Let’s just start with; you will jump. If you get nothing else out of this film, a quick scare and increased heart rate are almost guaranteed. The film has a strong opening that immediately put me on the edge of my seat, and as a self-proclaimed horror fanatic that is not easy to do.
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprise their roles as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the paranormal power couple asked by the church to help a London family in need. At the centre of it all is Janet Hodgson (Madison Wolfe) who is being used as a conduit for a disgruntled spirit upset that a family is living in what he claims to be as “his house”.
In the world of horror it is increasingly difficult to place jump-scares the audience does not see coming, and for the first time in a while, I didn’t expect it every time I almost hit the roof. After the first few surprise scares, tensions ran extremely high, and I remember thinking to myself three-quarters of the way in that if my heart was racing anymore that I might have a heart attack.
The film is dark enough that it is shrouded in mystery, but as the movie draws closer to the end the monsters become less veiled, which in my case made them a lot less scary – but that’s just me.
Without giving away too much, there is a good twist that ties the movie together and lovers of the original will be sure to enjoy the sequel.
There were a few interesting camera techniques and some great use of long takes that felt as if the characters were being followed – always a positive when building an ominous environment and references to classic horror films like The Exorcist will resonate with horror fans.
It is important to note that the movie is more than two hours long, and while this allows for lots of scare time, watching the final sequence unfold definitely came as a relief.
Did the movie stick with me after leaving the cinema? No. But in some ways, that’s a good thing.
The real-life cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren are undoubtedly fascinating, and The Conjuring 2 does justice to bring them to the big screen. This is definitely going on the “will watch again” list, with a Conjuring marathon already in mind – Annabelle included.
