Ghost-busting couple returns to face its demons in 'Conjuring 2'
“The Conjuring 2” confirms James Wan to be the master of the turn of the screw as well as things that go “knock-knock-knock” in the night.
Not that this sequel to Wan's 2013 horror hit “The Conjuring” (originally titled “The Warren Files”) breaks new ground on the overpopulated haunted house turf.
Wan, the Malaysian-born Australian director of such hits as “Saw,” “Insidious” and “Furious 7,” has a knack for covering old tried-and-true conventions with a new coat of creepiness while injecting Depends moments back into the scary-movie experience.
“The Conjuring 2” doesn't quite match its predecessor for pacing or setups (can anything top blindfolded Lili Taylor's “clap-clap” hide-and-seek game?), but offers its own brand of alluring Venus flytrap surprises.
All of them are reportedly based on the “true” experiences of husband and wife demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren (again played by Patrick Wilson, now with an Elvis coif, and Vera Farmiga).
While investigating the legendary haunted house in Amityville, Long Island, psychic Lorraine steps out of her body to re-enact the mass killings of the DeFeo family by an apparently possessed father.
It's a provocative, frightening segment, but nothing to compare to what will come.
A year later in 1977, the Warrens travel to London's Enfield borough to investigate claims that a malevolent force has invaded the home of single mom Peggy Hodgson (Frances O'Connor) and her four kids.
The force seems particularly interested in Janet (Madison Wolfe). She has her bedcovers ripped off in the middle of the night. Furniture moves by itself. Strange noises emanate from within the walls. A thunderous knock at the bedroom door reveals nobody there.
If you're a haunted house movie buff, you've seen this all before. But not quite the way Wan presents it.
With help from cinematographer Don Burgess, Wan employs his signature tracking shots to create the impression the camera is floating from room to room like a curious specter investigating the hallways and steep narrow staircase.
Sometimes, Wan tips his hand by allowing too much empty space in the frame, so we know something will probably materialize. And it does.
Like the mind-bending sex-angst thriller “It Follows,” Wan's sequel forces us to constantly scan the scene for something amiss, something threatening, something ... look out! There it is!
An angry ghost with a scornful face pops into the frame, but not when we suspect it. Wan delights in playing a cinematic shell game of gotcha! We can never be sure of where or when he'll strike.
Sadly, commercials and trailers ruin the movie's two best visual shocks, one involving a ghostly nun with a face that could stop a heart.
“The Conjuring 2” doesn't go for laughs, but it features organically comical shots that mercifully relieve the constantly winding tension. (So does Ed's comment about a new 1977 home video camera the size of a Buick: “It's so small and light!”)
For a hard-wired Christian married couple whose relationship is constantly tested by paranormal conflict, Ed and Lorraine come off unexpectedly bland and low-key.
At least Wilson supplies enough charm and Farmiga more than enough charisma to flesh out their couple.
“The Conjuring 2” demands to be seen within the communal confines of a real theater where patrons scream, shriek, shudder and shake in unison, bolstering the fear factor for everyone else.
That's the way movies like this were meant to be experienced.
“The Conjuring 2”
★ ★ ★
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Frances O'Connor, Madison Wolfe, Franka Potente, Simon McBurney, David Thewlis
Directed by: James Wan
Other: A Warner Bros. release. Rated R for violence. 133 minutes