Not Perfect but Quite Entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2016)

I'll avoid dropping major spoilers and only specifically mention areas that I felt detracted from the film and that won't spoil anyone's experience by being mentioned.
It's rare anymore that I find a well-made, enjoyable horror movie. Flicks like Paranormal Activity, It Follows, and anything directed by Rob Zombie have somehow become the acceptable standard for horror. Yawn. I didn't watch any trailers or read anything about the plot of The Conjuring 2 and I didn't expect much from it. I received free pre-screening passes so I went to see it.
I found it to be quite entertaining and there is some creepy imagery. I won't elaborate so not to ruin anything for those not having seen it prior to reading this, but there are definitely some very interesting things visually and also a few that were quite unexpected. That's not to say there aren't moments of predictability and jump-scares, but for me the good far outweighed the bad, and there were even some humorous moments sprinkled throughout that worked quite well.
After only one viewing I certainly can't give an extremely detailed report, but the few negative things that bugged me while watching this are: Throughout the film, everyone seems to sleep like the dead, and loud noises, voices, crashes, etc., mostly don't wake anyone, even while sleeping in the same room as the disturbance. This trend begins at the start of the movie and is continued throughout...and it repeatedly pulled me out of the whole experience. The basement in the Hodgson residence is partially flooded and no one seems to find it strange or problematic. At one point it's raining and water is rushing in down some sort of trough. The whole basement area seems very unnatural. I'm not familiar with British housing, especially of the 70s, so I kept wondering if this was for plot-convenience and to make it more creepy, or if it is historically accurate and normal. There are a few other areas I found to be problematic, but I'm avoiding major spoilers and it's rare that films don't have a few flaws anyway.
Overall, I enjoyed it and I recommend checking it out. I'll be adding it to my horror collection once it arrives on blu-ray.