at the flicks. I saw the first film and loved it and I think I might have enjoyed this sequel even more and whats-more, the screening I went to of this was absolutely still and silent - James Wan had the audience in the palm of his hand which is exactly the way it should be.
Wan takes everything you loved about the first film and turns the volume up a couple of more notches. The set design, script, acting and scare scenes are all uniformly masterful. My only criticism would be that it was a tad long and the middle section of the film could have been trimmed down a bit; we reach a point as an audience where we feel that the setup has been established for the final act and we want to move into the final movement of the film but Wan lingers a bit too long and shows us one too many possession scenes I think. This is a minor criticism though.
Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson deliver solid performances again and Madison Wolfe and Frances O'Connor (whom I enjoyed immensely in the excellent TV series The Missing) are also excellent. The scare set pieces are fantastic with the early scene of the demon visiting Lorraine at home being one of the best horror scenes in years. Great music and atmosphere and I was pleased to see that Wan even kept the creepy ascending yellow title scroll from the first film.
9/10. Loses one point for being slightly too long.