The Conjuring 2: A sequel of epic pretensions
Horror meister James Wan, creator of the seven-film Saw nightmare, worked hard to escape the sequel curse in the follow-on to his well-reviewed 2013 demonic shocker, The Conjuring. And it shows.
Horror meister James Wan, creator of the seven-film
Saw
nightmare, worked hard to escape the sequel curse in the follow-on to his well-reviewed 2013 demonic shocker,
The Conjuring
.
And it shows.
The Conjuring 2 is a complicated, multi-segmented narrative that's much longer, more elaborate, more dramatic, and more packed with chilling moments and hair-raising visuals than one could anticipate, even from Wan.
Returning stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson act their hearts out as real-life ghost-and-ghoul hunters Lorraine and Ed Warren.
The film, a horror flick with the chutzpah to run 133 minutes, tries at real emotional depth and complex plotting. It tries, in other words, to reach epic status.
Does it succeed? Eh, I guess so. There's a lot more here than in the first film, but it doesn't feel quite as exciting.
A postmodern American Gothic bouillabaisse, The Conjuring 2 opens with what seems to be a sequel to The Amityville Horror, with the Warrens investigating the house made famous by a half-dozen films, including Stuart Rosenberg's 1979 classic.
Just as we're settling down into the story, the scene changes, and the Warrens are off to England and another famous case, the Enfield Haunting, also the subject of books and flicks.
But Wan's film isn't merely a meta tourist jaunt through horror movie history. Once it takes root in England, it blossoms into a full-blooded thriller.
Wan pulls out all the stops - does he ever - as he takes us through a warped story about a working-class single mum, Peggy Hodgson (Frances O'Connor), whose life is turned inside out by an evil apparition that takes up residence in Peggy's preteen daughter, Janet (Madison Wolfe).
I sometimes confuse the Conjuring pics with the Insidious franchise of demon-infestation flicks, which features Lin Shaye as a very Lorraine Warren-like psychic and ghoul-exterminator.
Wan's films, however, have heart. Maybe even a soul.
215-854-2736
MOVIE REVIEW
The Conjuring 2
sss (Out of four stars)
yDirected by James Wan. With Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Frances O'Connor, Madison Wolfe. Distributed by New Line Cinema.
yRunning time: 2 hours, 13 mins.
yParent's guide: Rated R (terror, violence, gore).
yPlaying at: Area theaters.
EndText