Horror sequels are a dime a dozen in the movie industry, and have been since the dawn of cinema. GOOD horror sequels, however, are a rarity: like trying to find a pearl within a sea of oysters. Its practically tradition for a good horror film to have a bad sequel—just look at Halloween, The Exorcist, Poltergeist, The Omen, etc… James Wan’s The Conjuring is a well-made film, taking heavy influence from 60s/70s horror while adding a modern spin with special effects. Its prequel Annabelle is also a good, albeit less effective, scare flick (though I remain in the minority with such opinion). Yet Annabelle is technically a prequel (loophole status), while The Conjuring 2 is its predecessor’s true sequel—but is it any good? Against all odds and forewarning towards its failure (such as Wan’s previous blunder with Insidious: Chapter 2 sequel), The Conjuring 2 is indeed a good horror sequel, which in itself deserves praise.
Same as its predecessor, The Conjuring 2 is based upon supposed real paranormal events investigated by married demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga respectively). The story is set in London, England, where the Hodgson family are being disturbed by a violent spirit named Bill, who previously lived in their house before passing away. The Warrens are sent by the church to investigate the case’s authenticity, yet the Warrens themselves are being plagued with visions of a demonic presence who takes the form of a nun.
The sequel stays true to what made the original effective. It starts gradually, slowly building up the eeriness of the Hodgson’s haunting. The first-third is essentially built-up jump scares without the actual jump scares. Take one scene where the eldest daughter hears a disturbing voice from the dark corner of her bedroom; “This is my house.” The daughter turns frighteningly towards the sound, slowly reaching out to turn on the light. As the scene builds up tension, the moonlight’s soft glow reveals the faintest outline of a shirt within the corner. Yet when the daughter turns on the light (as the audience tense up for the inevitable fright), the figure is revealed to be nothing more than a celebrity poster on her wall. The film is at its creepiest with these scenes: using minimalism to successfully convince the mind that the worst is about to happen. Another great use of minimalism is when Ed interviews Bill, who has possessed The Hodgson’s daughter. Bill claims he will only come out if Ed turns around—as he does, the background becomes blurred while Ed remains clear in the foreground. Soon the daughter’s voice becomes raspy and deep, while her features seem to contort and transform, though the blurriness makes it difficult to see exactly what she’s become. The scene is very unnerving, all while using only the basic of camera techniques.
Unfortunately, The Conjuring 2 has its low points, succumbing occasionally to an overreliance on CGI. The human eye can tell what’s real and what’s animated, and in order to scare the best, the viewer needs to believe the situation; meaning CGI must be used wisely in the horror genre. Blending CGI with actual models/people or using it in difficult to spot situations (such as a dark corner or distant background) works best with horror, which The Conjuring 2 often effectively utilizes. There are instances, however, where the CGI is blatantly in the open—such as when a dog transforms into a demonic crooked man—which ends up being more silly than scary, losing the disturbing atmosphere created during the buildup. MAJOR SPOILERS BEGIN: Then there’s the Warren’s subplot visions being connected to the main haunting, which makes the sequel more theatrical compared to its predecessor’s more grounded approach. The idea allows the Warrens to have more character development and stake in the plot, yet loses the professional realism I applauded in the first. MAJOR SPOILERS END
The Conjuring series succeeds once more in character building and personality. These are likable characters: the Warrens, the Hodgson family, their neighbors and the police (once again). The film has a third (real-life) paranormal investigator named Maurice Grosse (Simon McBurney), a very friendly man who has genuine reasons for working in the paranormal. In lesser horror films, such a character would be the quack professor, trying to gain fame by going along with the supposed hoax. Here, the man became a paranormal investigator after hearing his recently deceased daughter speak to him through spirit form. Maurice wants to prove the paranormal exist, to prove his daughter still exists in some form, yet also genuinely wants to help the Hodgsons with their haunting. The Warrens once again make an effective power couple, the sequel giving further substance to their characters and relationship through small, yet significant backstory moments during their bonding scenes with the Hodgson's daughter. The scenes given between them and Elvis Presley’s song Can’t Help Falling in Love could’ve easily been removed without disrupting the plot, yet were lovely additional touches to the film.
Typically, a horror sequel’s best bet is to either abandon genre and try something else (such as with Alien/Aliens) or follow a different, “fresh” group of characters. Yet The Conjuring 2 is a rare horror sequel that succeeds while remaining (mostly) true to its predecessor’s roots, in addition to furthering the story of Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Conjuring series has been three for three so far, and with future sequels being inevitable I wonder how long it can go before hitting a continuation I dislike.
