A Genuinely Scary Sequel

Rating: 8/10 (19 June 2016)

The Conjuring 2 is one of those extremely rare horror sequels that doesn't fall victim to copying it's predecessor. While The Conjuring 2 isn't free of clichés and isn't better than it's predecessor, it's a really solid horror film separate from the original. The Conjuring 2 is chilling without relying on jump scares, features really good character development, despite being a tad familiar. This film may prove that James Wan is the modern king of horror, because every horror film he does is solid.
One thing to learn from this film is that while jump scares are a cheap way to get scares, they can be very effective when used sparingly. Many modern horror films rely solely on jump scares to scare the audience, but this film has a truly chilling tone, and many scenes are terrifying without jumping the audience. That being said there are jump scares littered throughout this film, but Wan is clever when he uses them, and is often effective when he uses them. I'm proud that most horror films don't jump me, that being said multiple times watching this film I found myself jumped.
One major reason this film succeeds is because of the character development, which really helps the audience care about the characters. Every single character in the film is well fleshed out, and given a moment of relatability. Even the ghosts in the film are generally scary and have a really good design. However, the film's characters represent one of the film's major problems, the fact that it's based on true events. After seeing this film it would seem to say that the phrase "based on true events" was only included for dramatic effect.
The story of the film is based on the actual events of the Enfield Poltergeist in England in the late 70's but the problem is that half the film uses moments from that investigation and the other half feels like an exorcist rip off. It's unfortunate because there's a terrifying story, despite the evidence that it was a hoax, in the Enfield Poltergeist that gets lost in the shuffle. Simply put if the filmmakers hadn't felt the need to match The Exorcist, the film's ending may not have felt so different from the rest of the film.
In the end for horror buffs, this may be the best horror film of the year, if nothing better comes along. For those who want to see a great horror film regardless of its faithfulness to the actual events this is a great film, but for those who want a faithful adaptation of the Enfield Poltergeist this film definitely takes some liberties. That being said this film is genuinely scary which is rare today, and above that is just a good film in general, so it's most definitely worth seeing.