When there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call? Ed and Lorraine Warren, obviously.
Played again by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, the real-life 1970s ghostbusters head to the British Isles in the horror sequel The Conjuring 2 (*** out of four; rated R; in theaters Friday). And after a trip to the action-film genre with Furious 7, director James Wan returns to the franchise with a freakier follow-up featuring creepy kids, villains who’ll keep you up at night and camerawork that puts moviegoers in a state of impending dread.
The opening sequence revisits the infamous Amityville haunting in 1976, and after Lorraine encounters a demonic nun during a séance, she proclaims, “This is the closest to hell as I ever want to get.” Well, it gets worse for her and her spouse — a year later, and with Lorraine wanting to pull back from their paranormal activity, they’re called to London to investigate why young 11-year-old Janet Hodgson (Madison Wolfe) suddenly has the voice of a 72-year-old dead guy.
Wan ingeniously utilizes snippets of the children’s ditty This Old Man in the background as struggling single mom Peggy Hodgson (Frances O’Connor) and her young brood are driven mad by beds violently shaking at night, weird shadows coming from the pop-heartthrob posters of yesteryear (one of the girls really digs David Soul), toy fire trucks randomly rolling down the hallway and the beat-up chair that seems to have a mind of its own.
A good bit of dark humor is mined for laughs in these moments, and Wan infuses some sweetness to break up the mood as well. There are some overly hokey elements — Wilson strapping on a guitar to sing Elvis to some English children almost makes it seem like you’re watching Blue Hawaii instead of a Conjuring movie. And at two-plus hours, some of those lighter moments derail the tautness of the storytelling.
Wolfe gives a great and eerie performance as the haunted kid who's either possessed or pulling a hoax. It’s hard not to think of Linda Blair in The Exorcist when it comes to these kinds of roles, but Wolfe does the pea-soup brigade proud.
While Wilson is solid as the good-hearted Ed, Farmiga is Wan’s true standout — her Lorraine really gets put through the wringer as she deals with the constant presence of a terrifying supernatural force, and Farmiga sells every gasp.
Like other masters of horror — your Stephen Kings and John Carpenters — Wan wisely utilizes beloved things and turns them against his players. The aforementioned ghastly nun and a room full of crucifixes turning upside down attack characters’ faith and offer a visceral depiction of good vs. evil.
Also, similar to what he did with the doll Annabelle in 2013's first Conjuring (and the toy's 2014 spinoff movie), the filmmaker introduces an innocent-looking zoetrope, which then spawns the Crooked Man. If that sinister sister doesn’t give you the heebie-jeebies, this wicked stringbean with a ghoulish maw of sharp chompers will.
Wan leans into the real history of the 1977 Enfield poltergeist legend, too, though it’s not like he needs any extra inspiration for his fright fest — when it comes to horror, the man pulls no punches or screams.
