Grade: A-
The 1955 horror classic “Diabolique," sparked a shift in the genre. It inspired Alfred Hitchcock's directing of “Psycho,” and eventually led to the groundbreaking “The Blair Witch Project.”
Once producers realized they could create massive blockbusters with relatively no budget, the horror genre was changed forever.
It became all about quantity, and the very thought of quality was practically mocked by filmmakers. Suddenly, horror embarrassments like “The Gallows" and “The Devil Inside” became all too frequent.
James Wan changed that. With “Saw,” “Insidious,” “Dead Silence” and “The Conjuring” being in his filmography, he easily became one of the greatest, if not the greatest, horror directors alive today.
His most recent film “The Conjuring 2” only continues this legacy. Not only will it probably be one of the best horror films of the year, but it is also one of the greatest achievements of Wan’s career.
The film takes place shortly after the infamous Amityville Horror case, which has long since been proven as a hoax. Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are now considered frauds among several ghost-hunting fanatics, travel to Enfield, England, to investigate the horrors bestowed upon a family.
Similar to the original “Conjuring,” this film is somewhat based on a real paranormal case. However, regardless of its accuracy, it is still one of the best horror releases so far this year.
Like Ti West’s contemporary classic “The House of the Devil,” this sequel film is shot and acted in such a way that, at times, it could be mistaken for a remastered 1970's horror film.
Part of the success behind this are the subtle homages the film makes to previous classic horror films. “The Exorcist,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “The Evil Dead” and “The Omen” are only a few of the honored examples.
Wan also understands the reason why certain horror movies become classics isn't because of an excess of gore or a plethora of false jump scares. They had compelling characters and intriguing stories to accompany them.
Throughout this film, I found myself equally interested in the character moments as I was in even the most climatic scary scenes. I have to give props especially to Madison Wolfe, whose performance as the possessed Janet Hodgson truly got under my skin.
The only fallback of this film is its rather laughable use of CGI in certain sequences, especially with one particular demon. If you pay attention to these sort of details, it will be quickly apparent to you which one I’m referring to.
There’s no doubt that the demonic subgenre in horror has been overdone to the point of creative exhaustion, but “The Conjuring 2” manages to embraces its roots enough for this to no longer be a concern.
Should horror be diversified? Of course. Should this genre die out? Hell no.
Though it isn’t as terrifying as the original “Conjuring,” its sequel still had me checking my rear-view window multiple times on the drive home. Any film that manages to scare me that much did its job well.
afaulds@indiana.edu | @a_faulds9615
