Review of The Conjuring 2 (2016) by Ian W — 24 Sep 2017

I watched the first conjuring a week back and really enjoyed the take on the poltergeist/haunting genre. I am really glad that the two leads came back for a second installment, they're what made the first movie for me. Following the investigators rather than the specific haunting adds a more realistic sense to it, which is good considering it's already being based off of a true story. The trailers really didn't do this film justice, seeing the Nun-type entity, I found it laughable. It seemed shoddy and like it was cheaply made. Having watched the film now the Nun was actually pretty creepy, I like how they used the picture of her to create some great tension and build up.

All the stakes are heightened when you're watching the same paranormal investigators, each film adds a bit more to there overall story. It's rare a horror can do this, I am actually excited to see the next one, where there story will end. I just hope it doesn't do what other haunting films do, and just repeat itself over and over again, but so far so good.

A horror by definition should always scare you, you want to be on the edge of your seat. I must say honestly there was some really scary bits. Yes, a lot of the scares are jump scares, but there are also some decent suspenseful moments. I love how they incorporated the whole idea of the Boogeyman into it, well that's what I took away from the crooked man parts anyway. Using a time old tale to relate to the audience, I'm sure at sometime in everyone's life they have feared what's under the bed, that the Boogeyman was going to get them. I felt at times they had built too much story around different entities, it made certain points unclear when looking back. Which isn't necessarily just a bad point, it having a bit of a twist makes a second viewing more likely in the coming years.

A big down point for me when it comes to ghostly stories is the whole possession thing, it being a massive staple in the first film, and a rather big one in this too. I never find it believable, when they just throw a creepy voice over someone else, it's never done it for me. Luckily in this film it's done pretty well, where they don't show the girl talking, it's focused on the reactions of the leads, which takes that ridiculous element away for me. I can find a creepy voice scary but not watching some little girl or boy speaking over it, it makes it seem like a joke. With possession pieces I always feel less is more, I don't want to hear them speaking.

Another down point would be that it all ends happily, as with the first film, I expected a crazy end and it was kinda lack lustre, same for this.