The Conjuring 2: More Than Just A Horror Movie

Rating: 9/10 (11 June 2016)

The Conjuring 2
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By Stephanie Cieplinski
Every now again we come across films that are considered horror movies, yet are so much more than that. Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Exorcist (1973), and Psycho (1960) all come to mind. All of these films are horrific in nature, but have messages that blur the lines between genres. James Wan has done it again with this thrilling and chilling sequel to his 2013 film The Conjuring. Returning are Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren, and written for the screen by Wan (Insidious, Saw), Carey Hayes and Chad Hayes (The Conjuring, House of Wax) and David Johnson (Orphan).
This film isn't merely blood, gore and jump scares; it's a heart-wrenching love story, loosely based on the real-life marriage between the Warrens. This is the most connected we've ever been to characters in Wan's films that doesn't rely on horror, but on a lesson about life and morality. We're invested more than before with the Warren family and even more so with the single mother-run household of Peggy Hodgson (Frances O'Connor) and her four children Janet (Madison Wolfe), Margaret (Lauren Esposito), Billy (Benjamin Haigh) and Johnny (Patrick McAuley). The same disturbing images and visions that are haunting Lorraine and Ed, are connected to the haunting happening at the Hodgson residence. We're dealt with more scares and eerie spirits putting the characters we care so much about in immediate danger. After all, Lorraine can predict the future--she has a premonition of Ed's death.
The film picks up during the Warrens' visit to Amityville, Long Island, where they manage to help the Defeo family even amongst rumors that the "haunting" was a hoax to garner media attention. We follow Ed and Lorraine as well as Peggy, Janet and their family in Enfield, England. Once Peggy Hodgson sees that the Warrens were able to help the Defeo's, Peggy solicits the church and by extension, the Warrens. Not only have the children and Peggy seen unusual happenings in their home, but so have their neighbors and the local police. They are desperate to drive away the spirit of a man named Bill Wilkins, who used to live and then subsequently died, in their home years prior.
C2 stirs up not only of what we fear, but how it can be utilized against us. The camera movement is one step ahead of you and these consistent movements draw tension from the audience all the while building up a scare that may or may not come. Sometimes we believe that there will be a pay off. We are anxious and ready for something scary and then, it never comes, which only makes us more on edge for the next scene.
Wan also makes nods to his previous films. He successfully develops a unique world where we are familiar with the rules. What many of his previous films and C2 consistently question is: Is what we see really just a trick of the light? Are we imagining some things or is it something evil lurking, preparing to prey on us during our most vulnerable moments? It's also important to note that Wilson has quite a fantastic singing voice! I had "Can't Help Falling In Love" by Elvis Presley stuck in my head the entire rest of the night. There are fantastic supporting roles as well played by Simon McBurney as Maurice Grosse, an expert on paranormal activity and Franka Potente, who we haven't seen on the big screen in a long time as Anita Gregory, who only wants to catch the supposed hoax of the Hodgson family.
This is a film that can make you tear up for the moral (stand up for the ones that you love, stick together and you can conquer anything--you are not alone) and bawl like a baby at the horrific imagery. Even the storyline in and of itself makes us doubt what we've been seeing the entire time. This is a film that will continue to scare you long after you've walked out of the theater.