Movie Review: The Conjuring 2 (2016)
The Conjuring 2 is a fairly effective horror movie, but the over the top ending hurts it a bit. It’s not as strong as the first Conjuring movie, though director James Wan’s ability to construct a good scare is still on full display.
The movie follows Ed (Patrick Wilson, Insidious) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga, The Departed) Warren following the events of Amityville, which has led to them getting some increased publicity as well as scrutiny by skeptics.
Meanwhile, in London, single mother Peggy Hodgson (Frances O’Connor) and her children are noticing some strange occurrences in their home. When things get especially bad, the police come and witness some paranormal phenomena themselves, leading to the Hodgson family to be interviewed by British paranormal investigator Maurice Gross (Simon McBurney, who I was shocked to find wasn’t David Thewlis).
The oldest daughter, Janet (Madison Wolfe) is possessed by the house’s former owner, Bill Wilkins, who speaks through her in a really creepy moment. We occasionally see Bill Wilkins, and it’s equally creepy.
Back in the US, Ed Warren creates a painting of a creepy nun, and his wife says she doesn’t want to do any more cases.
Lorraine eventually sees the figure that Ed painted, and follows it into Ed’s office, where it attacks her, and she sees a vision of Ed’s death. In reality, she’s violently scribbling something in her Bible.
A priest asks that they go to London to check out the Hodgson case, and Lorraine doesn’t want to, thinking it will lead to Ed’s death. Ed argues that if she saw a vision of his death, then there’s a reason, and that they’ve never turned down a family in need.
They arrive in London, and have to go through the usual process of having to prove that it’s not a hoax.
In the best scene of the movie, the Warrens and Gross have to turn around while Janet is possessed, as the spirit of Bill Wilkins will only speak with them if nobody’s looking. It’s a long shot that focuses on Ed while he asks the questions, but you can subtly see Janet’s face becoming Bill’s in the background, out of focus. It’s very effective.
After Maurice unearths some footage of Janet trashing the kitchen, seemingly discrediting the entire case. As Ed and Lorraine leave, Lorraine has a vision in which she meets the spirit of Bill Wilkins, who she figures out is only a pawn, indicating something far more serious: a demon. Bill speaks to her in a riddle that she eventually figures out indicates a name.
As Ed is forced to break into the house to save Janet, Lorraine scrambles for her Bible, where she had written down the name of the demon. It’s Valak, and when she makes it upstairs, she’s confronted by the demonic nun, but takes power over it, damning it back to hell. Everybody is safe.
The ending gets way too over the top. You might say the same for the first Conjuring movie, but that at least was resolved through a character moment, and felt far more restrained than this.
This is still a pretty good movie. The relationship between Ed and Lorraine comes off as so genuine in this movie, thanks to the performances, and that helps the movie greatly.
This movie definitely has some stuff I don’t much care for, though. The Bill Wilkins and Valak stuff is fine, but there’s also a spirit/ghost/demon/whatever that pops up in a few scenes called the Crooked Man, and he just seems out of place.
I read something online about how the Crooked Man is getting his own spinoff movie, and we’ve of course gotten two Annabelle movies, and we’re getting a nun spinoff movie in a few months, so I guess that’s the direction the Conjuring cinematic universe is headed. I’m fine with that. I probably won’t watch any of these movies unless James Wan directs, because he clearly knows what he’s doing, but whatever.
I must say, with it now clear that the Ed & Lorraine Warren thing is not just a series, but a cinematic universe, I’m kind of shocked they didn’t make an Amityville movie. I mean, I know Amityville has been made into about 100 movies, but with Wan, Wilson, and Farmiga, it could have been good. But again, I’m fine with that. Wan chose to give us a story that hasn’t been told dozens of times, and that can only be a good thing.
Rating: 6/10
