Director James Wan returns to his horror roots with The Conjuring 2 after the colossal success of Fast & Furious 7, showcasing his formidable ability as a spine-chilling-provocateur and upping the ante on the Warren Ghost-busting franchise.
We reunite with Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) as they close the door on arguably one of their most famous cases in their career The Amityville Horror. As the action jump starts, we watch as Lorraine’s physic walk around the house – a trope pulled straight from Insidious, Wan’s other horror franchise – bumping into a particularly scary Demonic Nun who will serve as an ever-increasing nefarious presence for the Warrens throughout the film.
This not only raises the stakes for the Warrens but it makes it clear that although we are meant to care about the Hodgson family of the Enfield Haunting case. It is in the Warrens were a majority of our focus and concern lies, a complaint I had with the first instalment that largely portrayed Ed and Lorraine as unsympathetic to the victims of their cases and seemingly held at arm’s length from the viewers.
Characterisation on whole, is a markable improvement this time around. As mentioned, not only do the Warrens feel more approachable as characters, but the Hodgson clan portrayal as a poor-working-class family brings a kitchen sink drama to a story that could easily have overlooked dynamics within the family in favour of the supernatural element. It is the moments in-between the investigation into the ghostly presence in the house where we find those human elements. One particular moment when Ed busts out an Elvis classic on the guitar does come out of left field but unites everyone and highlights the underlining theme that we are stronger together than alone.
Although The Enfield Haunting does tick all the boxes for horror clichés. Old house, tick, Jump scares, tick. Heroes placing themselves in needless danger, tick-tick. Wan impresses with his unique take on paranormal horror with fans of his other works finding some surprises mixed in. Spoiler avoidance here, but pay particular attention to Ed’s first meeting with the spectre of Bill Wilkins (Bob Adrian). Pure genius.
That being said the film does have problematic use of CGI when The Crooked Man enters the fray. I get that the film was going for a obvious fairytale-come-illstration depiction to the character (which is further explained at the films end) but the overall appearance was jarring to the overall aesthetic of the movie. Ultimately pulling me out of the film, spoiling my emergence, albeit for a brief moment but it stuck in craw never-the-less.
The Conjuring may have introduce us to Warrens but The Enfield Haunting makes you care about our heroes as they traverse a disturbing case that places their lives in danger like never before. Although Wan utilises all the tricks in the book, there are surprises to be had, which makes the wait for Conjuring 3 all that much more painful.
Oh, and you’ll never look at a Nun the same way again … you’ve been warned.
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