THE CONJURING 2 Delivers Lots Of Ghouls & Scares

The Conjuring 2 is the sequel to the 2013 film, which once again brings us a true story of a ghostly occurrence documented by Ed and Lorraine Warren. While “true story” requires giant quotation marks around it, the film definitely brings viewers lots of scares and not one, but three frightening creatures.

In 1977, a woman and her children began to be terrorized by something in their Enfield, England home. Strange sounds and furniture being thrown about was just the beginning for this family, as it eventually went so far as possession. The youngest daughter, Janet, would speak in a demonic voice that claimed to be a man named “Bill”. The events were witnessed by police and an interviewer, drawing much attention from the media. However, after Janet was caught on camera setting up a poltergeist scene, tossing things around and bending spoons, it was deemed a hoax.

The film is very much a scene-by-scene take of the events in the home. When we reach the moment of discovery that Janet could be faking it all, the filmmakers took some liberty to continue the story. Without giving away too much, it is quite spooky how they explain the hoax and the whole possession.

What I’ve always loved about director James Wan and his filmmaking team is the continuity between all the films. In terms of style, they all feel as though they are in the same realm of spirits and afterlife, and continue to play well of each other. Which leads me to the amazing creature designs in this movie.

Perhaps the most recognized from the trailer is “The Nun” (above). A truly terrifying monster, which they are making their next film based on; just as Annabelle was to the first film. A mysterious creature that is not just confined to the events in Enfield, but to the Warrens.

We also were presented old man Bill, the voice that Janet spoke with in the true story as well. Here we are given a backstory about this poltergeist and who he was. The truth is Bill really did exist. The old man actually died in the Enfield house, which reporters claim the girls had just researched about in order to make their claims realistic.

One creature specifically made up for the film was “The Crooked Man” (below). A terrifying whimsical character that reminded me of the style seen in The Babadook mixed with a little Tim Burton. I think a spin-off film based on this character would be quite intriguing.

While I felt the first one, and it’s spin-off, had more scares all together, this movie definitely had ones that were not so typical. Which kept it exciting. The things that bothered me in this film were the more cheesy moments between Ed and Lorraine Warren, as well as the music played at the end. They seemed a bit out of place for the film, although these didn’t ruin my overall enjoyment.

A creepy bonus was the actual recording of Janet that played as the credits rolled.