The Conjuring 2 - Movie Review

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2016)

There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile. He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, And they all lived together in a little crooked house.
The Conjuring 2 is one of those rare squeals that wasn't terrible, but rather good. The squeal did a lot of things better than first film in terms of character's, the twist and the unpleasant atmosphere. But it's kinda rare that we get a squeal that's just as solid as it's predecessor with plenty of surprises under it's sleeve.
I have no idea how James Wan dose it. I seriously don't know how he manages to take the things that I usually can't stand in today's horror and somehow turn it into gold. That's why The Conjuring movies always stand out from the rest of the paranormal demonic movies, because movies like 'The Conjuring' actually have an atmosphere and characters with depth. Even the jump scars are effective and used at appropriate times. James Wan is the only director I can think of that I trust when it comes to directing horror movies, as he understands the genre well. Wan does it again here with tension that builds and the good old sense of death.
The acting from everyone was pretty damn solid. Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga and Frances O'Connor were all great in the movie. Even the littler girl (Madison Wolfe) was really good, as she actually looked terrified and it was a very convincing performance, even for a child actor in a horror movie.
What really surprised me about "The Conjuring 2" is that I actually did care for the character's. I mean, compared to some horror flicks that are somewhat similar to this, but with the character's that are forgettable and so boring to watch on screen. Luckily this movie had character's with emotional weight to them.
The camera work, the score and the cinematography are the highlights of this film. It also takes it's time and uses different ways to scare or spook you. It may not impress a lot of people, but I do admire the film markers for taking a risk like that.
Enfield haunting case has been a hot topic for years now with people debating if it's a hoax or not. And while the "based on a true story" may be bullsh*t (or just any movie that uses that headline for attention), I'm just so use to it now that it's getting numb. A lot people complained that this was too Hollywood or it was not accurate to the original story. I have seen plenty of documentary's and stories about the Enfield haunting case, and it's so BORING. I literally found nothing interesting about it and all the evidence for the paranormal haunting seemed a bit fake. I'm so glad this movie wasn't accurate to the original case that may or may not be real. The film markers took something with it and told a different story with events that's very loosely based on an actual case.
The problems that I had with this movie (which is not a lot) is the use of CG for scenes involving the Crooked Man. It took me out of the movie and it kinda took away the terror from the Crooked Man character that Wan beautifully created. And yes, Javier Botet (who is about 6' 6¾) plays the Crooked Man, but the CG is so noticeable when he starts jumping around or growing tall to scare the little girl that he's haunting. I think practical effect's would have been so much better and scarier.
Overall rating: The Conjuring 2 is a solid squeal that's way better then the avenge horror squeal. It takes your expectations and turns it completely around.