After enjoying the first Conjuring I headed to my local multiplex to see the hotly anticipated and very well reviewed sequel ‘The Conjuring 2’. The first film dealt with paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren taking on the case of the Perron family as they dealt with the troubled family in Rhode Island. In the sequel the Warrens end up coming to England’s Enfield to tackle the Enfield Poltergeist, famous for terrorising the Hodgson family in the late 1970s.
First off I’m a big James Wan fan. I love ‘Insidious’, ‘The Conjuring’ and even ‘Dead Silence’so I was pretty excited the sequel was getting rave reviews. I have to say I was pretty disappointed. It’s not that ‘The Conjuring 2’ is a bad film; it just isn’t a particularly good one. I think my main issue with it was that it felt completely false. The original had a sense of reality about it. The locations felt real and atmospheric. In Enfield everything clearly looks like a set, aged with damp and mould overkill. I’d say it is pretty suspenseful but most of the scary bits are all jump/startle scares that are in most cases deafening and quite forgettable. Although all the entities are real actors there are some really nasty CGI enhancements particularly to the demon Nun who has some really ropey roaring-mouth-teeth-rubbish going on. Apparently her scenes were filmed in March this year only 3 months before therelease. The Nun replaced a previously filmed ‘red-eyed demon’. It would be interesting to see what the original demon was like. The nun is reported to have her own spinoff film (Like Annabelle)entitled ‘The Nun’. There is also the Babadook-a-like Crooked Man who inhabits a haunted musical toy but like the other spectres, his appearances are completely bombastic and raise very few chills.
The acting across the board is decent but falls prey to a clunky script littered with obvious exposition and English cockney stereotypes, ‘Gor blimey guvnor’ etc. Madison Wolfe playing Janet is great and natural despite her false crooked teeth. Her scenes with Farmiga are moving and tense and show the potential for a much more subtle and creepier approach to the story that could have been made.
The Warrens reportedly only visited Enfield for one day (uninvited) so a lot of the story elements from the actual case have been borrowed from other real life characters. Wan’s narrative paints the Warrens as the heroes determined to save the day. I’m not asking for accuracy in a Hollywood version, particularly one that adds Crooked Men and Demon Nuns but it does seem a little bit cheeky.
Before seeing the film I watched some of the original real-life family interviews on YouTube and the production team have done a very good job recreating the details form the original footage from the clothing, casting similar looking actors in some of the more minor roles. Even the Purdey (Joanna Lumley in the New Avengers) poster hangs on Janet’s bedroom wall which I thought was a nice touch.
What ‘The Conjuring 2’ does have going for it is two highly likeable leads. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are very charismatic and work well together. The opening scenes which take place in the Amityville murder house are cleverly filmed with Lorraine creepily experiencing the original crime before the famous haunting commenced my favourite part of the film.
I’m clearly in a minority and many seemed to have loved the film so maybe you’ll get a kick out of the fairground jolts but for me this ranks alongside ‘Insidious Chapter 2’ as a bloated and messy sequel that throws everything including the kitchen sink at the screen with very few genuine chills
OVERALL SUMMARY
Abloated and messy sequel with some enjoyable moments and a lot of loud bangs.
