Following his diversion into Fast
& Furious land, James Wan is back doing what he clearly loves
most, and that is scaring the crap out of audiences. The Conjuring 2 is Wan's
latest horror turn behind the camera, and what's fascinating about him is that
he shows something different each time. Wan is a long way from the torture porn
of Saw (which he
created, let's not forget), and The
Conjuring movies are
different from what he does in Insidious.
This time around he's indulging in not just one legendary case of real-life
terror, but two of them: Amityville followed by the Enfield Poltergeist. That
amount of supernatural wattage will surely shock the faint-hearted and leave
them sleeping with a night light, even if at times it appears Wan has bitten
off a little more than he chew.
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as
actual ghostbusting duo Ed and Lorraine Warren, the latter gifted with a
clairvoyance that allows her to get frightfully close to the paranormal.
Picking up from where the prior film left off, they're investigating the most
famous case in American history, Amityville, in an effort to prove it was more
than just a random murder. While engaged in a séance, Lorraine has an
out-of-body experience that literally puts her in the killer's shoes. In
this astral realm she catches a glimpse of Ed's impending death and is left
spiritually scarred. What she sees causes her to retire, which Ed sees as a
mistake since Lorraine's powers are a "gift from God".
Across the pond, a case that would become
known as "London's Amityville" draws Ed and Lorraine off the
interview circuit, where they face constant scrutiny from debunkers, and back
into the field. Some old couch potato's demonic spirit is haunting the poor
Hodgson family (Frances O'Connor as the mother of four) through 11-year-old
daughter, Janet (Madison Wolfe). Unlike the prior movie which used the '70s
period to tremendous psychological effect, Wan relies on standard tricks to get
by this time. A boy's tent in the middle of the hallway will become a creepy
hiding place for malevolent spirits later on; a child's empty swing moving ever
so gently as if someone was just there, or a toy projector with the monstrous
image of The Crooked Man. The Hodgsons can't stop themselves from exploring
every dark nook, and Wan takes us into the haunted recesses right along with
them.
There may not be a better director than
Wan at playing the audience like a finely-tuned instrument. He knows every
button to press to illicit the reaction he wants, usually abject terror, but he
leans heavily on jump scares more often this time than in times past.
Fortunately he doesn't completely abandon the slow ratcheting up of tension,
using a variety of approaches to keep audiences on the edge of their seat. Wan
repeatedly plays with perspective to keep us as off-balance as his freaked out
characters.
It takes a full hour before the Warrens
actually arrive in England, and by then the 134-minute runtime is already
looking like a bear. Returning screenwriters Chad and Carey Hayes pad things
out by having the Hodgsons repeatedly make the kind of moronic decisions we
expect to see in horrors not directed by Wan. They repeatedly go where
it's probably a really dumb idea to go, and even the Warrens aren't immune to
doing really idiotic things when it's convenient to the plot. The one constant
between Ed and Lorraine is their faith in one another and faith in God. Wilson
and Farmiga remain the franchise's greatest strength; their unusual chemistry
seemingly works because they don't appear to be the perfect fit. He's a
guy who occasionally grabs a guitar and breaks out into a rendition of Elvis' "Can't
Help Falling in Love with You", and she...well, she sees dead people. As
the primary victim of the evil spirit's possession, Madison Wolfe captures
Janet's confusion, sadness, and emotional fatigue. The only bit of weird
casting was Franka Potente (of Run
Lola Run and 'Bourne' fame)
as one of many who believes the Hodgsons are pulling an elaborate hoax. In
reality there were quite a few who felt this way, and the film makes sure just
enough of their voice is heard. It's probably wisest not to go in thinking
you're going to get the full picture of the real-life case, because the film
only works under the belief that demonic spirits who throw furniture and
inhabit the bodies of young girls are real. The
Conjuring 2 has genuine scares but they don't quite shiver you to the
bone the way the last film did.
Rating: 3 out of 5
