Conjuring 2 Director James Wan is the Master Magician of Horror

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2016)

Director James Wan is a magician. He has all the tricks... Sleight of hand... Misdirection... Creating illusions that will terrify you to the core, without having to resort to gore or cheap thrills. Granted he is a master of making you jump out your seat, of making your heart skip a beat, but it's his ability to force you to hold your breath that makes his Conjuring movies so appealing and so much fun to watch. The camera pans and tilts at weird angles. The foreground and background focus and blur interchangeably as if to visually bend reality. A voice whispers in the dark. And through all this, somewhere in the back of your mind, the nagging horror that horrified you when you watched the Exorcist for the very first time, five words:
Based on a true story.
Like the first Conjuring (brilliant movie) the sequel is a dramatization of a case investigated by real life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The first Conjuring described the events of a house haunted by a witch called Bathsheba. The Warrens were often tackling multiple cases at once, and to emphasize the emotional stress that came with it, the first Conjuring also detailed the Warrens' experiences with a doll named Anabelle that reportedly came to life, possessed by an evil spirit, that is to this day locked away in a glass case in the back of the Warren household.
In Part 2 we are re-introduced to the Warrens by reminding us of the case that catapulted the couple into the public eye, the murders in Amityville. The majority of this film, however, actually takes place across the pond in London, where a strange entity disturbed the peace of a poor, struggling single-mom and her four children. This became the most documented paranormal case in history, an entity known as the Enfield Poltergeist.
The Conjuring 2 has a great cast. Frances 'O Connor plays Peggy Hodgson, the single mom who has to hold the house together in the midst of all the horror, including all the ridicule from non-believers. She's a mother trying and failing to maintain sanity. She wants to be brave for her kids, yet can't help but to be visibly agitated. Her youngest son Billy, a little boy with a stutter, is adorable, constantly bullied by his peers but is overwhelmed with boundless joy at the sight of a biscuit! The one who stole the show, however, was Madison Wolfe as Janet Hodgson, who in the real-life haunting was the entity's favorite target. Definitely see shades of Linda Blair in her performance.
Other players like Simon McBurney as Maurice Gross, the British paranormal investigator who was primarily involved with the Enfield Poltergeist, even the constables who corroborated that some freaky stuff went down in the house, look and act just like those involved in the real case (did some investigating of my own on YouTube).
Of course the real heroes of the film are Ed and Lorraine Warren played by Patrick Wilson (Insidious) and Vera Fermiga (Bates Motel) - as you can see both actors have a tendency towards dark material. They are an attractive couple, extremely likable, and as in the first Conjuring, there's a sense of adoration and compassion for the work the Warrens do. Both Patrick and Vera have this uncanny ability to make you feel comforted one minute, but with a slight contortion of the face, you know something is wrong. "I've got a bad feeling about this." Regardless whether you believe in this stuff or not, there's admiration for a couple who have dedicated their lives to helping others, freeing the tormented from inexplicable horrors when no one else can. Ed and Lorraine Warrens were the only ones outside of the clergy who were authorized by the Catholic Church to perform exorcisms.
"Based on a true story" should always be taken with a grain of salt. There are definitely some fantastical terrors that are there for show, inspired by nightmares as seen in Insidious or the Babadook. Like the first Conjuring, they don't turn a blind eye to alternative explanations for the events that take place, and allow you to view the subject from the skeptic's standpoint before diving headfirst into the dark realm of the beyond. One thing for sure is that the filmmakers have respect for the original material, pulling from old photographs to recreate the real settings, down to the details of the posters on their bedroom walls. What better example is there of respect for the material than this: prior to filming Conjuring Part 2, the filmmakers had a Catholic priest come in to bless the set. Apparently eerie occurrences took place when they filmed the first Conjuring movie.
I ain't afraid of no ghosts. No poltergeist is going to stop Director James Wan and Writers Chad and Carey Hayes from telling the amazing story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, and with many more cases yet to be explored, I really hope they can conjure up another one.